#wellchildcheck

No matter what grade your child is about to enter, there's always a back-to-school checklist of to-dos. 

Do you have the all the school supplies? Have you picked up this year’s “must-have” shoes? It's a good idea to add a visit to your family's healthcare provider for an annual wellness exam … or what we call a well-child exam. This is especially important – and often overlooked – for teenagers.

Adolescence is a time when vital changes are taking place; seeing your healthcare provider is important during the transition into puberty.

Back-to-school check-ups, as they are commonly called, are often the only visit kids and teenagers have with their provider every year. The annual physical gives the your doctor a chance to give your child a thorough physical exam that also addresses any emotional, developmental, or social concerns. 

It's also a good chance to address important questions or concerns you have as a parent, especially with teenagers, including adolescent issues of substance use such as drinking, bullying, smoking, drugs, sexual activity and depression.

Children can get an annual sport’s physical whether or not one is required for them to participate on a team or extracurricular activity. The sports physical is an opportunity to address exercise-specific issues, including injuries, nutrition, training and exercise programs, and even attitudes toward sports participation in the course of the exam. It is important to note, however, that a sports physical isn’t the same or as comprehensive, as a well-child exam.

When you have a long-term history with your healthcare provider, it allow him or her to the opportunity to follow your child's progress and development over time. This helps detect emerging problems, as well as stay informed on any new details of the patient's history―like past illnesses or injuries and immunization records.

Family medicine sounds like a very generic term when, in fact, it really isn’t. Family medicine providers, including physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants, focus very specifically on one thing: the health of you and your family.

“Family health providers have the training to care for you from birth to the end of life,” says Wendy Prins, Floyd Valley Clinic manager. “They’re committed to your health and providing comprehensive and compassionate care on your very best—and worst— days.”

What if when you were sick you had one place to go, where someone could look at you—all of you—and figure out what’s wrong and provide the care you need to get healthy again? What if that person worked with you to keep you healthy? Helped to make sure you were eating well, getting enough exercise, making positive choices and, when needed, provided the support to make changes in your life to keep you healthy?

That’s what it means to have a family doctor.

Research indicates that patients who have family doctors live longer, healthier lives. They are less likely to be hospitalized or die from chronic illness. And they have a trusted partner who is dedicated to keeping them and their family healthy.

“A family physician is your personal healthcare partner,” says   Dr. Ashley Powell, DO, a physician with the medical staff at Floyd Valley Healthcare. “We oftentimes have a greater understanding of their concerns or worries because we know them and their family.  We know their history. We live in the community and attend the same churches, games and events. Our doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants are not just healthcare providers; we’re friends and neighbors, and our patients really begin to feel like family.”

Powell says that’s what patients can expect from their family healthcare provider. And at a local hospital and clinic like  Floyd Valley Healthcare … even more so.

Floyd Valley Clinics’ providers are all board certified, each with unique interests. They have the education and expertise to address not just one aspect of your health or one illness, but everything from a cold or a few stiches to complex ongoing conditions that affect multiple areas of your life. They coordinate care with other  doctors and other departments at the hospital when you need  additional care.

Prins believes Floyd Valley Clinics has an advantage because of their staff, which includes family practice physicians, family doctors who provide OB services, physician assistants and nurse practitioners. It’s also staffed with a pediatrician, which is unique in a facility of its size.

“Specialists play an important role in a patient’s healthcare,” says Prins. “However, a recent study published by the American Journal of Clinical Medicine concluded that the prenatal, intrapartum and postpartum ‘care provided by family medicine physicians is comparable to obstetrics care provided by OB/GYN specialists.’”

The addition of advanced practitioners, including physician assistants and nurse practitioners, benefit patients also. These providers are licensed professionals who provide services that, in the past, have been offered by doctors, which include seeing patients, making diagnoses and prescribing medication. Just like physicians, these providers stay current on the latest research, treatments and standards of patient care and have access to the latest treatments and innovations in healthcare.

Advanced practitioners are also cost-effective, which helps to manage overall healthcare costs. And a larger clinical staff means more appointments and shorter waits for an appointment.