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Nothing is more important to parents than their kids’ health. As we all saw, though, taking care of children’s medical issues became even more challenging in 2020-2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people choose to do health screenings over the phone. Are there other times when this service might come in handy? Is it safe for kids’ health concerns?
Let’s get a firm understanding of what an over-the-phone health screening is in the first place, and then we can look at several instances when this might (or might not) be the right choice for you and your family.
What Is an Over-the-Phone Health Screening?
An over-the-phone health screening is pretty much exactly what it sounds like it is a medical assessment conducted verbally over the phone. It might be automated, but more than likely will be conducted by nurses or other medical personnel who are familiar with pediatrics.
The person (or system) on the phone will ask you a series of questions. Typically, these are demographic in nature at first, such as the child’s age, height, weight, gender, and so on. Then they will ask questions about their symptoms and recent behavior.
Finally, the person on the phone will recommend next steps for you to take to care for your child.
The Advantages of Over-the-Phone Health Screenings
There are many advantages to over-the-phone health screenings. Let’s run through a few:
• Safety: you don’t have to leave home. This is crucial during COVID-19.
• Convenience: saves a ton of time and hassle over going to a clinic or doctor’s office
• Save money: over-the-phone health screenings are free through many insurance plans
• Scheduling: often, these services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
The Drawbacks of an Over-the-Phone Health Screening for Kids
The main drawback of using this service for pediatrics is that it doesn’t give the child an opportunity to communicate directly with a doctor. Especially younger children who rely on nonverbal communication since their vocabulary is limited. To a four-year-old, a “stomachache” could be anything from a vomiting virus to constipation to something more serious.
However, as we saw during the COVID pandemic, sometimes the benefits greatly outweigh the drawbacks. As the parent, just be extra diligent and descriptive in conveying whatever your child has communicated to you about their symptoms.
We’ll take a look at some specific scenarios where a health screening conducted on the phone might be the best choice, but first let’s run through some instances when it absolutely is not the right choice.
When Not to Use an Over-the-Phone Health Screening for Kids
The answer is: in an emergency. If your child has any of the following, seek medical attention and call 911 immediately:
• A fever over 103 degrees Fahrenheit in children over 3 (102 for toddlers, 100 for infants)
• Difficulty breathing
• Unusually difficult to wake up or sudden loss of consciousness, seizures
• Signs of an allergic reaction (swollen lips, tongue, and/or face; shortness of breath; fast-spreading rash or
hives)
• Severe dehydration (among other symptoms, not crying tears, no urine in eight hours)
• Loss of sight or sound; difficulty moving or numbness in body parts
• Obvious injuries such as severe bleeding, burns, broken bones, and so on
• Blood in cough or vomit
• Persistent fast heartbeat
Hopefully, none of these will ever occur. Below are some scenarios in which a phone health screening makes sense.
1. There Is a Public Health or Other Emergency
You guessed it! We’re going to cover COVID first. Obviously, if there is an outbreak—either locally, nationally, or globally—of an infectious disease, everyone needs to stay home unless it is an absolute emergency. An over-the-phone assessment can tell the medical professional whether the risks of leaving home are worth it and the child needs to be seen in person.
Infectious disease isn’t the only type of emergency, though. Imagine that there is a natural disaster near where you live, and the local news is discussing overcrowded hospitals. You don’t want to traumatize your child or take a bed away from someone who is in dire need unless you absolutely have to.
Finally, you may want to screen first before you venture out in adverse conditions. If there’s a brutal snowstorm raging outside, there is no need to drive to the pediatrician unless it is absolutely essential.
2. You Aren’t Sure Where to Take Them for Their Particular Needs
Sometimes, parents may not be sure where to go for their kids’ health, and an over-the-phone screening can help them decide where the best place is. Most parents default to the pediatrician, who then sends them elsewhere. That is a waste of time and money.
For example, imagine your child fell from the monkey bars on the playground but recovered relatively quickly and isn’t reporting extreme pain. However, their ankle is black and blue and swollen the next morning. A pediatric specialist on the phone can help you assess whether you need to ice and elevate or head out to get X-rays. No extra stop is needed.
There are a lot of choices for medical care these days, between pediatricians, specialists, clinics, urgent care, and emergency rooms. An over-the-phone assessment can help you choose the right one.
3. You’re Out of Town
It probably doesn’t take a huge stretch of imagination to envision the above monkey bar-related scenario occurring across the country while your family is on vacation. Many parents can also share stories of other kids’ health crises while traveling, such as fevers. Kids have delicate systems and throwing off their routines—as in on vacation—can heighten the likelihood of a medical situation.
It’s a scary situation for caregivers, since you’re far from home, your pediatrician, the clinics with which you’re familiar, and support. What is more, you have to deal with the headache of figuring out which local providers are in-network with your insurance.
An over-the-phone screening can help with all of that. Especially if you conduct one through your insurance company, they can recommend places where you won’t get hit with a ridiculous bill in a few weeks. That is incredible peace of mind for scared parents trying to enjoy themselves.
4. Their Illness Might Pose a Threat to Others
As we saw with the COVID outbreak, leaving home when you’re not feeling well can be a serious threat to public health. Even once this pandemic passes, there is nothing to say that another cannot occur.
Even outside a pandemic, though, a child’s illness can still present a risk to those around them. This is especially true for a child who is not yet or not able to be fully vaccinated. If—God forbid—your child has a contagious illness such as measles, bringing them to a doctor’s office can potentially expose some of the other most vulnerable people in the world: babies. It might sound unlikely, but the world has been dealing with measles outbreaks for several years now.
5. Do the Phone Assessment
Our advice? Unless you’re in a real emergency situation, do the screening. If your child doesn’t need to be seen immediately, what do you have to lose? In the end, you may not only end up saving time and money but also getting your child the medical attention they need sooner.
What is more, pediatric offices and other medical centers that care for kids’ health are very germy places, and you don’t want to take your children there unless you absolutely need to!
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