Summertime, when pediatric office visits are typically low, is a good time to get your young patients up to date on their vaccines, immunizations, and boosters.
As you know, children, preteens, and teens have specific vaccination requirements and certain immunizations are recommended at specific ages. As they visit your office to comply with school or day care requirements, talk to their parents about the importance of vaccinating their children and help improve immunization rates.
For children who may not have been to your office in a while, reach out to their parents and encourage them to schedule an appointment for their child.
Here are some helpful tips to engage with parents.
- Review and ensure accurate and thorough chart preparation before the appointment.
- Review charts for immunization gaps.
- Educate your care teams about scheduling visits within the guideline time frames.
- Continue to ensure at each appointment (even sick visits), that immunization records are reviewed and encourage them to catch up on missed immunizations.
- Advise parents on the importance of timely completion of each vaccine series.
- Provide handouts on the diseases/illnesses that the vaccines prevent.
Follow the guidelines for ages 7 to 18 and 6 and under and see more information and resources on childhood immunizations and health activities on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. Your influence is key in the development, health, and well-being of children.
This is a quality measure based on the American Academy of Pediatrics Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children and Adolescents (published by the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health).
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