We get a fair amount of questions regarding sports physicals so if your child is planning to play sports here is some important information or reminders!
Sports Physical vs Well Child Check Up
You may be asking what’s the difference? Do I need both? Are they interchangeable?
A Well Child Appointment is typically more comprehensive than a Sports Physical and counts towards your sports physical requirements while also reviewing other developmental issues including social, psychological and emotional well-being. If your child has had a Well Visit within the past year of needing a sports physical your pediatrician can complete the sports participation form for you and you do not need to schedule a separate sports physical appointment anywhere else!
Sunset does require that your child to have had a well visit within the past year in order to complete the form. If it’s been more than a year, for your child’s safety, you will need to schedule a well visit for your child before our providers can complete the form.
Does Sunset Pediatrics do Sports Physical Appointments?
Because sports physicals are less comprehensive than a well child visit, Sunset does not routinely or typically offer sports physicals and would recommend you instead schedule a well child visit with one of our pediatricians. It is also important to note that some insurance companies will treat sports physicals as a wellness visit and will not cover both in the same coverage year. We feel strongly that the well visit is a more comprehensive assessment of your child’s health and readiness for sports and we highly recommend prioritizing your well visit over a sports physical appointment at another location.
Important Information Regarding Timing of Well Visits and Sports Form Completion
End of August and early September when Sports Physicals are typically required for Fall sports participation is the busiest time to try to schedule a well visit and our providers’ availability will be severely limited. Therefore we strongly recommend if your child is planning to play Fall sports and you have not scheduled your well visit already, that you do so as soon as possible.
Additionally, if it’s been more than a year since your child has been in for their well visit, we encourage you to schedule your well visit over the summer. This will ensure no delays in your sports participation and we typically have much more availability and scheduling flexibility in the summer months.
How to Submit a Sports Form to Sunset
If you have a sports form that needs to be completed for your child, please send it to us through the patient portal. Remember that there are often 2 pages to the form: one for the parent to complete and one for the provider. The provider will need both forms with the parent information already completed in order to complete the physician part of the form.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Our providers work hard to get forms back to their patients as quickly as possible, but due to the high volume of requests our office receives at the start of each school year, we do have a 3 business day turnaround time for form completion. We ask families to please plan accordingly and understand that same day requests for forms may not be able to be honored or could incur an added fee.
