The Bright Futures/American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care , also known as the "Periodicity Schedule," is a schedule of screenings and assessments recommended at each well-child visit from infancy through adolescence.
Each child and family is unique; therefore, these recommendations are designed for the care of children who are receiving nurturing parenting, have no manifestations of any important health problems, and are growing and developing in a satisfactory fashion. Additional visits also may become necessary if circumstances suggest concerns. Developmental, psychosocial and chronic disease issues for children and adolescents may require frequent counseling and treatment visits separate from preventive care visits.
These recommendations represent a consensus by the AAP and Bright Futures. The AAP continues to emphasize the great importance of continuity of care in comprehensive health supervision and the need to avoid fragmentation of care. Refer to the specific guidance by age as listed in the Bright Futures Guidelines (Hagan JF, Shaw JS, Duncan PM, eds. Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children and Adolescents. 4th ed. American Academy of Pediatrics; 2017).
Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care— Periodicity Schedule (PDF)
For more background information, click here to review the related Bright Futures Guidelines , 4th Edition Evidence and Rationale chapter.
At selected visits, Bright Futures recommends universal screening for issues such as child development, maternal or adolescent depression, behavior/social/emotional concerns, or oral health. A number of screening tools have been developed and are commonly used. Click here for a list of links to tools for use at specific Bright Futures visits at the discretion of the health care professional. The links go to the author and/or the owner to ensure accessibility to the most up-to-date version of the specific tool.
For implementation and coding information for each visit on the Periodicity Schedule, please see the Bright Futures and Preventive Medicine Coding Fact Sheet .
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