July 2017

Guiding Your Patients with Anticipatory Guidance

As a skilled provider, you are aware that providing care and giving your attention to current and ongoing issues during a patient exam is important. However, patients and caregivers need age-specific guidance in between their well visits with providers. Anticipatory guidance is a required component of the Texas Health Steps (THSteps) exam. Giving age appropriate, age-specific guidance educates members and caregivers on various topics such as, but not limited to:

• Healthy behaviors
• Growth and development (mental and physical)
• Discipline
• Disease
• Accident prevention
• And more

By ensuring caregivers and patients have your after-hours office information, you can help decrease Potentially Preventable Emergency Department Visits (PPVs). In addition to decreasing PPVs, educating patients regarding well-child exam frequency and the benefits of seeing their provider, even when they are not sick, increases healthy behaviors.

You can find more information about THSteps Anticipatory Guidance with links to age-appropriate anticipatory guidance printouts.