As the school season is preparing to end and temperatures rise, summer is just around the corner. It’s a season filled with outdoor adventures, vacations, and quality time with loved ones. However, before diving headfirst into the summer fun, it’s essential for families to prioritize their health and well-being. One crucial aspect of this is scheduling well visits with their healthcare provider.
The Importance of Well Visits
Well visits, focus on maintaining good health and preventing potential health problems. They are an opportunity for children and adolescents to receive comprehensive assessments, vaccinations, screenings, and guidance on healthy living. Here’s three ways your patients and families can have a successful summer and meet the demand of well visits with the following:
- Catch up on Vaccinations: Before embarking on any summer travels or outdoor activities, well visits provide an opportunity for healthcare providers to review immunization records and administer any necessary vaccines, protecting against diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, and COVID-19. Vaccination requirements for next school season or specific activities may prompt families to schedule appointments during this time.
- Patient Recalls: With summer break from school, children/adolescents have more free time, making it easier to schedule appointments without interfering with their academic commitments. This is a great time for your practice to send out automated call and texts reminders, emails and mailed letters or postcards are great reminders for patients overdue for care.
- Sports and Activities: Many adolescents participate in sports or engage in physical activities during the summer. Pre-participation physical examinations (PPEs) are often required before starting a new sports season, and summer is a convenient time for these exams.
By emphasizing the importance of well visits healthcare providers can ensure that their patients and families are ready to make the most of the summer season. Whether your patients are embarking on a family road trip, exploring the great outdoors, or simply enjoying quality time together at home, maintaining good health is the key to making lasting memories and enjoying all that summer has to offer.
SECOND DOSE GRANT
As you prepare this summer to see patients for well visits and working on improving immunization rates, take advantage of CPP’s Second Dose Program. You can earn a grant for raising rates for vaccines that require more than one dose to complete the series, access resources to help implement a strategy in your office to raise those rates and share successful strategies with other CPP members.
For more information contact CPP at cpp@nationwidechildrens.org.