We are continuing our journey with electronic health records in preperation for providing better care for your children.  June 1st is only two weeks away and coming fast.  While everyone is getting excited that summer weather is finally here, we at Bayshore are getting excited that electronic health record is finally here.  We know that we are going be challenged with new ways of doing things and are ready to meet the challenge.  Our primary goal though is to make sure that we are caring for what is most precious to you – your child or children – with the best care we have always given.   To that end, we have made some changes to our schedules so that we can care for you as best as possible.

For the month of June we have reduced our schedules because it will take us a little longer to see patients at the start.  We have specifically reduced the number of physicals we will see during this time so that we make sure we have time to see sick patients.  We want to thank you in advance for your patience.  During this time, we can definitely add you to a wait list for physicals and urgent care is available after 5:00 every night.  We recognize that this is not ideal but feel this is the best way to care for the children we see.

We are currently scheduling appointments with the new electronic health record now.  If you are calling to schedule more than one child, it may take a little longer for the new system.  You will continue to receive calls reminding you of your appointment and reminders that it is time to make a physical appointment in the future. 

So what is the good news about scheduling?  The new system will allow us to schedule appointments while seeing other appointments that you might have across Children’s.  This will help us not “double or in some cases quadruple book” families.   In addition, the system makes it easier to add you to a wait list if the appointment given is too far out for physicals.  This will help ensure children are seen when they need to be seen, especially for physicals that are needed for school or sports.

Coming soon: sometime in August you will be able to either request an appointment via email or schedule your own appointment, both through My Chart access.  We will provide more information as this gets closer. 

As we go through this, we hope that we are sharing with you ways that this will help you and your family.  If at any point during this time or ever, you feel that your needs are not being met or you have questions, please feel free to let us know. 

Next up: Check in – why do you always ask for my information and will you keep asking?

Viral season has hit already this year, and it is hitting pretty hard. Most of the viruses that we see through the winter time have decided to all come in December this year. While we have seen one virus type in December, a different one in January and the next one in February, this year they are all melding together. That means kids, teens and adults are getting sick and then just when they seem like they are better they get sick with the next virus.
THe viruses going around include para-influenzae (typically causes croup), influenza and respiratory syncitial virus (causes bronchiolitis in the infants and colds in older kids). They all have similar symptoms; cough, congestion, sore throats, high fevers (I have seen them as high as 105 but 103 is typical), and even some vomiting and diarrhea. It can be difficult to distinguish one virus from the other unless the child has the barky cough that goes with croup.
It doesn’t usually matter which virus your child has though since treatment is the same.

If you want to help your child with one of these viral syndromes you can try the following:
- make sure they are drinking lots of fluids
- run a cool mist humidifier in their room
- have steam parties during the day- get the bathroom all steamy and sit and play or read
books in there.
- if they are over 18 months offer honey 3-4 times per day
- cold medicines don’t offer much help and often have side effects that make a child feel
worse. They can also be dangerous if given to children under 5 years of age.
Tylenol and/or Motrin can be given to alleviate fevers and aches

Call our office or seek help if:
- your child seems short of breath
- your child is listless, won’t watch TV or read books because they seem to sick
- fever is lasting longer then 5 days
- symptoms seem to improve and then get worse again
- your child didn’t have a fever and then suddenly develops one 4-5 days into their illness
- you are just worried.

Try to limit exposure to others while your child is acutely ill. Typically we say if the fever has been under 100 for 24 hours without medicine they are ok to return to school. If they still seem sick it is better to stay at home then return to school- first you don’t want to pass the illness to others, secondly, while they are sick, their resistance is down which means they are more likely to pick up the next virus.

These viruses come every year. This year is a little earlier and a little harder, but it will pass. REmember to rest, drink lots of fluid, and wash hands well. Also, get your flu shot, it is not too late.

I have had a couple of patients less than 2 months old with fevers recently.  Both of them ended up having urinary tract infections.  Most of the time we don’t worry about fevers too much but it is definitely important to call us right away if your baby is less than 2 months old and has a rectal temperature over 100.4.  The reason we want you to call is because there is a higher risk of bacterial infections in kids under 2 months old with a fever.

Hope everyone is having a great fall so far.  Stay Healthy!