Over the last two years,  Westwood-Mansfield Pediatrics has been working to develop a "medical home" for all of our patients.  The American Academy of Pediatrics describes the medical home as a  model of delivering primary care that is accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family-centered, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally effective care.   First, we hired Lisa Drenkhahn, our educational care coordinator, and Christine Purcell, our medical care coordinator, who upon provider referral, will help patients and their parents navigate both the educational and medical systems to get the most comprehensive care that they can get.  Second, we developed a Medical Home Team which consists of these coordinators, representatives of both the provider and nursing staff, and parents who meet several times a year to hone the mission of he Medical Home.  We are trying to improve accessibility through our patient portal and other systems of communication such as our videos on line.  We strive to bring you important, relevant information through our educational materials at all of our visits and our well-received educational seminars, including our particularly relevant seminar on concussions coming up in October.  Our coordinators are also very busy developing relationships with people throughout the community  who may be able to help your child  - including therapists, psychologists, and a variety of programs that service children and their families.  If you need help getting what you need for you child please speak to a provider and we will help you to the best of our ability.

• When your child is started on a new medication or if there is a change in dosage of medication it is required that we follow up in the office within 21 days of the medication change. This is to ensure that there are no untoward side effects from the medication and the medication is effective.
•  We will only prescribe the necessary amount to get to the next visit when there is a medication change.  We realize that often times your co-pay is the same whether you get 2 weeks or 4 weeks.   However, when we do not follow these guidelines, patients do not come in until the prescription has run out.   This is beyond that 3 week period that national guidelines recommend we follow.
• If you miss your appointment or cancel your appointment after a medication change, we will be unable to refill a prescription until you are seen. The monitoring of these medications is essential to good care. 
•  Follow-up for established patients who have been on a stable dose and are doing well is at the very least every 4 months. 

PROACTIVE IN YOUR CHILD'S CARE!