Performance Pediatrics is happy to announce that, just this week, we became an official Reach Out and Read pediatric practice! Reading is most definitely doctor-recommended and this wonderful program enables us to give each child, from 6 months - 5 years, a new book at the start of each routine well exam.

 

Reach Out and Read builds on the unique relationship between parents and medical providers to develop critical early reading skills in children, beginning at 6 months of age. The more than 3.9 million families served annually by Reach Out and Read read together more often, and their children enter kindergarten better prepared to succeed, with larger vocabularies, stronger language skills, and a six-month developmental edge over their peers. We are proud to be a participating provider! 

Our newsletter is an opportunity to put into our own words recent relevant national and sometimes international news and make it specific for our community.  Please contact us with your thoughts and suggestions. One of the best parts of being a small practice is that we can customize our practice to fit the needs of our community, even as that community grows and changes.

Now that our secure patient portal is available for families, we have made the move to utilize electronic communications more (and snail mail and the telephone less). Be sure to check your junk mail folder for emails from noreply@performancepediatrics.com as that is the address we use most often for notifications. We use a no reply address because to reply is not secure. Portal users can log onto the secure site to send protected health information to us securely. Here are a few of the changes that will effect you:

• Confirming appointments: 5 - 10 days before a scheduled exam, an email will be sent to confirm the appointment. The email has a quick link embedded in it to enable you to quickly self-confirm the appointment. Alternatively, portal users can log on 7 - 10 days before an appointment to confirm. Patients who have not self confirmed will be called a day or two before to verbally confirm. 
• Completing behavior health questionnaires: At each well exam, Dr. McAllister and Rebecca utilize a standard set of age-appropriate behavior health questionnaires. When a routine well exam has been self-confirmed (either on the portal or via our email) the age-appropriate questionnaire is placed on the patient portal. Parents are encouraged to complete this online. If not completed online prior to the appointment, we ask that you arrive 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment time to complete the questionnaire on paper. 
• Well exam notice: We schedule routine well exam and follow-up appointments up to 12 weeks in the future. About a month or two before your child is due to schedule an exam, we will email a reminder to you. Our popular Saturday and after-school appointment slots book quickly, so be sure to call us as soon as you receive the reminder email at 508-747-8277. 
• Post appointment notes and satisfaction survey: A day or two after your child's appointment, we send out an email alerting you to the availability of a patient-friendly note on the secure portal. This email also includes a link to our anonymous and optional patient satisfaction survey (the system will let you complete the survey once/year).
• Lab results: If you are a portal user, you will receive an email when new lab results can be viewed on the portal.  

Be Well!