Dr. Luis Pena-Hernandez, MD, FCCP

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Get to know Pulmonologist Dr. Luis Pena-Hernandez, whose innovative technology positively impacts patients throughout the state of Florida. 

Dr. Peña is a lung health specialist at Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Disorders Institute of South Florida (PCSI), the largest integrated pulmonary and chest specialty group in Palm Beach County. Dr. Peña’s commitment to improving medicine and removing barriers to healthcare for his patients is woven throughout his practice, offices, and bedside manner.  

His areas of expertise include clinical research in lung function monitoring, and immunotherapy for asthma and COPD. Dr. Peña also performs invasive diagnostic techniques, including endobronchial ultrasound and diagnostic bronchoscopy. In addition, he is one of the few experts in cardiopulmonary exercise testing and exercise physiology in Palm Beach County. Academically, he obtained his medical degree from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia, and graduated from residency in Internal Medicine at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. He then completed his sub-specialty training with a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the same institution.

Passionate about his profession, Dr. Peña is triple board-certified in Pulmonary Disease, Critical Care Medicine and Internal medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). The ABIM is a physician-led, non-profit, independent evaluation organization driven by doctors who want to achieve higher standards for better care in a rapidly changing world. One of the ways Dr. Peña and PCSI are working to achieve these higher standards is by partnering with Respiralabs, Inc., a biomedical technology developer, to validate the use of a monitoring device named Sylvee aimed at monitoring trapped air, respiratory rates, breathing sounds, and temperature by using advanced technology to distinguish the type of sound produced in the lungs.

Dr. Pena-Hernandez, a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians (FCCP) and a member of the American Thoracic Society (ATS), also believes barriers to healthcare, such as language, transportation, medical literacy act as barriers to healthcare and seeks ways to mitigate them.

“I find one of the best ways to learn about my patients is through active and intentional listening. If I hear they are not following a treatment plan due to barriers, I naturally want to help,” says Dr. Peña.

To address some barriers, Dr. Peña and PCSI were the first in Florida to offer Spire Health Tags, the world’s first no-hassle, intelligent health tracker technology. They also offer their patients Klara, secure remote messaging for accessible communication.

Before co-founding PCSI, he served as a pulmonologist at Medical Specialties of the Palm Beaches and the University of Michigan Health System. He was also an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Michigan State College of Human Medicine.

On a more personal note, Dr. Pena-Hernandez has a true passion for practicing medicine in multicultural environments and mentoring physicians in training. He is an avid reader and a philanthropist. He enjoys running, playing tennis, traveling to wine and food destinations, and spending time with his wife Rebecca, his two boys, David and Sergio, and his daughter, Sofía.

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