Questions parents ask

Call the clinic at 7:30am when the phones open. We hold same-day slots at all three clinics every weekday and run a sick-only Saturday morning clinic at Ingersoll from 8:00am to 12:00pm. Portal messages are not the fast route for an acute problem.

Within 48 hours of discharge from any Des Moines hospital. Call us from the postpartum floor and we book it while you are still there.

Not for regular visits. We do run Saturday walk-in flu clinics at Ankeny in October and November, which are posted on the home page when they open.

Call the main number. A pediatric nurse answers the after-hours line 24 hours a day and works through pediatric protocols with you. If this is a medical emergency, call 911 instead of waiting on the line.

We are in network with the major commercial plans in central Iowa, Iowa Medicaid and Hawki. Coverage changes, so call the number on the back of your card and ask specifically whether Little Sprouts Pediatrics is in network for your plan year. Sample plan list only on this demonstration site.

Most plans cover preventive well visits and routine vaccines at 100 percent. If we also treat something acute during the same appointment, that part may generate a separate office-visit charge. We tell you in the room before we do it.

We have a self-pay schedule, and we are a Vaccines for Children provider, which means eligible children get their routine vaccines regardless of ability to pay the administration fee. Ask the front desk, they will not make it awkward.

No separate form fee for established patients. Upload the blank form through the portal before the visit and most forms go back the same day.

We will see you and we will talk honestly about it. We follow the ACIP schedule because that is where the evidence is, and we will not pretend otherwise, but we would rather have the conversation with you in the room than have your child unseen.

Dose by weight, not by age, and use a weight from the last three months. Our dosing guide has the reference tables and a calculator. A baby under three months with any fever needs an emergency evaluation, not medicine.

Ask your pharmacy to send us the request. Routine refills are processed within two business days, and controlled medications such as ADHD stimulants require a current follow-up visit under Iowa rules.

Call us and describe exactly what happened and how long after. Fever and a sore arm in the first 48 hours are the expected immune response. Hives, swelling of the face or trouble breathing are different and need 911.

Sign a records release with us at the first visit and we request them. Bring whatever paper you hold, especially the immunization record, in case the transfer is slow.

From age 12 we spend part of every visit alone with your child. Iowa law gives minors confidentiality in specific areas, and we explain to you both, in the room, what stays private and what does not. Safety always overrides confidentiality.

Parents and guardians hold the account until your child turns 12, when the adolescent portion becomes restricted under state and federal rules. Teenagers 12 and older can be given their own login.

Under HIPAA, and under our own Notice of Privacy Practices, which is linked in the footer and given to you at the first visit.