With a house full of kids and grandpa living with you, too, it’s hard to keep everyone’s routine vaccines and medical screenings straight. Still, you can protect the health of your children and everyone they interact with by getting their vaccinations on time. Thankfully, St. Elizabeth offers a mobile app called MyChart to keep your family’s health information in one place.
Infant Screenings and Vaccinations
Your child’s first health screenings begin at birth, with hearing and vision tests, height and weight measurements, and blood testing. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, your baby will also need the following vaccines in his or her first 18 months:
● Chicken pox (first dose)
● Diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (four doses)
● Hepatitis A (first dose)
● Hepatitis B (three doses)
● Haemophilus influenza (Hib) (three or four doses)
● Measles, mumps and rubella (first dose)
● Pneumococcal conjugate, PCV13 (four doses)
● Polio (first three doses)
Childhood Screenings and Vaccinations
As your children get older, their pediatrician will continue to track their height and weight as well as key developmental milestones such as:
· Cognitive skills (thinking and learning)
· Communication and language skills
· Movement and physical development
· Social and emotional development
For teenagers, doctors also watch for alcohol and drug abuse, and sexually transmitted diseases.
Routine vaccinations continue through age 18 along with an annual flu shot. Every state has vaccine requirements before children can attend day care or school. Talk to your child’s primary care provider about these recommended immunizations:
● Annual Flu shot
● Chickenpox (Varicella)
● Diphtheria/Tetanus/Pertussis (DTaP)
● Human Papillomavirus (HPV) 2-shot series
● Measles/Mumps/Rubella (MMR)
● Meningococcal (MenACWY)
● Polio (IPV)
● Serogroup B Meningococcal (MenB)
Adult Screenings and Vaccinations
As an adult, you still need to schedule routine doctor’s visits to stay healthy and address risks as you get older. You’ll get regular blood pressure and cholesterol tests, update family and personal medical history, discuss lifestyle choices and recommended health screenings based on your age and gender.
Even adults need to keep vaccines current, including:
● Annual Flu shot
● HPV (two or three doses between 19 and 26 with provider’s discretion)
● Pneumonia Booster (one dose after 65)
● Shingles vaccine (two doses 50 or older)
● Tetanus/Diphtheria (every ten years and after pregnancy or injuries)
Why Use MyChart for Family Health?
As you keep up with your doctor’s visits and take your kids to their pediatricians, you’ll get to discuss these screenings and scheduled vaccines. But what if you need that information between visits for school, activities or travel? What if you have trouble remembering and organizing everything? Keeping up with medical records is especially important when you or a family member has allergies or has to manage side effects and interactions between several prescriptions.
MyChart makes managing your health easy. It allows you to:
● Access test results
● Get trustworthy information about your medical condition and treatments
● Refill prescriptions
● Review after-visit summaries from previous appointments
● Review your medications and medical history
● Securely pay your bills online
● See your whole family’s appointment calendar
● Send messages to your providers and care team Once your child turns 18, he or she can set up a personal MyChart account. Learn more about state and federal law limits to MyChart use by children, parental access to MyChart information for children and dependent family members, and proxy access for a parent or legal guardian.
How to Set Up a MyChart Account
There are three ways you can sign up for MyChart:
1. Sign up at your next appointment. Our staff will assist you in signing up for a MyChart account during your visit at any St. Elizabeth location.
2. Activate your account online. Use the activation code located on your after-visit summary or on your billing statement. Follow the instructions to activate your account.
3. Sign up online. If you don’t have an activation code or an active MyChart account, request an activation code and follow the instructions to create your account.
For additional assistance, please call St. Elizabeth MyChart service desk at (859) 301-2550.
Ready to experience everything MyChart has to offer? Sign up today.
