Children’s Heart Clinic Visit

Whether you’re visiting for the first time at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Heart Center in Oklahoma City or you’re returning to see the friendly, familiar health professionals who care for you or your child, here’s how to prepare for your upcoming visit, test or procedure.

What to Bring

You can help your clinic visit go as smoothly as possible when you bring the following information with you to each appointment:

• Referring physician or practice name, address and contact information

• Copies of medical records from referring physicians except doctors from other OU Health Physicians practices or doctors affiliated with Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health

• Your and your child’s personal health history, including developmental milestones, chronic illnesses, surgeries, hospitalizations and medications

• Health history of family members, including medical or developmental concerns, pregnancy losses, congenital abnormalities, age/cause of death and other relevant information

• Current health insurance card(s); check with your insurance carrier for details about your coverage or find out more about OU Health insurance and billing

• Completed copy of the appropriate OU Health form

  • New Patient Questionnaire

  • Established Patient Questionnaire

On Your Appointment Day

Take all regularly prescribed medications unless a member of the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Heart Center team instructs you otherwise.

Check the latest OU Health policies for COVID-19 precautions and in-person visit requirements to find out if you may bring a family member, caregiver or friend with you. If permitted, no more than two people at a time may accompany the person being tested into any given clinic service area.

Arrive 15-20 minutes before your scheduled appointment time to allow for parking, finding your way to the check-in location and completing the check-in process at the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Heart Center Clinic, Level 2, Station F of the OU Health Physicians - Pediatrics building.
Heart Center Map and Directions

What To Expect During a Diagnostic Visit

Plan for your clinic visit at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Heart Center to take longer than your regular doctor’s appointment or your visits to other medical specialists. The length of your appointment depends on the number and types of services planned for you or that your doctor adds while you’re here. On average, you can expect to spend two to three hours with us.

You also can expect to take part in many clinical activities to help us better understand your or your child’s specific situation. Your doctor or specialist will want to know about your current health condition, symptoms and medical history – and your doctor or specialist may ask to meet with just you and/or you and your legal guardian to gather private medical history information. You’ll also participate in a comprehensive body systems review and a thorough physical examination by a specialty provider.

Depending on what your provider finds, you or your child may get a referral for more diagnostic testing to help your doctor develop a definitive diagnosis.

Once you finish the required tests, your specialty provider meets with you to review results and finalize the personal treatment plan that fits your or your child’s particular situation.

After You Leave

If you or your child need any additional testing or treatment, you’ll get more information from your Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Heart Center team. They work with you to coordinate upcoming appointments and share the status of results that may take four to six weeks to return.

Shortly after your clinic visit, you and your child’s primary doctor can expect a letter summarizing your in-person conversation and arranging for follow-up visits to discuss your or your child’s diagnosis or review recommendations for additional care and treatment.

Questions or concerns? Contact Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Heart Center at (405) 271-5530.

Your Child’s Heart & Vascular Care Team

During the time you and your child spend at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Heart Center, you’ll work with a variety of talented, compassionate and highly trained experts – doctors, nurses and staff who provide specialized pediatric services to diagnose and treat your child’s specific condition.

Your child’s heart and vascular care team may include pediatric cardiologists, pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons, pediatric cardiac anesthesiologists, pediatric critical care specialists and pediatric cardiac nurses, as well as child life specialists, social workers, therapists and healthcare professionals from many disciplines.

You benefit from working with an experienced pediatric cardiovascular team that directly involves you and your family in treatment decisions, also pays close attention to your family’s nonmedical needs and:

• Performs more than 500 complex cardiothoracic surgeries each year
• Uses the latest advanced technologies, including minimally invasive procedures that help speed healing and recovery
• Brings together specialists from all departments to coordinate and implement new and innovative treatments for children’s heart and vascular conditions
• Cares for the tiniest hearts through our extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) program, a nationally designated ECMO Center of Excellence
• Conducts groundbreaking research on hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) with nationally renowned colleagues from across the United States and brings new methods for prevention, diagnosis and treatment to your care through participation in locally available clinical trials
• Teaches the physicians of tomorrow for the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, which also gives you access to benchmark practice standards, innovative care and treatment methods, advanced technology and world-class research
• Puts smiles on the faces of children and families during more than 10,000 outpatient visits each year