Getting started
It is important to determine whether offering health care services via telehealth for infants and toddlers will be valuable to parents and other caregivers in your community.
On this page:
- Is telehealth for infants and toddlers right for your community?
- Is telehealth for infants and toddlers appropriate for your practice?
- What are potential workflow changes?
- How do you provide staff education?
- How can you support telehealth for infants and toddlers through partnerships?
- What are the technology needs?
Is telehealth for infants and toddlers right for your community?
Telehealth allows you to provide health care for a patient when you are not in the same location. There are several things to consider when deciding whether to offer a telehealth program for infants and toddlers and, if so, how to help ensure that your program will be successful.
It is important to assess the characteristics of the community where your patients live. The questions below can help guide your decision-making process:
- Will your telehealth program provide care to a community where there is limited access to care for infants and toddlers?
- How far do caregivers of infants and toddlers need to travel to get to the nearest children’s hospital or community pediatric clinic?
- Are families with young children comfortable using technology devices?
- What percentage of young families have access to the Internet?
- Can these families access services for children with autism, ADHD, developmental delays, asthma, and other common conditions in the pediatric population?
Is telehealth for infants and toddlers appropriate for your practice?
Integrating telehealth into a pediatric practice can enhance a provider’s ability to deliver flexible, comprehensive, convenient, and coordinated care. It is a good idea to review the types of pediatric services you currently offer for younger children and whether there are specific services that may or may not be appropriate for telehealth. Below are some questions to help with your review:
- What are the most common health conditions for which you treat infants and toddlers in your practice?
- What range of services do you provide to patients under the age of five?
- Which, if any, of these services can be provided using telehealth?
- Are there services you do not provide but could provide if you used telehealth?
- Are there gaps between the care you currently provide and the optimal health care services for common health conditions among toddlers and infants?
- Are there resources outside the clinic, such as a regional children's hospital, that could help address these gaps?
What are potential workflow changes?
Depending on the size of your practice, the services you are planning to offer, and if you already use telehealth, you may want to consider whether you need additional staff or if current staff would benefit from training to assume new responsibilities to support the use of telehealth.
Common staff positions for a telehealth program for infants and toddlers include:
- Physician
- Registered nurse
- Nurse practitioner
- Physician assistant
- Lactation consultant
- Mental health consultant
- Care coordinator
- Pediatric physical or occupational therapist
- Community and social service providers (e.g., Healthy Start, Home Visiting)
- Additional office staff to handle telehealth bookings and technology support
How do you provide staff education?
All members of your team would benefit from participating in training before using telehealth. This includes:
- Gaining familiarity with the technology platform
- Learning virtual consultation techniques
- Understanding telehealth billing procedures
- Receiving guidance on how to conduct remote examinations
- Considering issues that may arise when treating infants and toddlers remotely
- Troubleshooting technical issues
- Understanding the impact of telehealth on workflow procedures, practice policies, and ensuring patient privacy
- Safety procedures for referral to in-person services or emergency management if needed
How can you support telehealth for infants and toddlers through partnerships?
Providing coordinated, high-quality care for your youngest patients may require consultations with specialists. It is important to establish relationships with professionals with specialized experience in treating young children, especially patients with unique or chronic health conditions. Their expertise can expand your capacity to deliver comprehensive care. Potential partners may include:
- Children’s hospitals
- Pediatric units in large academic medical centers
- State or Local Pediatric Mental Health Care Access Programs
- Pediatric dentists (for toddlers)
- Service providers for children with disabilities
Did you know?
The National Rural Adolescent and Child Health (NRACH) ECHO Training Center is an innovative program that uses telehealth to provide peer-to-peer education, training, and information sharing on a variety of topics related to providing care for children of all ages.
What are the technology needs?
Selecting the right telehealth platform, and confirming that both staff and patients have the technology they need, is important for a smooth workflow.
Vendor selection. If you already have a telehealth platform, you may want to make sure it includes features tailored for pediatric care. If you do not already have a platform, here are some things to consider when selecting a vendor:
- Pediatric features. Does the platform offer pediatric-focused features like growth tracking, developmental milestone monitoring, or integration with pediatric assessment tools?
- Ease of use. Is the platform intuitive and easy for caregivers to navigate, even under stress or while managing an unsettled child?
- Electronic Health Record (EHR) integration. If you are selecting a new product, will it integrate seamlessly with the practice’s EHR system and other clinical tools to facilitate a smooth workflow?
- Recommendations. What is the vendor’s reputation within the pediatric community?
Preparing staff, parents, and caregivers to use telehealth. You will also need to consider the technical needs of your office and your patients. Is your staff tech savvy? Do you have the right equipment to handle ongoing video calls? Your needs may include:
- Internet. Access to reliable, high-speed Wi-Fi or cellular service.
- Electronic device. Patients will need to have access to a computer, tablet, or smartphone that can support high-definition video calls without interruption or that enable the electronic exchange of information such as images or secure messages.
More information:
Getting started with telehealth — Health Resources and Services Administration
Legal considerations — Health Resources and Services Administration