Birth: Hepatitis B (Given in the hospital)

One Month Visit: Hepatitis B

Two Month Visit: DTaP, IPV, Hib, Prevnar 13, Rotarix

Four Month Visit: DTaP, IPV, Hib, Prevnar 13, Rotarix

Six Month Visit: Hep B, DTaP, IPV, Prevnar 13

How this will affect the vaccine schedule in our North Attleboro office is not yet clear. Each state provides the vaccines that we administer in our offices. Any infant who has already begun receiving their immunizations in the Lincoln office will be kept on the normal schedule if possible as long as our supply of Pediarix holds out. Due to the added complexity of the new schedule, we will not be able to offer the alternative vaccine schedule for newborns starting their immunizations. Those infants already on the alternative schedule will be allowed to continue on it as long as the appropriate vaccines are available. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in this matter.

Sincerely,

LPA

1. What is the definition of a fever? A temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher is considered a fever. There are many methods of measuring a temperature available to the modern parent. When reporting a fever to your child’s doctor, simply state the temperature, the device used to measure the temperature, and the location where the temperature was measured. For example, stating that a child has “a temperature of 101 degrees measured rectally with a digital thermometer” is a correct way to communicate the information. Please do not make any adjustments to the temperature as this sometimes leads to confusion.

2. What temperature is a “dangerous” temperature? There is not a black and white answer to this question. A helpful way to answer this question is to answer the following four questions (assuming that your child is otherwise healthy and there are no other underlying health problems):

a. How high is the temperature? A fever of 104-105 generally has a higher risk of being a more serious infection.

b. What do I think is causing the fever? An obvious source of the fever such as a runny nose or cough can be reassuring.

c. How sick does the child appear with the fever? A mildly ill appearing child is less worrisome.

d. How does the child appear an hour after acetaminophen or ibuprofen was administered? If the child is “back to normal” after treating the fever, this is again reassuring.

In summary, if the fever is low grade (101-102),  has an obvious source, in a mildly ill appearing child who perks up nicely after treatment, it is generally safe to treat and observe that child for the next several days. After three days of fever, it may be a good idea to at least touch base with your child’s doctor.

Other thoughts about fever include:

-Severe headache, stiff neck, or rash with fever may indicate a more serious infection and your child’s doctor should be contacted as soon as possible

-Any fever in a child less than 2-3 months of age is also more worrisome and your child’s doctor should be contacted immediately

-Sponging a child with lukewarm water or giving a tepid bath can sometimes be a helpful adjunct in treating a high fever (104-105 degrees)

-Dress your child appropriately based on the height of the fever and offer liquids more frequently so dehydration does not occur

-Most fevers from viral illnesses can last 3-5 days; it is usually a good idea to touch base with your child’s doctor after three days of fever or sooner if you have any concerns or questions

We hope these few bits of information were helpful. We also hope you check out the rest or our website as we have made some recent improvements.

Sincerely,

LPA

“The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”

- Chinese Proverb

As a result of our new providers, we are able to expand our hours at our North Attleboro office to include Wednesday and Thursday mornings.  Our hours at our North Attleboro office are now 9-5 PM Monday thru Friday. We will continue to offer evening hours until 7 PM at our Lincoln office Monday thru Thursday as well as 9-12 PM on Saturdays.

As some of you know, our website was recently “hacked” as they say. It is back up and running fine. We have taken appropriate steps to make sure that it does not happen again. We apologize for any inconvenience it may have caused.

The flu season seems to be winding down after a fast and furious beginning back in November. Getting immunized was key for the shortness of the season.

That’s all for now. Hopefully Spring is around the corner!

LPA

I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.                              Harry S Truman

Sincerely,

LPA

Sincerely,

LPA

PLEASE DO NOT USE THE ABOVE NUMBER DURING OUR NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS IF YOU ARE SIMPLY GETTING A BUSY SIGNAL. There are times when the phones are busy and it may be difficult to get through. If you are experiencing difficulty getting through on a regular basis, please let us know personally or you can send us an email through our website. We do not respond to the emails, but we do read them and find them helpful.

Sincerely,

LPA

The flu season will soon be upon us. Flu shots are recommended for all patients 6 months of age and up. During the month of September, we will begin offering the flu vaccine to patients already scheduled for well visits.

In addition, the following times will be available to schedule your child to receive the flu vaccine:

September 24-28 at the following times at our Lincoln Office:

Monday and Tuesday 10-11 AM

Wednesday 2-3 PM

Thursday 10-11 AM

Friday 10-11 AM and 2-4 PM

Again, your child needs to be scheduled during these times to receive the flu vaccine.

ANNOUNCING: We will behaving FLU CLINICS on Saturday, October 13th and 20th. These are from 8 AM -Noon. These are on a walk-in basis and you do not need to schedule an appointment. Please take advantage of these clinics to make sure your child is up-to-date with their flu vaccine.

Sincerely,

LPA

The summer is also a good time to make sure your child’s yearly physical exam is up-to-date. Please let us know if you need to schedule an appointment.

Thanks,

LPA

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

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