940 SE Cary Parkway,Suite 200
Cary, North Carolina 27518
Phone: (919) 859-9991
Fax: (919) 859-6595

Health Supervision Visits & Evaluation/Management Visits

Visits to the pediatrician fall into two categories:  “Health Supervision” visits (also known as physical exams or check ups) and “Evaluation/Management” (E/M) visits (also known as sick visits).  Doctors and insurance companies view the two types of visits as distinctly different.  The health supervision visit is a time to review your child’s progress from the last health supervision visit and give some guidance for the period of time until the next health supervision visit.  We follow the American Academy of Pediatrics description of what is to be covered during these comprehensive visits.  This includes measuring growth and age appropriate assessments of development, emotional well being, nutrition, exercise and education.

We want to get an overview of how chronic and recurring health problems are affecting your child’s general well being.  This is the time for routine vaccinations.  Screening urinalysis or blood work may be performed.  Hearing and vision may be tested.  We may identify problems that need to be addressed and ask you to schedule another appointment, or if there is an urgent medical problem, we may address that issue and ask you to reschedule the health supervision visit.  To try to provide both health supervision and E/M care at the same visit creates both poor care and inefficient care.  Consequently, most insurance companies will not cover both health maintenance and E/M care on the same day. 

If your child has an urgent medical need on the day of his/her health supervision appointment, please ask the receptionist to change the appointment to a sick visit.  If we ask you to schedule another appointment, please know that it is because both your child’s healthcare and your time are important to us.  All the providers at Western Wake Pediatrics want to ensure and provide the best care to all our patients in an efficient manner without sacrificing the attention your child’s health supervision deserves.