Before the Appointment
Before your clinic visit, please review and complete the following items at least a week prior to coming to the clinic.
You should also look at the things you need to bring on the day of your clinic visit.
1. Call Your Insurance Company
Call your insurance company if you have questions about coverage. Your plan may have a Preferred Provider list. Our doctors are often listed as a group under Children's University Medical Group (CUMG).
Our nurse practitioners and physician assistants may be listed by their last names or under Children's Hospital.
If your plan requires a referral from your primary care provider, have that person fax it to us at (206) 985-3297. Make sure we receive the insurance referral at least four days before your visit, or we may need to cancel or reschedule (unless it is an emergency visit).
For help, call Children's Insurance Processing Department at (206) 987-5757.
2. Obtain X-rays and Test Results
To make the most of your clinic visit, ask your primary care provider for your child's X-rays and/or test results and bring them with you.
This ensures that your Children's provider has all the needed information and avoids duplication of tests.
3. Bring Any Needed Legal Papers
Birth or adoptive parents do not need to bring a birth certificate or any other legal papers.
- If you are a legal guardian, we will need to see the legal papers that say so.
- If you are the parent, but do not have legal custody, we will need to see the legal papers that allow you to make health care decisions for your child.
- If you do not have the legal papers we need to see, call our Social Work Department at (206) 987-2760 (Voice) or (206) 987-5186 (TTY) for help.
4. Arrange for Child Care
A free, supervised playroom for brothers and sisters is on the 4th floor in the Whale zone. Children ages 3 to 11 who are potty trained may stay for up to two hours at a time on a space-available basis.
It is open 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. You may prefer to arrange for child care at home.
5. Write Down Your Questions
Write down questions you want to ask during your child's visit. Learn more about what questions to ask when you are talking to your child's doctor.
6. Tell Us About Cultural Beliefs
Let us know about cultural beliefs or unique needs that may affect you child's treatment and care.
7. Interpreters
Children's offers interpreters for sign language and non-English languages at no cost to patients and families.
Arrangements for an interpreter are made when your visit is scheduled.
8. Access
If you or your child needs a wheelchair or another type of help, or has a vision, hearing or speech impairment, call your clinic to make plans for accommodations prior to your arrival.
9. Check for Illness
If your child has a new rash, fever, has been exposed to chicken pox in the last three weeks, or if someone in your family has recently been diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB), call us as soon as possible at (206) 987-2000 and ask to speak to someone in your child's clinic.
10. Arrange Housing and Transportation
If you are coming from out of town and need overnight housing in Seattle, or if you need DSHS transportation to and from the hospital, the following information will help you: