Being the parent of multiples you are well aware of the trouble you sometimes go through when you schedule a well child checkup.  Invariably, at least one time, you will schedule all your children for a checkup only to arrive to discover that they have booked a time slot for just one child.  This can be easy to do when your children all have the same last name, birth date, doctor and especially if your children are the same sex.  The only difference is their first name and this can be easily overlooked.

Parents of singletons need to keep a good record of their child’s doctor visits, shots and medical conditions.  Parents of multiples need to keep an even better, more concise record.  Because all children are receiving well child checkups at the same time, you need to make sure that all of them are getting asked the same questions and getting the appropriate vaccinations.  When one child is sick, it is important to make sure that their information is being recorded in the correct child’s file.  Again, it is easy to have a mix up because almost all of their information is identical and their files are typically next to each other in the drawer.

If your multiples have different allergies, allergic reactions or are prone to different illnesses such as ear infections or sinus infections, maintaining their correct medical information can be imperative especially in emergency situations.  If they are put in the hospital for something and the hospital does not receive all of the correct information, there could be horrible consequences.  For this reason, it is important for you to maintain your own records so that if you are ever in this type of situation you can ensure that the correct information is given.

Health insurance can be a problem for multiples at times as well.  Our problems started when our twins were in the NICU and procedures for one were getting charged to the other’s name and vice versa.  We had to constantly straighten things out with the insurance company.  Currently our children are on identical medications.  They aren’t for anything serious, but are necessary none the less.  Let’s just say they need more fiber in their lives.  Anyway, two pharmacy trips ago when we went to pick up their medications, the Dr.’s office had only renewed one of the prescriptions and the last time we went, the insurance company refused to let us purchase both bottles at the same visit because they had them listed as one child instead of two. Luckily the pharmacist was able to straighten things out.  Health insurance mix-ups are not uncommon for multiples.

The best way to prevent Dr.’s office mix-ups and insurance claim problems is to stay on top of things.  Keep your own accurate records of your child’s medical and vaccination history and review all medical claims to make sure that the claim for each child was filed correctly.  I have found that, whenever there is a mix-up, people have been quick to correct any problems once they know the basis for the problems.  Hopefully you will have the same positive experiences or will be able to avoid problems all together by preventing them from happening in the first place.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 1st, 2006 at 2:26 am and is filed under Multiples. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.