Team Spotlight:
John Moustoukas, Chief Quality Officer & Director of Informatics, Illinois Emergency Medicine Specialists (IEMS)
February 7, 2023
John Moustoukas, MD, MBA, FACEP, is an innovative physician leader and an invaluable member of the Illinois Emergency Medicine Specialists (IEMS) team. Dr. Moustoukas has served as IEMS’s Chief Quality Officer & Director of Informatics since 2018. He served as the Physician Champion of the Medication Safety Committee and was a member of the Quality and Patient Safety Improvement Committee for AdventHealth Hinsdale and AdventHealth La Grange hospitals. Since beginning his new role as Emergency Department Chairman in the summer of 2022, he joined the Medical Staff Quality Committee and is the director of the Stroke Program. Dr. Moustoukas is a data-driven leader and has been instrumental in achieving measurable results and transformational improvements at Weiss Memorial Hospital. Dr. Moustoukas continues to be an essential part of the leadership at IEMS and the Emergency Care Partners (ECP) family of local private practice groups.
Clinical Leadership Experience in Emergency Medicine
A native of New Orleans, Dr. Moustoukas earned his medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine in 2011. He completed his residency at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, in 2014. Dr. Moustoukas was presented the “Physician Integrity Award” for his work in Emergency Medicine at AdventHealth Glen Oaks Medical Center and was integral in building a patient experience program that was highlighted by Press Ganey Associates. He continues to chair several multidisciplinary health system committees in order to extend the vision of quality improvement.
Interview with Dr. Moustoukas
Q: When did you decide to become a physician?
I have always been motivated to solve problems. Initially I studied engineering in college because I was attracted to the idea of building physical solutions. After some more exposure to the health sciences, I felt a shift towards solving problems for humans and making a difference in that way. Emergency medicine is an amazing opportunity to directly solve issues for individuals with the value of seeing real-time results. Becoming more involved in administration locally and with ECP has helped me expand into creating solutions for health systems and communities.
Q: What is your favorite part about working with IEMS and ECP?
IEMS has a legacy of an owner-operator mentality. Physicians have committed their entire careers to building our local, private practice. So, we genuinely consider this company as our home and our team as an extended family. The secret sauce to the success of IEMS is linked to our sense of ownership. We are like-minded and aligned in providing the highest level of care while maintaining a great practice environment for our physicians. Our president, Dr. Ted Patras is a dynamic mentor and has helped me grow so much. I think it is rare to find this combination in emergency medicine today and that is why I have really put my roots in here (IEMS). Joining ECP was a business decision that we made in order to preserve what we love about our group and enhance our ability to grow what we believe is an excellent service. I love that ECP has helped us realize these goals. Also, I appreciate that ECP doesn’t interfere with our autonomy but is quick to provide best-in-class support when we ask for it. It’s just great to know that we are safer in this dynamic healthcare environment and can get help when we need it.
Q: What do you find most challenging about your job?
The acute-care model has been shaken tremendously over the last few years. This has created incalculable issues for patients and providers and made the space more complex. I never anticipated that we would see nurse staffing shortages affect hospitals so broadly. Patients across the country are in the unfortunate position of experiencing wait times and ED boarding which impact the quality of care and experience. Emergency physicians are masters at being flexible, but we also have dedicated our lives to provide the best care possible for every single patient. So, these problems have become a focal point for stress to develop. As a physician leader, I find that I rely on my compassion and emotional intelligence skills as much as I do my technical training and experience.
Q: Outside of work, how do you like to spend your time?
Family is and has always been #1. Work takes up a lot of my time, so when I have an opportunity to unplug it is all about being with my wife, Diana, and the kids. We love traveling and spending time with our large extended network and the girls have a full schedule of activities which is just fun to be around and watch them grow. I was able to coach my 6-year old’s soccer team this year which has always been a dream of mine. I am also a musician so playing and songwriting helps me flex my creative muscles and I just started taking piano lessons!
About Illinois Emergency Medicine Specialists (IEMS):
Founded in 1989, Illinois Emergency Medicine Specialists (IEMS) is an emergency medicine group with a unique democratic partnership and ownership model that attracts emergency medicine professionals seeking a culture of accountability and innovation necessary to meet today’s healthcare challenges. We believe in a collaborative approach that makes our practice indistinguishable from our partner hospitals’ medical and nursing staffs. Working with hospital leadership, we establish shared goals and align physician incentives to reward success and deliver outstanding, high quality, timely, and respectful care.
About Emergency Care Partners
Headquartered in Pensacola, Florida, ECP is a leading provider of emergency medicine and emergency department management services for hospitals across the U.S. with current operations in Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. ECP currently sees more than 1,200,000 patient visits annually across operations at 45 sites of service, supported by a clinical workforce of 900+ physicians and mid-level providers. ECP employs a differentiated model relative to other platforms in the industry, highlighted by the ability to maintain ownership through its physician partnership model and for regional/local groups to maintain their branding and clinical autonomy while benefitting from ECP’s resources.
To learn more about Dr. Moustoukas, ECP, or IEMS, please fill out our contact form.