REFERRALS

Please allow one week  if a referral is needed. It is important that you give us the following information:

• Name and date of birth of child
• Primary care provider of child
• Correct insurance information
• Name, phone number, and fax of physician being referred to
• Date and time of appointment
• Reason for visit

If you are leaving us a message by phone with the above information, please speak clearly. Correct spelling of names is also very helpful.
If you choose to utilize an Urgent Care or ER facility, we  generally do not approve of self-referrals  if done during our regular office hours. If you so choose,  you will run the risk of paying for the visit out of  your own pocket.

FORMS

A completed state school physical examination form and a copy of your child’s immunizations will be provided at each well visit. This exam form will be good for one year. You can make additional copies for sports and other activities as needed throughout the year. We will charge a $10 fee for any additional or lost physical exam forms that need to be filled out. Additional forms will not be completed unless the fee is paid for in advance and all other needed information has been filled out on the form. Please allow one week for completion of any additional forms.

MORNING CALL-IN

Many of you have taken advantage of our call-in time Monday through Friday from 7-8 AM. This time has been available for advice or same day sick appointments and has allowed you to speak with a physician directly. We are modifying this time on a trial basis as follows:

1. When you call our regular office number between 7-8 AM, the answering service will take the pertinent information and immediately send a text-message to the covering  physician.

2. A physician will be available from 7-8 AM Monday through Friday to respond to the messages from the service. This call-in time is to be used for advice or same day sick appointments. All other routine calls should be made during our regular office hours.

3. You will be called back by a physician within a short time since we have set this time specifically aside to answer morning calls.

Without going into detail, this will help LPA  in a number of ways. We will try our best to make this time available on a regular basis, though sometimes meetings, sickness, and vacations throw a wrench into our well-intentioned plans. As always we appreciate your patience and cooperation.

Finally 
If you have not signed up for our automatic email notification when a new post is made, follow the link below and do it now. We think it will be a great help to you and your family.

http://www.lincolnpedi.com/resources/email-updates/

Sincerely,

LPA

The nutrition program recently offered  on our website is cancelled due to lack of response. We will offer it again later this winter or in early spring.

PHONE ETIQUETTE:

Lincoln pediatrics is committed to providing 24-7 telephone coverage. Because the telephone is important to providing excellent care for our patients, the following suggestions would help us to accomplish this task:

• During normal office hours, you should expect a call-back by the end of the morning or the end of the day. Judy, our nurse, returns many of the routine phone calls and questions that we receive.
• Please give us one phone number where we can reach you. Multiple phone numbers are not practical due to the volume of calls we must return.
• Please keep the phone line free so we may return your call as promptly as possible.  We will only attempt one or two call-backs.
• Please have your caller ID turned off. We ask you to respect the privacy of the numbers that we’re using to return your call.
• When your call is returned, please state the name, age of the child, and a brief description of your concern.
• If you are calling outside of our normal office hours, please have a pharmacy number handy and have an approximation of your child’s weight. It is also helpful to give us an exact description of the medicines that your child is currently receiving and any allergies he or she may have. Have a back-up 24-hour pharmacy number as well.
• After-hours telephone usage should be restricted to emergencies only. Routine advice, laboratory results, and prescription refills should be done during our normal office hours.
• If you are having any problems with the answering service or have any suggestions for us to improve our telephone coverage please let us know.

Sincerely,

LPA

Our next two flu clinics  are as follows:

Saturday, October 15, in the Lincoln office from 8 AM-12Noon.

Saturday, November 5, in the Lincoln office from 8 AM-12Noon. (This is a corrected date.)

Those children that already have appointments for well visits in the next several months can be given their flu shot at the time of their visit. More schools are offering the vaccine as well and this may be an option for your child. Vaccination is not only important in protecting your child, but it decreases the incidence of influenza in the entire community.

NUTRITION PROGRAM

Lincoln Pediatrics has partnered with HeathWayRI to provide a four week nutrition program at our Lincoln Office. 

When: Wednesdays 7:00-8:00 P.M. Starting on October 26 for four weeks.

Where: Our Lincoln Office

Who: Children ages 10 and above.

Our space is limited, so we can only accommodate ten families (one adult plus one child). The Cost is $60 for the four sessions. You can pay by cash or by check made out to HealthWayRI. You can register by phone, but you will be officially signed up once we receive your payment. Again, we our limited to the first ten families that sign up.

ANCHOR COUNSELING

We have also partnered with Anchor Counseling to provide more timely and on-site availability to counseling services.  Richard Figueira, LICSW, is the clinical director of Anchor Counseling. He will be providing on-site services at our North Attleboro office starting in November. We are excited about this new partnership with Anchor Counseling. We believe it will be a win-win situation for our patients and for Anchor Counseling.

Sincerely,

LPA

Saturday, October 1, in the Lincoln office from 8 AM-12Noon.

Saturday, October 15, in the Lincoln office from 8 AM-12Noon.

Saturday, November 5, in the Lincoln office from 8 AM-12Noon. (This is a corrected date.)

Those children that already have appointments for well visits in the next several months can be given their flu shot at the time of their visit. More schools are offering the vaccine as well and this may be an option for your child. Vaccination is not only important in protecting your child, but it decreases the incidence of influenza in the entire community.

MORNING CALL-IN

Many of you have taken advantage of our call-in time Monday through Friday from 7-8 AM. This time has been available for advice or same day sick appointments and has allowed you to speak with a physician directly. We are modifying this time on a trial basis as follows:

1. When you call our regular office number between 7-8 AM, the answering service will take the pertinent information and immediately send a text-message to the covering  physician.

2. A physician will be available from 7-8 AM Monday through Friday to respond to the messages from the service. This call-in time is to be used for advice or same day sick appointments. All other routine calls should be made during our regular office hours.

3. You will be called back by a physician within a short time since we have set this time specifically aside to answer morning calls.

Without going into detail, this will help LPA  in a number of ways. We will try our best to make this time available on a regular basis, though sometimes meetings, sickness, and vacations throw a wrench into our well-intentioned plans. As always we appreciate your patience and cooperation.

Finally 
If you have not signed up for our automatic email notification when a new post is made, follow the link below and do it now. We think it will be a great help to you and your family.

http://www.lincolnpedi.com/resources/email-updates/

Sincerely,

LPA

Sincerely,

LPA

1. When you call our regular office number between 7-8 AM, the answering service will take the pertinent information and immediately send a text-message to the covering  physician.

2. A physician will be available from 7-8 AM Monday through Friday to respond to the messages from the service. This call-in time is to be used for advice or same day sick appointments. All other routine calls should be made during our regular office hours.

3. You will be called back by a physician within a short time since we have set this time specifically aside to answer morning calls.

Without going into detail, this will help LPA  in a number of ways. We will try our best to make this time available on a regular basis, though sometimes meetings, sickness, and vacations throw a wrench into our well-intentioned plans. As always we appreciate your patience and cooperation.

Sincerely,

LPA

1. Make it regular. This will create anticipation and expectation.

2. Have people over. This is a great way to get to know your children’s friends. It is also a good time for children to get to know your peers as well. Children need to see adults interact. Manners don’t happen by accident. Teach your children how to serve and think of others when you have guests at the dinner table.

3. No cell phones period! You don’t want to hear ringing, vibrating, or see texting at the table. Our society is increasingly addicted to these devices (and that includes you mom and dad!) As a result, our children are increasingly becoming poor communicators at a very basic level.

4. Don’t be a short order cook. Prepare one meal. Put it in front of your children and then talk about everything else but food. If they don’t eat much, it’s not a big deal. Don’t make meals a battle and they won’t be.

5. Team clean-up! Not only does it make it funner and faster, it gives additional time to connect as a family.

Don’t underestimate the importance of these times. It keeps open the doors of communication. It helps your children have a sense of family identity.  It can strengthen them to resist the pressures that your children face daily. Make it a priority when your children are young and it will become part of the fabric of your family.

Sincerely,

LPA

Burns are among the most common accidental injuries in infants and children, and scalding injuries occur most frequently. Children commonly are burned by hot liquids spilled from a table or stove, but approximately 3,800 injuries and 30 deaths each year are reported to be due to burns from tap water that is too hot. The amount of contact time required to produce a third-degree burn is less than parents may realize.

Water Temperature Time Until Third-degree Burn Occurs:

150ºF 2 seconds

140ºF 6 seconds

130ºF 30 seconds

120ºF 5 minutes

Therefore, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has recommended that all water heaters be set to 120ºF. Parents should call their local electric or gas companies for instructions on adjusting the temperature. Parents who live in apartments should talk with their building managers about having the temperature lowered because the hot water heaters in most apartment buildings are set at higher temperatures to provide hot water to all tenants. In addition to setting hot water heaters to a lower temperature, parents should hand-test water before bathing children and infants, and young children never should be left unsupervised in the bathroom.

Sincerely,

LPA

Let’s take a quiz. (All in good fun!)

Question #1: Your child has a runny nose, sneezing, cough, and a temperature of 100 degrees. They have:

A: Swine Flu

B: the common cold.

Answer B: the common cold. (See how easy that was!)

Question #2: Your child has vomiting, diarrhea, and a fever of 102. They have:

A: Swine Flu

B: a stomach virus.

Answer B: a stomach virus. (You’re doing great!)

Question #3: Your child has a rash. They have:

A: the Swine Flu

B: a rash.

Answer B: a rash. (If you missed that one you are in serious trouble.)

Many times we are asked “what is a dangerous fever”. The answer is not as complicated as you might think. Ask yourself three questions: 1. What do I think is causing the fever? (See prior quiz.) 2. How ill does my child look? They may not feel well, but do they really look that sick? 3. How do they respond to the usual things that we recommend? (Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, rest, increased fluids). They might look ill at the moment, but if they are running around the house an hour later after ibuprofen that is reassuring. Put yourselves in their shoes. How would you feel and act if you had similar symptoms? Don’t be surprised if they act the same way as you would.

Therefore as fall begins, we are appealing to parents to use common sense. The phone lines are going to be extra busy. Appointments for sick children may be in high demand and harder to come by. If you can do your part, it may help decrease some of the phone calls and leave appointments open for those that need them. We have been making preparations all summer for this coming flu season. However, we also need your patience, cooperation, and understanding so we can get through this sick season together. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Later in September we will have the latest updates on H1N1. We will also post times when we will have flu shot clinics in the office. No appointment will be necessary, so please don’t call us. All you will need to do is bring your child to the dates and times listed. Thanks for all your help.

LPA

 1.  We have become a soft drink nation. We “drink” too many calories. Approximately one-third of teenage boys drink at least three 12 ounce servings of soft drinks daily. The problem when we drink our calories is that they don’t “fill” us up. We still eat the same amount of food. One can of soda a day that we don’t need will add 10-15 lbs to our weight yearly. What should we do?

• Limit the availability of sugar-sweetened drinks. This includes: soda, juice, juice drinks, Kool-Aid, sports drinks, flavored milk, etc.
• Water should be the main thirst quencher. Don’t sweeten it with juice.
• Provide skim or 1% milk at each meal. Most children are deficient in their calcium intake.
• Juice should be 100% fruit juice, and limited to no more than 6-8 ounces per day. Eating an apple is healthier than a glass of apple juice and has one-third less calories.

2.  We have become a fast food nation. Children eat fast food an average of twice a week.  Many fast food choices are laden with calories and fat. Portion size is also a problem. This years “large” becomes next years “medium.” What should we do?

• Serve portion sizes appropriate for the age of the child. We need to do our homework in this area.
• Avoid super-size meals and drinks. Avoid all-you-can eat buffets. 
• Share a meal or split it and take the other half home for another day.
• Help children to eat when hungry and to stop when full.

3.  We have become a lazy nation. Only 50% of young people in this country ages 12-21 years regularly participate in rigorous physical activity. An astonishing  25% report no physical activity at all. What should we do?

• Children need 60 minutes of physical activity daily. Advocate for physical education and recess times at school.
• Establish physical activity as part of your family routine for all members of your home.
• Plan special weekend activities.
• Use public facilities for activities.
• Support participation in non-competitive and competitive activities.
• Support physical activity programs for children with special needs.

4.  We have become a TV/video game nation. The average child or adolescent watches three hours of TV daily, not including time watching movies or playing video games. About ten commercials per hour advertise food to your children, as they sit there eating and watching TV. What should we do?

• Avoid having a TV set in your children’s bedrooms.
• Limit TV/video games to no more than 1-2 hours per day.
• Monitor what they watch.
• Teach them to critique TV advertising.
• Encourage active play as an alternative to TV/video games.

Finally, we must start young. In one study, only 7% of normal weight children became obese as adults. If they were overweight as children, 77% became obese as adults.  Being fat as a child is not a sign of good health. It is a sign of a potentially serious problem. In summary, we must be good role models. We must provide healthy choices. And finally, remember 5,3,2,1,0:

5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily
3 meals a day and more meals prepared at home (includes a healthy breakfast).
2 hours or less of screen time. No more than 2 times dining out per week.
1 hour of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily. One portion size.
0 servings of sugar sweetened drinks.

May you all have a healthy and happy new year!