Referring your patient to the Developmental Pediatrics Clinic

Please visit our website for families at this page to learn more about our clinic.

At this time, the Developmental Pediatrics Clinic at Kentucky Children’s Hospital offers high-quality, personalized evaluations of and recommendations for children who have concerns related to several common developmental diagnoses. We accept referrals from patients’ primary care providers, as we provide a consultative model that engages in direct collaboration with patients’ primary medical homes. Note: if you are not the child’s primary care provider, please discuss your clinical concerns with the child’s primary care provider and request that the primary care provider consider a referral to our clinic.

Consultation for diagnostic confirmation and/or clarity

• Children (18 months to 12 years old) who have concerns for undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder.

• Children (18 months to 5 years old) who have concerns for undiagnosed global developmental delay.

• Children (6-12 years old) who have concerns for undiagnosed intellectual disability.

• Children (4-12 years old) who have concerns for undiagnosed attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

• Any combination of the four diagnoses listed above. For example, does my 2-year-old patient have autism, global developmental delay, or both? Does my 7-year-old patient have intellectual disability, ADHD, or both?

Consultation for medication recommendations

• Children (4-12 years old) who have previously been diagnosed by a medical provider with autism spectrum disorder, global developmental delay, intellectual disability, and/or ADHD and who would like a consultation for medication recommendations of developmental-behavioral concerns.

We review referrals from primary care providers that include the following documentation. This documentation is required for our clinic to review a child’s referral.

• Results of a hearing test at an audiologist’s office and/or ENT office. This is a requirement for all patients who are younger than 5 years old and for all patients (regardless of age) who are nonverbal.
  • Best practice recommendations include ruling out all medical causes of speech delay, such as hearing loss, prior to having a patient undergo an evaluation for a developmental diagnosis.
  • While the newborn hearing screen is important, it does not meet this requirement for our clinic.
• The specific developmental-behavioral signs and/or symptoms leading to the request for consultation:
  • Office notes/visit reports that explain the signs and/or symptoms.
  • Results of developmental screening tests.
  • Medication records (if the patient has been prescribed or is currently taking medications to address developmental-behavioral concerns).
• School district evaluations/records, including:
  • Integrated reports (IQ testing, academic testing, psychoeducational evaluations, etc.).
  • Individual Education Program (IEP) reports.
  • 504 plans.

To refer a patient, please place an order for an “Ambulatory Referral to Pediatric Developmental” in EpicCare link or download the referral form below, complete it, and fax with all requested documentation to 859-218-7573.

At this time, the Developmental Pediatrics Clinic at Kentucky Children’s Hospital offers high-quality, personalized evaluations of and recommendations for children who have concerns related to several common developmental diagnoses.

In order to ensure that we are fulfilling our mission, we must acknowledge there are other developmental-behavioral concerns with which we are not able to assist at this time. Please find these types of other developmental-behavioral concerns listed below, along with our suggestions for how best to address these types of clinical questions and/or concerns for the patients in your practice.

*We do not accept referrals for diagnosis of, management of, or treatment of the associated developmental-behavioral concerns for the following medical conditions. We recommend that you send a referral to a child and adolescent psychiatrist and/or pediatric psychologist for these concerns:

• Diagnosis or management of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, and/or intellectual disability in patients who are older than 12 years old
• Anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, selective mutism, social anxiety disorder, etc.
• Conduct disorder.
• Mood disorders, including bipolar disorder, depression, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, etc.
• Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
• Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD).
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other diagnoses related to past abuse and/or trauma.
• Reactive attachment disorder (RAD).
• Sleep disorders, including insomnia.

*We do not accept referrals to determine if a child has a learning disability and/or specific learning disorder in math, reading, spelling, or writing. Your patient’s family should write a letter to their child’s school district, requesting that the school district assess the child for a learning disability and/or specific learning disorder.

*We do not accept referrals for developmental services themselves, such as applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy, feeding therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy or speech therapy. We do not provide these services at our clinic. Your patient’s family should contact their insurance provider for a list of in-network developmental service providers.

*We do not accept referrals for general behavioral concerns (such as avoidant and restrictive eating, encopresis, enuresis, pica, tantrums, etc.). Your patient’s family should contact their insurance provider for a list of in-network behavioral therapy providers.