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What is Well Child Care?
Well child care encompasses a wide variety of services to both promote good health and prevent diseases. We provide well child care based on the American Academy of Pediatrics Bright Futures Guidelines for Health Supervision.
What to Expect at Your Visit
Below is an overview of what can be expected at well checks. Depending on the age and risk factors present for any given child, not all items are performed at a given visit.
- Measurements of height, weight, head circumference (infants/toddlers), blood pressure, and calculations of proportions
- Sensory screening for vision and hearing
- Lab testing for anemia, lead exposure, hyperlipidemia, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases
- Developmental/Behavioral Health Screening for global development, autism, mood disorders, anxiety, ADHD, substance use, sexual activity
- Complete physical examination
- Immunizations to protect from communicable diseases
- Anticipatory guidance on a wide range of issues
- Addressing of concerns raised by parent and/or child
For a complete listing of recommended care by age according to the Bright Futures Preventative Pediatric Health Care Guidelines, please view and/or download the schedule here.
Surveys and Assessments
We utilize various surveys and questionnaires at well child care visits. These assist us in:
- Identifying risk factors that require at least further inquiry if not non-standard testing at a well visit. As an example, spending a month in certain countries places visitors at risk for contracting tuberculosis. Such a visit requires testing for tuberculosis via either a skin test or a blood test, neither of which is routine in this part of Suffolk County.
- Identifying concerns about topics that parents and children/adolescents want to discuss but have difficulty raising.
- Screening for developmental delays using validated standardized screening tools. This enables us to identify certain concerns of this nature far easier than simply examining a young child. It is more common than not for a young child to behave differently in our office than your home.
- Screening for anxiety and depression in older children and adolescents. This is another situation where using a validated standardized screening tool enables us to identify concerns that may not be obvious during the course of an office visit.
Lab Testing and Sensory Screening
We perform all recommended lab testing and sensory screening in house with the exception of STD screening. Samples for STD testing are prepared and pickup is arranged with several major laboratories (based on which your insurance company dictates). Among the recommended testing/screening performed are:
- Hearing Assessments: We have the ability to assess hearing as young as newborn
- Vision Screening: We have the ability to perform vision screening as young as six months of age
- Anemia Screening
- Hyperlipidemia Screening
- Lead Exposure Screening
- Type II Diabetes Screening
- Spirometry (for asthmatics)
- Tuberculosis Screening
Immunizations
We follow AAP Guidelines for the administration of immunizations to protect all ages from communicable diseases. We strongly believe in the necessity of immunizing the population to protect from potentially fatal communicable diseases. While there are potential adverse effects from any intervention we undertake, the safety record of immunizations has been remarkable and responsible for the saving of millions of lives. Due to our beliefs, we do not establish relationships with new families that do not wish to vaccinate.