A recent article in USA Today discussed revisiting the Well Child plan. For those not familiar with the well child plan, these are the visits pediatricians plan to meet with infants and toddlers in order to assess that their development is on track.
They do this by weighing, measuring and discussing how the infant and toddler is doing in a variety of areas is a way for pediatricians to catch everything from speech delays to mental development issues long before they become a problem.
The issue that pediatricians are revisiting is the fact that Well Child visits are supposed to last no longer than 15 minutes, but most parents have more questions than 15 minutes allows and most pediatricians are interested in seeing to the needs of those parents.
In July, the American Academy of Pediatrics published the latest policy for the Well Child plan. The plan calls specifically for pediatricians to:
- Ask parents questions about their children’s development and look for signs of trouble at every well-child visit up to age 3
- Use formal, proven developmental screening tests at 9 months, 18 months and again at 24 and/or 30 months
- Autism screenings for all children at 18 months
- Additional screening to be offered ay time the doctor or parent is concerned about an issue
- Children, who fail screening tests, are to be referred to early-intervention programs and to specialists who will be able to evaluate the child fully for developmental and medical issues
The changes to the Well Child plan include the specific call for autism screening as well as the follow-up checking for issues that may concern the doctor, the parent or both. Ultimately, the American Academy of Pediatrics is looking to mix both formal screening and prompt responses to parental concerns in an effort to catch all developmental and medical issues early – the earlier the better – to benefit the child.
Does your pediatrician provide you with plenty of time at your well child visits?
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