Choosing a pediatrician: what to ask
The AAP recommends that parents-to-be visit a pediatrician during the third trimester, and that the search starts with other parents you trust, your obstetrician, or a hospital or county medical society list. Most of the questions that matter are logistical: who answers the phone at 11 p.m., which hospital, which insurance network. The rest is whether you can picture asking this person something you feel silly asking.
Around this age
The first appointment comes fast. In the schedule most practices follow, the first well-child visit is at 3 to 5 days old, and visits continue at 1, 2, 4, 6 and 9 months, then 12, 15 and 18 months, 2 years, 2½ years, and 3, 4 and 5 years. A newborn is usually seen 48 to 72 hours after leaving the hospital, so the practice you pick is one you will be calling within the first week.
Pediatricians train specifically in the health and illnesses of children from birth through adolescence, and most are certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. Board-certified pediatricians who are members of the American Academy of Pediatrics use the letters FAAP after their name.
If you belong to a managed care plan, you will probably be choosing from that plan’s network, which is a reasonable place to start the list rather than a disappointment.
What to try
Call the offices on your list first. The staff can answer the basics, and their manner on the phone is information in itself. Ask whether the pediatrician is accepting new patients with your insurance, what the office hours are and whether they include weekends and holidays, when is the best time to call with routine questions, whether the doctors answer secure email or other HIPAA-compliant messages, and who answers the phone when your baby has a problem after the office has closed.
Then arrange an interview in the last months of pregnancy. Many pediatricians fit these in, and the AAP treats the prenatal visit as a first step toward a trusted relationship rather than a formality.
Questions families ask at that meeting:
- How soon after birth will you see the baby, and who sees us in the hospital?
- Which hospital would our child be admitted to, and who provides care there?
- How does the practice handle calls at night and on weekends, and who covers when you are away?
- Is this a group practice, and will we see you or whoever is free?
- What does the checkup schedule look like in the first year?
- What are the fees for sick visits and routine exams, and how does the office handle insurance forms?
- If our child ever needs specialists, will you coordinate care among them?
A prenatal visit is also a place to raise the things that arrive with a newborn: car seats, what bedding a crib needs, which vaccinations the adults in the house need to protect the baby, feeding plans, and postpartum depression.
Afterwards, the AAP’s test is simple enough to apply in the parking lot. Are you comfortable with this pediatrician’s philosophy, policies and practice? Do you believe your questions will be answered and your concerns handled with care? Were you comfortable with the staff and the general atmosphere of the office?
Changing later is allowed. Families move practices for all sorts of reasons, and asking for records to be transferred is routine.
When to call your pediatrician
Once you have chosen, call the office with the first-week appointment before the birth if you can, and call again with anything that worries you rather than waiting for the scheduled visit. Practices expect new-parent calls, and the after-hours line exists for exactly the questions that arrive at 2 a.m.
Sources
- Finding a Pediatrician — HealthyChildren.org (AAP)
- How to Choose a Pediatrician — HealthyChildren.org (AAP)
- AAP Schedule of Well-Child Care Visits — HealthyChildren.org (AAP)
This is educational information from public sources, not a replacement for advice from your child’s healthcare professional.
In Withya, the questions you want to ask can sit in Care next to the week they came from, so they are in your hand at the appointment.
