Your Visit | Overview
At Boston Children’s Hospital, our dedicated Home Parenteral Nutrition Program offers outpatient visits and consultations in conjunction with Center for Advanced Intestinal Rehabilitation and the Center for Motility and Functional Disorders.
The visit will include:
- careful monitoring of growth and development
- individualized nutrition plans based upon personalized goals
- pharmacist reconciliation of parenteral nutrition (PN) compounding records
- home-based intravenous antibiotics if needed
- bone-health assessment and treatment
- close coordination of home nursing and infusion services
- learning opportunities about cutting-edge PN products and techniques
- age-appropriate psychosocial support to improve quality of life
- comprehensive laboratory monitoring
- preparation and education for school, travel and work.
- transitional care services for young adults
What to bring to your Home Parenteral Nutrition Program visit
To make the most of your appointments with our program, we suggest you bring the following items with you:
- insurance card
- copy of your parenteral nutrition prescription (provided by your infusion pharmacy)
- results of recent laboratory tests and imaging studies
- lists of medications, vitamins, supplements, or herbal medicines your child is taking or has taken
- list of the physicians with whom we should coordinate your child’s care
- food and beverage diary
- list of any questions or concerns you may have
Home-based parenteral nutrition services
We are happy to assist with the coordination of comprehensive, home-based services as they pertain to PN. To be followed by our service, our providers (nurses, nurse practitioners, dietitians, pharmacists, and physicians) will meet with you during a thorough, initial consultation in the hospital or in the office.
We will make sure you and your child understand and are comfortable with all elements of PN management. Follow-up visits will be scheduled to ensure your care is going smoothly. We are also available to assist in between visits for urgent and non-urgent issues. We manage many long-distances families.
Second opinions and specialized care
For many families seen at other institutions, we have been told that it’s extremely helpful to receive a second opinion regarding their PN management by our team — even if it’s just once in a while. We are happy to provide second-opinion consultations to you and your child and your physician regarding common PN-related challenges, such as PN-associated liver injury, central line infections, poor growth, vascular access, IV iron management, nutritional deficiencies, and dehydration.
We have a special interest in caring for children with congenital (inherited) diarrheas that often lead to PN dependence, and are a national and an international referral center for such cases.
Whether the diagnosis is known or unknown, we often work in collaboration with other Boston Children's programs for second opinion consultations. These programs include surgery, radiology, palliative care, genetics, nephrology, hematology, and metabolism. Our staff is able to aid in the coordination of these appointments.
Inpatient consultations
Inpatient consultations are available to help evaluate PN as an option for families at Boston Children's. We provide family oriented education to prepare families to go home on PN.
Parenteral nutrition telemedicine visits
Since 2013, our team has offered a variety of telemedicine visits to meet our patient and family needs. Telemedicine means remote delivery of health care. Visits occur via an easy-to-use, family friendly HIPAA-protected software platform and last 15 to 60 minutes. Check with your insurance company whether you need authorization prior to your telemedicine visit.
For international families
Boston Children’s is the worldwide destination for treatment of rate and complex medical conditions in children, including short bowel syndrome and congenital diarrhea or enteropathy. We are happy to liaise with international medical providers to discuss challenging cases and explore referral options prior to transfer. Members of our team will collaborate with you in planning to make the family’s experience as worthwhile as possible.
For families residing outside of the United States, please contact Boston Children's Global Services, which facilitates the medical review of patient records and appointment scheduling and which provides assistance with customs and immigration, transportation, and hotel and housing accommodations.