Six Tips for Referring to Pulmonary

Our Pulmonary program recently updated its referral guidelines. Below are highlights of helpful information for referring providers. For further details, please visit Pulmonary’s new “Refer a Patient” page.

1. The Pulmonary team at Seattle Children’s is committed to seeing patients for all types of pulmonary concerns, without limitation.

Now is a great time to refer patients to Pulmonary. Our wait times are well below our historical norm (currently 1 to 2 months for new patients), we have telehealth access, and flu season has not yet started.

2. Sleep Medicine or Pulmonary?

Children with breathing disorders that occur during sleep should be referred to Sleep Medicine (part of the Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine Division).

3. If your patient needs a pulmonary function test (PFT), you are welcome to order one directly from our Pulmonary Diagnostics Lab.

It is not necessary to have an appointment with Pulmonary first. Visit our Pulmonary Diagnostics Lab website for information about the types of tests available and instructions on how to order a test.

4. All new patients are seen in the Chest Clinic

After evaluation, we will schedule them with one of our subspecialty clinics if appropriate (i.e., aerodigestive, asthma, etc.). PCPs who feel their patient needs to be seen by one of our subspecialty clinics should note it on their referral along with the reasons why to help inform the Chest Clinic’s initial evaluation.

5. Pulmonary encourages referring providers to send any imaging they have done prior to the patient’s first appointment — in particular, the actual images.

If a report is also available, they will review that too.

• For information on sending imaging to Seattle Children’s, please visit seattlechildrens.org/uploadimage.
• Images that cannot be sent electronically should be placed on a disc that is DICOM format compatible and mailed directly to Seattle Children’s Radiology:

Seattle Children’s Radiology Department
4800 Sand Point Way NE
PO BOX 5371
Mailstop M.A. 7.220
Seattle, WA 98145

• If a referring provider is unable to send the images prior to the appointment, they should have the patient bring them to the appointment on a flash drive or CD-ROM.

6. Families may be able to get in sooner if they are flexible about which Seattle Children’s location they go to.

Pulmonary sees patients at the hospital and six other locations in Eastern and Western Washington.

Seattle Children’s Hospital

Offers all Pulmonary services except aerodigestive.

Bellevue*

• Aerodigestive Clinic (technically housed in Otolaryngology but staffed by pulmonologists)
• Chest Clinic
• Cystic Fibrosis Clinic
• PFTs: Fraction of exhaled nitric oxide measurement (FENO) and spirometry
• Sleep Medicine, including Sleep Lab

*Pulmonary services are provided at Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center. Sleep Medicine is provided at Seattle Children’s Overlake Medical Tower.

North Clinic in Everett and South Clinic in Federal Way 

• Chest Clinic
• PFTs: FENO and spirometry
• Sleep Medicine

Tri-Cities Clinic

• Chest Clinic
• Home Ventilation Program
• Sleep Medicine

Wenatchee Clinic

• Chest Clinic

Olympia Clinic

• Sleep Medicine