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·School notes will only be given to patients seen in the office. Our nurses are happy to offer advice for acute illnesses but are unable to provide a written excuse.

· We have our Flu Vaccine Shipment! If you would like to schedule please log on to your patient portal account and select the "Flu Clinic" tab. From there you can choose one of our  3 scheduled clinic days. If you already have an appointment on the books in the time frame you would like your child to receive the vaccine you do not need to make an additional appointment. Please call our office should you have any questions.

We hope everyone is enjoying the start to the 2017-2018 school year! Our goal is to help keep everyone healthy throughout the year

We have exciting news! Dr. Shults is now an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. She is glad to help all of her exisiting clients reach their breastfeeding goals! Please send a portal message or call our office for more information.

Thank you for trusting Shults Pediatrics for the health care of your children. 

Sincerely, 

Stephanie Shults, M.D. 

(Simple Driving Instructions from Pellissippi Parkway: Head East on Northshore Drive through three traffic lights. Drive past the third traffic light at Ebenezer where Northshore becomes a one lane road. Our location is the second building on the right located on the lake. The building is white stucco.)

Shults Pediatrics has always strived to create a "medical home" for our patients and their families. The concept of a medical home was initiated by the American Acadamy of Pediatrics in the 1960s. As technology has evolved, organizations that look at the quality of medical care have begun to further define what constitutes a medical home and have implemented certification processess. You will see several inititives in our office that help us fulfill the goals of the medical home. Visit the NCQA-PCMH for more information. 

Shults Pediatrics will conduct surveys from time to time, and ask that you answer thoughtfullly as we will use your feedback to guide us toward quality improvement that is important to you. We will periodically focus on different medical problems or conditions to improve the delivery of care to our patients using evidence based guidelines. You will notice additional links to information on key initiatives in our office. We encourage you to use them to help plan and manage your child's healthcare. If you have not received our Medical Home Brochure we would be happy to provide one to you. 

We need your help to become a true medical home! Please think of us as the first place to come for advice and care regarding all your child's health care needs. This includes physical health, development, emotional health, as well as a place to help you find the appropriate specialist or access community resources. We also want to help coordinate your care. Let us know if you have been treated by a specialist, an emergency department, or any outside healthcare professional. Informing us of medications, test results, and procedures is key to having a complete understanding of your child's health. Every time you are seen for care outside of our office, please request that a copy of the visit or test result is sent/faxed to us so that we can best serve you. 

In addition, let us know if you are using any over-the-counter medications or have undertaken any self-care regimens. Review your patient information on the patient portal and tell us if the information we have on file is incomplete or inaccurate. Good care requires a partnership between your family and our office. We appreciate your help and look forward to working with you. 

Remember: whenever you have a question or would like to contact us, log on to your portal to send us a secure message (non-urgent) or call our office main number 24/7 to speak with us or obtain information on how to contact the on-call provider. Even on evenings and weekends when the office is closed, reach out to the on-call provider first, as often we may be able to provide care within your medical home, or can direct you to the place that best suited to care for your child. 

Parents of Shults Pediatrics patients can view and request commonly required medical information for their families - every day of the year, any hour of the day or night. Specifically, parents can send/receive secure electronic messages with the practice as well as: 

• Check for pending appointments and outstanding account balances
• View current perscriptions and request refills
• Lookup last well visit, including date, hight and weight
• Examine vaccination and allergy records
• Request appointments for well visits, immunizations, school physicals and camp forms

All access to Electronic Medical Records is provided on secure pages that are controlled through passwords known only to the parent. To protect the privacy of your records, from this point forward all data communication between your computer and our server is encrypted. you can verify the encryption status by looking for a "lock" icon in the status area of your web browser. 

Patient Portal Login is for EXISTING patients of Shults Pediatrics, P.C. If you are registering a new patient or newborn and have NOT yet called Shults Pediatrics for registration please proceed to the New to Practice Patient Registration tab. 

Steps for Existing Patients to Patient Portal: 

• Communicate to Shults Pediatrics the email you would like to be registered in the system. (NOTE: parents cannot share the same email within the system. Of course, both parents can login with the same email if desired.)
• Once you have communicated desired email you will be given a temporary password to login. 
• Use the documented email address and temporary password to login. 
• Upon entry to the portal you will be asked to change your password and answer a security question. 
• Now, you should see all of your children on the homepage of the portal account. To view a specific child's records you simply click on the highlighted child's name and navigate between the tabs. 
• The front page should allow you to view upcoming appointments (which can be confirmed by pressing the confirm button), tasks to complete, and account balance. 
• Within the patient information tab you will be able to view immunization records, growth charts, as well as visit summaries. 
• If you are having trouble viewing your child's portal account please contact Shults Pediatrics at 865-670-1560. 

The tables below provide recommended dosage charts for acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Motrin/Advil). Here are some important general guidelines for using these products:

• We recommend acetaminophen/Tylenol for low grade fevers and mild pain. We recommend ibuprofen/Motrin/Advil for higher temperatures, more severe pain, inflammation or for when acetaminiphen is not effective or you need 6 hours of relief vs. 4 hours.
• You are treating your child, not a number on the thermometer. Your goal in treating a fever is to make your child comfortable, not to make the number lower.
• Whenever possible, use your child's most current weight when choosing an appropriate dose of medication.
• Ibuprofen should be effective when acetaminophen is not. Both drugs can be given concurrently (acetaminophen every 4 hours and ibuprofen every 6 hours) if ibuprofen is ineffective alone.
• Temperature should be measured rectally in children under 12 months; ear (otic) thermometers should be reserved for children over the age of 12 months. An oral thermometer is not appropriate until your child can hold it under his tongue for several minutes without biting (usually around age 5).
• Never give acetaminophen or ibuprofen to an infant under 2 months of age. In addition, do not give ibuprofen to an infant under the age of 6 months without specific direction from a physician.
• Acetaminophen rectal suppositories can be purchased at your pharmacy without a prescription. Feverall is a brand that is readily available. They are helpful to have on hand in case your child has fever or pain and is vomiting and can't keep down acetaminophen by mouth. Use K-Y Jelly or Vaseline to lubricate the suppository and insert in the child's rectum every 4 hours as necessary.

• Dr. Shults does not recommend Ibuprofen under the age of 1 without consultation.