Fredericksburg Parent

20 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • November 2021 20 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • November 2021 WRITTEN BY EMILY FREEHLING Sponsored Material November marks the start of the holiday season, a time when we think about coming home to spend time with fam- ily. It's also a good time to consider the question: Does your family have a solid health care home? When Dr. Suzanne Richman, M.D., started KidsChoice Pediatrics almost 20 years ago, she set out to care for children and families in a warm and nurturing environment. "We want to be a welcoming place," Richman says. "We want to build a long-term relationship with our patients. We have the privilege of being part of your family for 20-plus years." That approach has built such trust with families that Richman and her team are now seeing what she calls "grand-patients"—children who are the children of some of her original patients. CARE THAT FITS YOUR FAMILY'S LIFESTYLE Health care has changed a lot in the two decades KidsChoice has been open. Parents have an increasing number of options for seeking medi- cal care for their children through urgent-care and similar facilities. But Richman said the risk of hopping from one urgent-care visit to another is that parents and children lose the shared knowledge and strong rela- tionship that is built with a pediatrician over years. When a doctor and her team know your child's health history and basic details about your family's lifestyle and circumstances, the result is a more personalized— and often more effective—level of care. "Knowing our patients and their parents really helps us to tailor our approach," Richman says. "For example, if I know that someone is a single mom with a lot on her plate, it's not realistic to ask that parent to follow an intense and involved treatment program, so we need to get creative about other ways to care for the child. When someone knows who you are and what your struggles are, we can accommodate your care to fit that." The importance of establishing a health care home for your family KidsChoice Pediatrics CARE THAT FITS YOUR FAMILY'S LIFESTYLE Health care has changed a lot in the two decades KidsChoice has been open. Parents have an increasing number of options for seeking medi- cal care for their children through urgent-care and similar facilities. But Richman said the risk of hopping from one urgent-care visit to another is that parents and children lose the shared knowledge and strong rela- tionship that is built with a pediatrician over years. When a doctor and her team know your child's health history and basic details about your family's lifestyle and circumstances, the result is a more personalized— and often more effective—level of care. "Knowing our patients and their parents really helps us to tailor our approach," Richman says. "For example, if I know that someone is a single mom with a lot on her plate, it's not realistic to ask that parent to follow an intense and involved treatment program, so we need to get creative about other ways to care for the child. When someone knows who you are and what your struggles are, we can accommodate your care to fit that."

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