Why Get Well Child Visits?
Well child visits serve many purposes in promoting the physical, mental, and social health of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. The most important purpose is developing a trusting, caring relationship between parents, children, and their health team. In addition, well child visits are important for:
- Identifying and addressing the concerns that parents and patients bring to the visit.
- Identifying and addressing possible concerns in parent’s lives and the child’s environment that may affect parenting and their child’s well-being.
- Identifying and addressing developmental, behavioral, and health concerns through measurements, screens, tests, history, and physical examination at the visit
- Following-up on prior concerns and ongoing conditions
- Providing information, guidance,and resources
Well Child Visit Frequency
Caring for your child begins even before your child is born. Therefore it is important that the mother maintain good prenatal care.
We offer free prenatal consultations in our office as you try to decide who you would like to be a pediatrician for your yet unborn child.
Well Child Visit Content
Dr. Johnson will attend to your newborn if born at Norton Suburban Hospital, Norton Hospital, or Baptist East Hospital. He will visit and examine the baby each morning while the baby is admitted. We ask that you inform the nursery nursing staff and personally inform my office staff. Do not allow any other physicians to examine the baby. Also, if your child was not born in any of the above hospitals, we will be glad to become the Primary Care Provider (PCP).
Your baby should be seen in our office for the initial visit within 2-3 days after discharge from the hospital. At this first visit, if Dr. Johnson did not examine and discharge the baby, please bring the “discharge summary” from the birth hospital and copies of any tests performed to assure a smooth transition of care from the hospital to our office. After the initial newborn well child visit, we recommend well visits at the following intervals.
- 1 Month Old
- 2 Months Old
- 4 Months Old
- 6 Months Old
- 9 Months Old
- 12 Months Old
- 15 Months Old
- 18 Months Old
- 24 Months Old
- 30 Months Old
- Yearly from 3-18 Years Old
Before Each Well Visit
- Complete the secure online questionnaires (coming soon)
Questionnaires help us identify:
- Concerns that you would like addressed at the upcoming visit
- Risk factors for behavioral, emotional, and health problems
- Possible issues within the child’s environment that may affect your child
- Possible problems with your child’s development
- Possible problems with your child’s behavior
- Possible emotional and health problems
Questionnaires may come to you in several ways.
- Per email as an attachment
- Per USPS if requested early enough before the visit
- You may download from the online Patient Portal (coming soon)
Only the staff and Dr. Johnson will have access to the completed questionnaires. Completing the questionnaires prior to the visit saves valuable time, thereby streamlining the medical care your child receives.
At Each Visit
- Screening tests, blood tests, hearing tests, or vision tests based on each child’s age to monitor for potential problems
- Vital signs and growth data are obtained and evaluated
- Thorough history and physical examination per your medical provider
- Concerns are identified and addressed
- A personalized care plan, and necessary follow-ups, referrals, lab work or other diagnostic testing may be initiated
At Strathmoor Pediatrics, we are dedicated to providing the best care for your children. We follow the most up-to-date, evidence-based national recommendations in providing the most comprehensive pediatric care for your child. This process necessarily takes extra time, please be patient.
*** Please plan 60-90 minutes at our office for each well visit ***
— — NOTE — Two children will then double that time needed — —
Our well child visits meet the requirements for day care, school, camp, and sports examinations. We do not aspire to the “quickie” physical nor the “simple” sports physical. Eliminating recommended components of the well visit is poor quality medical care.
If your child is 4 years old or older and has had a well visit within the past 12 months, we can complete the form based on the most recent well visit. If the school, sport, or camp requires a physical after a certain date, but your child had a well visit prior to that date, it is not necessary to get another physical. As long as that last physical was within the past 12 months, we will complete the requisite forms based on that most recent physical. Please remember that there is a charge for the completion of these forms noted in the Forms section.
Below is a current recommendations of the well child visit based on the American Academy of Pediatrics Bright Futures Periodicity Schedule.