Pediatrics
COVID-19 Guidance for Children
Well-Child Appointments
When making routine well-child appointments, you are free to choose an individual physician or nurse practitioner as your child’s primary care provider. If you have no preference, your child will be automatically assigned to one of our providers. Yale Health strongly encourages you to complete a Release of Health Information form prior to your child's first appointment.
We follow the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended visit schedule for well-child care. Newborns are typically seen 1–3 days after hospital discharge, and then again at 2 weeks old. Subsequent appointments occur at 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 24, and 30 months old. We then recommend yearly visits through adolescence. Additional visits may be necessary if any special needs arise.
We encourage you to schedule routine visits as far in advance as possible.
Advice and Sick Visits
Our pediatric triage team is available by phone Monday through Friday, 8:30 am–5:00 pm. If you have a concern about an illness or injury, please call our office during that time so that we can discuss your child’s symptoms. Our specially trained triage nurses work closely with our clinicians to help decide whether your child needs to be seen in the office that day, less urgently on another day, or if the problem can be solved with simple steps at home.
After-Hours/Weekends
If your child has an urgent issue weekdays after 5:00 pm, weekends or holidays, please call Acute Care at 203-432-0123. The Acute Care staff will contact the on-call pediatrician if necessary. A pediatric provider is available in Acute Care to see patients with acute problems from 9:00 am–3:00 pm on Saturdays and 11:00 am–3:00 pm on Sundays and holidays.
Teens and Confidentiality
At Yale Health pediatrics our goal is to create a safe place for teens to get the health care they deserve. Establishing and maintaining confidentiality is an essential step. Teens will grow into adults who must learn to advocate for their own health and well-being and we want to help families start this transition. When appropriate (usually in middle school) our providers will request to speak with your child alone. Providers explain the ground rules, and families always have the right to decline. Basically, if an adolescent patient at Yale Health has a concern they do not want shared with others, we want them to feel safe discussing it with us so that we can help.
Although minors cannot generally make routine healthcare decisions for themselves, there are four exceptions protected by Connecticut law. From their 13th to 18th birthday, children may make confidential healthcare decisions and consent to treatment for aspects of:
- Reproductive healthcare
- Substance abuse treatment
- Initial mental health treatment
- Testing/treatment of HIV/AIDS
MyChart and Proxy Access
MyChart provides full access to your own electronic health record in Epic. As a parent/guardian of a child 12 years and younger, you have full access to the child’s health information through MyChart. However access to a child’s health record is restricted between the child’s 13th and 18th birthday. Restrictions are put in place to comply with Connecticut law as mentioned above.
Proxy is the term Epic uses to access another person’s medical record through MyChart. There are different levels of Proxy, but for the majority of our families “Teen Limited Proxy” will allow parents/guardians to maintain very limited access to a child’s medical record (messaging, allergies, and immunizations) between the child’s 13th and 18th birthday.
Children age 13 to 17 years may create their own MyChart account to fully access their own health record, including the visit notes written by their providers. In special circumstances, a parent/guardian can retain full access to a child’s health record, but this requires a discussion with, and authorization from, your child’s primary care provider.
Forms
We provide a daycare or school form at every well-child visit beginning at 18 months. We encourage you to make copies, as you may need several of them throughout the year. If other health forms are required, please drop them off in Pediatrics once all your personal information has been completed. We make every effort to complete these within one week.
Vaccines
Adherence to the American Academy of Pediatrics vaccine schedule is a fundamental part of pediatric preventative care. Unless there is a specific medical contraindication, it is important that this schedule be followed. Altering the conventional immunization schedule will unnecessarily increase your child’s risk of contracting vaccine-preventable diseases and is strongly discouraged. Information about Pediatric vaccines.
Any questions about specific vaccines can be discussed with your provider during well-child visits.
Medical Chaperones
For children 13 and over, if your visit includes a sensitive exam, treatment, or procedure, a medical chaperone will be required during that portion of the visit.
