Ask This First: How To Choose A Pediatrician For Your Baby
Questions to ask when evaluating whether a pediatric practice works for your family
🩺 When I ask many parents in the newborn nursery or the NICU if they’ve picked a pediatrician, it feels like a jump scare. So many families want advice on how to find “the best” doctor for their baby. But it’s never that simple - “the best” doctor for one family may not work at all for another family. Let’s talk through some of the major considerations together. Skip to the end if you want to see a downloadable PDF checklist of the questions I recommend asking.
My goal at Babies, Explained is to be as helpful as possible. This post came about because I have this conversation with families about twelve times a day. Please let me know if there are other questions you’d like me to go over, or checklists I can help you with.
🎓 Credentials and Training
You will want a provider who is not only trained, but board-certified. Board certification means they completed a residency program in Pediatrics, passed the board exam, and remain current with practice changes (you can check to see if your doctor is in good standing with the American Board of Pediatrics). Many providers also maintain an AAP membership and list themselves as FAAP (fellow of the Academy of Pediatrics).
🏥 Practice Model
Private practices are becoming more rare in the US. Check if your provider a solo provider, or part of a larger practice, whether single or multi-specialty. Especially if they’re a solo provider, you want to have someone to call if they go on vacation, so ask who provides coverage if they’re away.
Additionally, check to see if they are affiliated with a children’s hospital or other hospital. This feels like a distant concern when things are well, but if your baby needs to be hospitalized, it is always easier when the medical records are connected and the providers know each other.
💳 Insurance and Billing
Some physicians are moving to a DPC model - direct primary care. This model may not take insurance, but often has other benefits such as a smaller patient panel and greater ease for reaching your pediatrician.
Either way, find out how billing works, especially for things like labs or imaging. These are often done off-site, and sometimes you may be referred to places that do not take your insurance.
🕐 Hours and Space
Do they offer longer hours or off-hours care such as evenings and weekends? If they don’t, do they have an affiliated practice that they encourage patients to go to instead of the ER?
Does the space accommodate your needs in terms of strollers, parking, transportation?
Please don’t pick a practice that’s a pain in the neck to get to, if you can avoid it. There are so many appointments in the first few years of life, both expected and urgent, that convenience really matters here.
How is the practice set up? Do they have separate spaces or hours for well visits and for sick kids? You may not want a snotty four year old playing right next to your newborn baby.
📞 Communication
Ask the practice how they communicate medical results, including both normal and abnormal ones, and how they prefer to communicate about refills.
Is there a patient portal to send/receive messages from the doctor, and to see medical records?
How long are appointment slots, and are there telehealth appointments?
If you call during off-hours, who will you speak to? Is it an answering service of non-medical providers, or do you get triaged to the doctor, or is there a nurse-staffed line?
👶 Special Considerations for NICU Grads
Ask about their feeding philosophy and how they feel about breastfeeding, specialty formulas, and lactation support. Are they connected to any lactation consultants?
Ask how they conduct developmental evaluations and refer to additional developmental specialists (such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, feeding and speech pathologists). Infants born at earlier gestational ages often qualify automatically for additional screening and support services such as PT, OT, and early intervention, and it’s helpful to have a physician who can work closely with these providers.
Does the practice see other children with similar needs?
💬 Trust Your Gut
The most important part here is how you feel when speaking with your doctor: ideally, you feel comfortable asking any question, including really embarrassing ones.
The second most important question is how you feel when interacting with other office staff. They are absolutely make or break in making the practice run smoothly, and will also hugely contribute to your experience. The right staff member can soothe a shrieking toddler, or make getting an ouchie fast and relatively painless, and make a doctor’s visit fun instead of scary.
📋 The Bottom Line
Take time to interview potential pediatricians. Most practices offer meet-and-greet appointments specifically for this purpose. Come prepared with questions, and pay attention to how you feel during the conversation.
See below for a checklist that captures all these questions and more, and let me know if there are other subjects you want me to cover!
