Dr. Carl Lindgren clearly has a positive, forward-thinking outlook. It’s likely why his pediatric medical practice is titled Healthy Future Pediatrics.
With over 20 years of medical practice behind him, Lindgren continues to be inspired daily by children. “They are naturally curious, brave, honest, and strong. I’m still amazed that an infant can fight me off while I try to look in her ears,” says Lindgren with a chuckle.
Parents appreciate Lindgren’s approach to preventative medicine. “There are such opportunities for prevention and we embrace that within our office. We focus on providing a caring service and clear communication while working alongside parents to help them care for their children.”
“I like to have a collaborative relationship with parents. I want all parents to feel comfortable asking me a question,” says Lindgren. “This creates the best possible care for the child.”
Lindgren, along with two pediatric nurse practitioners, appreciates the small office setting. “I prefer to keep Healthy Future Pediatrics small and personal. We are constantly talking about customer service and how to make each visit pleasant for the family,” says Lindgren who also stresses that he makes it a daily goal to stay on time with his appointment schedule.
Upon entering the medical office, it’s clear that Lindgren pays attention to how his patients interact in a waiting room. The waiting room is organized in a more comfortable fashion including a beautiful mural by local artist Heather Taylor Zimmerman. This space also includes a large fish tank with a descriptive binder that educates children about the fish and their individual names.
Lindgren leads me on a tour of the LEED Certified Silver building. The highlight of the tour, beyond enjoying the natural light inside the building, is his laboratory grade refrigerator and freezer which house crucial vaccines.
“Parents are trusting us to vaccinate their children and I want to ensure that the vaccines and medications are kept at a controlled temperature,” describes Lindgren.
Instead of being cluttered with patent’s files, Lindgren’s personal office space includes the latest high tech gadgets. Lindgren has recently adopted a new online interface called Chadis. Once registered, parents use the website to answer a series of questions prior to each check-up.
“Chadis is a developmental screening tool that has been scientifically proven to help us detect levels of development delay that would be missed just by asking questions at the time of the child’s visit,” explains Lindgren.
Any parent can tell you that their best intentions are waylaid when trying to talk with a doctor while their child is running around the exam room. “Now, parents can use this screening tool at home and then we review it together at the next visit,” says Lindgren.
“With early intervention, chances for a positive outcome are improved. With Chadis, we can now find out information well in advance of waiting for an issue to develop,” explains Lindgren.
Even though the Healthy Future Pediatrics front office staff personally answer each phone call, the practice is focused on using technology to simplify the health care process.
Providers carry small notebook computers between exam rooms and the office operates entirely with electronic medical records. All prescriptions are sent electrically and Lindgren jokes that “the script is at the pharmacy before the parent leaves the exam room.”
Lindgren has some big ideas on how to share valuable information with parents. An online patient portal is currently under development that would permit parents access to vaccine records, growth charts, lab results, and educational information such as all of the brochures provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics which are currently only available by subscription.
“Health care instructions are primarily delivered orally. Medicine expects parents to walk out of an appointment having absorbed every detail,” comments Lindgren.
“I can buy stacks of brochures and hang them on the wall in the waiting room or hand them out to parents at the end of a visit. But, it’s just going to roll around in the back of the car until it gets tossed,” says Lindgren when describing the current method of sharing information.
“Instead, let’s put all that valuable information online and give providers the ability to direct families to appropriate content when they need it,” he adds.
“Think about the parent who comes home from an appointment and the other parent asks ‘what did the doctor tell you?’ I firmly believe that having information, such as an appointment summary, online so that a parent can access it when they need it will greatly improve compliance.” Not only would this give families a greater sense of value for their time and money but providers could attach handouts to amplify points made during the visit.
“I view technology as a powerful tool to improve the quality of health care. This is the future,” he summarizes. Healthy Future Pediatrics is clearly embracing the future.
Healthy Future Pediatrics
Dr. Carl Lindgren, Kevy Wijaya, ARNP, and Tara Tumulty, ARNP
3023 Pacific Ave SE
Olympia, WA 98501
360.528.4220
www.healthyfuturepeds.com
