How Can I Find Medical And Dental Care For My Baby?
                              

Some of the funding sources listed under "How do we get financial and medical help with our family's special needs?  may help with medical care after a child goes home from the hospital, although some funding may be limited to specific services.  It will be helpful to discuss what your baby's medical needs will be at home, even while your baby is still hospitalized. While still in the hospital, you can talk with your baby's doctor, the hospital discharge planner and the hospital social worker to help you find outside medical care resources such as Medi-Cal and CCS.

It is very important for you to have a doctor to take care of your baby as soon as he or she comes home from the hospital. If you already have a pediatrician, let the hospital know his or her name. If you do not have a pediatrician, ask the hospital doctor(s), social worker, discharge planner or nurses for names of doctors in the community who are familiar with your child's diagnosis and who accept the type of medical insurance that your baby has. 


Ways To Work With Your Doctor

• Select a doctor with whom you feel comfortable. You'll be working together to help your child.
• Be assertive, ask for what your child needs,
• Write down your questions as you think of them and bring them to your child's appointment.
• Write down the answers to your questions and keep them with your baby's medical information,
• If you don't understand what the doctor has told you, ask for clarification.  It may be helpful to ask one of the doctor's nurses to summarize what you've been told.
• Give honest and direct answers and expect the same; have confidence in your own observations and opinions.
• Don't hesitate to seek a second opinion if you feel you need more information.
• You may want to bring a friend or your baby's teacher to help you ask questions and hear what's being said. Having that person take notes for you is always helpful.
• Ask for and keep copies of medical records and reports in a notebook . A parent record keeping notebook (called The Family Notebook ) is from Warm Line Family Resource Center.* Having copies of reports is especially important since, because of federal health privacy laws, it can be time consuming for agencies to get copies from providers. If you already have copies of reports, you can provide them directly to new providers.

     

The Family Notebook is also available here.  The Center for Children with Special Health Care Needs also has a care notebook at http://cshcn.org/planning-record-keeping/care-notebook

Dental health needs are as important as other health needs. Children have all of their "baby teeth", typically, by age two. Your child should visit a dentist within six months of the first tooth erupting, by age one or when your pediatrician recommends.

Finding a dentist for your child with special needs can be challenging. . A dentist who takes patients with special needs may not take your dental insurance. To find a dentist for your child, ask your pediatrician or other medical specialist(s) for recommendations. You can also talk with friends and ask them if they recommend their child's dentist. While WarmLine does not endorse or recommend providers, we do maintain a list of dentists who have had experience with children with special needs.  If your child has services through Alta California Regional Center, you can also ask your service coordinator for names of dentists who might be available to care for your child.

While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy and completeness, please call WarmLine Family Resource Center (WLFRC) at 916-922-9276 or 800-660-7995 with any information that will help make the next edition of this directory even better. Also, please note that numbers are listed under the county name; there is an additional listing for regional numbers whenever possible. 

Inclusion of a program or resource does not imply endorsement or recommendation by WarmLine.

2025 Hurley Way, Suite 100, Sacramento, CA  95825 : tel: 916-922-9276 or (800)-660-7995 fax: 916-922-9341
6960 Destiny Dr., Suite 106, Rocklin, CA  95677  tel: 916-632-2100  fax: 916-632-2103
907 3rd Street, Davis, CA  tel: 530-759-1127
Copyright ©2000 WarmLine Family Resource Center. 
The WarmLine is a public benefit, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization