Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, we always welcome new patients to Spirit Lake Early Childhood Program!  If your child is new to the practice and needs a Health Tracks Visit or Education Screening, please note that we need all prior records sent to our office before making your appointment. This gives our provider adequate time to prepare prior to your appointment and that means less wait time. It also allows for us to give an appropriate amount of time for the appointment in case there are additional issues to discuss. If the entire chart is unavailable in time, we ask that you please have your prior doctors office fax the vaccine records and last well summary to our office in the meantime. Thank you and welcome aboard!

Our routine health maintenance visit schedule follows the American Academy of Pediatrics vaccine guideline for children.

Immunizations are a series of shots given to children at different ages to help ward off serious, and potentially fatal, childhood diseases. Making sure your child receives immunizations when scheduled is the best way to help protect your child from potentially fatal diseases. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, vaccinations have reduced the number of infections from vaccine-preventable diseases by more than 90%. If you're apprehensive about vaccinations, please do not hesitate to contact our office.

As all children are different, we advise following several appropriate steps to advance your child's diet based on age and development. Please discuss these steps with our providers at your well care visit.

Yes, we promote breastfeeding. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding babies for the first six to twelve months. Breastfeeding helps defend children against infections, prevents allergies, and protects against a number of chronic conditions. While experts believe that breast milk is the best nutritional choice for infants, breastfeeding may not be possible for all women.

Some women have specific medical considerations that impede breastfeeding; others choose to feed by formula because of discomfort, work schedule, or lifestyle choices. In these cases, an iron-fortified, milk-based infant formula is a good alternative. We will gladly discuss your diet and feeding concerns at your child's well care visit, or please call during office hours to speak with our experienced nursing staff.

Our office is open Monday through Friday 8:00AM to 4:30 PM . As our daily schedule is subject to change, please call to confirm office hours.

To make an appointment please call our office. To ensure the best use of time, for both our proivider, patients and families, scheduled appointments  are encouraged. We ask that you arrive at our office 10 - 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment time. This will allow you to complete any necessary paperwork and to update any demographic and insurance changes. If you must cancel an appointment, please notify us as soon as possible so we can offer that time to someone else. Walk In appointments are always welcome. 

Emergencies arise. We will advise you if there is going to be a delay in seeing you. If your schedule won't allow you to wait, we will be happy to reschedule your appointment. We do appreciate your patience and cooperation during our busy times and we will make every effort to keep your wait time to a minimum.

You will receive a call quickly with any lab results that require urgent attention.  Normal values are reviewed and addressed by the physician that ordered them.

ABOUT HEALTH TRACKS/WELL-CHILD CHECK

North Dakota Health Tracks, also known as the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit provides routine physicals or well-child check-ups at specified ages. It is considered preventive care.

Preventive care is as important for your child's health. All children and teens need regular check-ups. Getting regular well-child check-ups helps children and teens stay healthy by:

• Finding health concerns before they become serious.
• Preventing illness by making sure children get the health care

The federal guidelines for EPSDT are available at www.medicaid.gov.  

Who is Eligible?

Children birth through age 20 years who are enrolled in Medicaid.

To see if you are eligible for North Dakota Medicaid see income guidelines. Check with your provider of choice to confirm that they accept North Dakota Medicaid.

What services are provided?

Initial and periodic health check-ups including, but not limited to, the following:

• Physical exams
• Hearing and vision checks
• Glasses and hearing aids
• Vaccines (shots) and labs
• Dental care, braces, fluoride varnish
• Health education
• Behavioral health screenings
• Growth and development checks
• Nutrition counseling 
• Other health services 

When should my child get an EPSDT Exam? 

Children should get EPSDT exams at regular times, even when they are feeling well.

Babies grow fast and needs a lot of EPSDT exams. They need exams at:

• 1 month
• 2 months
• 4 months
• 6 months
• 9 months
• 12 months

Toddlers need exams at:

• 15 months
• 18 months
• 24 months
• 30 months

After 30 months, children need an EPSDT exam at ages 3, 4, 5, 6 and then annually up to age 21. Additional exams are also covered based upon a child's needs.

If you’re ever in doubt about whether your child needs a wellness or immunization visit, call our office 701-766-1248. The friendly staff will ask a few questions to determine if you need to come into the office.

Scheduled appointments are encouraged. 

We recommend that your newborn be seen by it Primary Care Provider as scheduled typically 1-7 days after discharge from the hospital. Our staff understands the importance of this first visit and will make every effort to schedule this visit promptly. 

Spirit Lake Early Childhood Tracking is a participant in North Dakota Vaccine for Children Program. 

The Vaccines for Children (VFC) program is a federally funded program that provides vaccines to children 0 through 18 years of age who are either Medicaid eligible, American Indian or Alaskan Native, uninsured or underinsured (a child whose health insurance benefit plan does not cover vaccines or a particular vaccine).

Please call office to schedule immunizations visit. 701-766-1299

Car Seat Distribution Programs are able to assist the public with car seat needs. North Dakota State provided seats are distributed to the public according to North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services and North Dakota Department of Transportation guidelines.

Spirit Lake Early Childhood Tracking is a participant of North Dakota Car Seat Distritbution program. Spirit Lake Early Childhood Tracking as limited Car Seats available through this program for primary caregivers.  Spirit Lake Early Childhood Tracking has a car seat technician on staff for any questions or to assist with installation.  Please call the office to schedule an appointment 701-766-1299. 

Undetected Hearing Loss is a Developmental Emergency!

The collaborative effort among healthcare providers, early intervention providers, and family support partners enables staff members of the ND Early Hearing Detection Intervention (ND EHDI) project to help by connecting you to the resources to help understand the hearing healthcare process and make informed decisions as a parent or provider. Together, we can ensure that every child receives the care and support they need in a timely manner.

Spirit Lake Early Childhood Tracking is a participate in the North Dakota Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program. 

1.  Every newborn should receive complete hearing screening care by 1 month of age.

2. If your child does not pass their newborn hearing screening, he/she should receive a diagnosis from an audiologist by 3 months of age.

 3. If your infant is diagnosed with a permanent hearing loss, he/she should be provided the opportunity to enroll in early intervention services by 6 months of age.

The Spirit Lake Early Childhood Tracking program monitors a childs growth and development from birth to age 5 years using 2 methods of educational screening. Education department recruitments children birth to age 5 years.

• The Ages & Stages Questionnaires®, Third Edition (ASQ®-3) is a developmental screening tool that pinpoints developmental progress in children between the ages of one month to 5 ½ years. Its success lies in its parent-centric approach and inherent ease-of-use—a combination that has made it the most widely used developmental screener across the globe. Evidence shows that the earlier development is assessed—the greater the chance a child has to reach his or her potential. Learn more about ASQ-3.
• ​The Brigance screening is conducted with your child by Spirit Lake Early Childhood Education staff. Brigance is a learning took that is used to identify learning delays , as well as strengths and weakness in language, motor, self-help, social-emotional and cognitive skills. The assessment tools are divided up by age group Birth to 11 months, 12 months to 23 months and 2 years, 2.5 years, 3 years and 4 years and k/5 years.  
• Development Testing
• Education Referrals- referrals can be made for further consult to outside entities such as Anne Carlson.
• Autism Diagnostic Referral
• Home Base Educaiton Services
• Collaboration with Early Intervention programs, and schools such as Head Start

Participation in the program is voluntary and there is no cost to the parent/guardian.  All information is confidential and parents and guardians are informed of results and encourged to partifipate in next steps.  

Developmental screening takes a closer look at how your child is developing. Your child will get a brief test, or you will complete a questionnaire about your child. The tools used for developmental and behavioral screening are formal questionnaires or checklists based on research that ask questions about a child’s development, including language, movement, thinking, behavior, and emotions. 

Developmental screening is more formal than developmental monitoring and normally done less often than developmental monitoring. 

Developmental Evaluation

A brief test using a screening tool does not provide a diagnosis, but it indicates if a child is on the right development track or if a specialist should take a closer look. If the screening tool identifies an area of concern, a formal developmental evaluation may be needed. This formal evaluation is a more in-depth look at a child’s development, usually done by a trained specialist, such as a developmental pediatrician, child psychologist, speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, or other specialist. The specialist may observe the child, give the child a structured test, ask the parents or caregivers questions, or ask them to fill out questionnaires. The results of this formal evaluation determines whether a child needs special treatments or early intervention services or both.

To help protect your child from many serious infectious diseases, we follow the immunization schedule recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Please discuss your immunization questions and concerns with our nurses or provider. 

Spirit Lake Early Childhood Tracking does NOT offer routine sick visits or walk in clinic with provider.

While all the conditions often treated during a sick visit have the potential to need immediate care, some symptoms are red flags that your child needs quick medical attention.

Call us immediately for the following symptoms:

Fever of 100.4ºF or higher in children younger than one-year-old

Fever that lasts longer than three days

Unusual symptoms lasting more than three days

Persistent pain

Widespread rash Fever of 102ºF or higher plus other symptoms in children over one-year-old

Other symptoms that may appear with a fever that signal a potentially serious problem include a rash, stiff neck, vomiting, and headache.

When your child is sick, call your childs Primary Care Provider as early in the day as possible so they can schedule a same-day visit if necessary.

If you have questions about your child’s symptoms or you need to schedule a sick visit, call our childs Primary Care Providers Office.