Aerodigestive Medicine

A 30-minute appointment with an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist. This appointment type is best for patients with no Pulmonary, Swallow, or Gastroenterology component, or as an entry into our Aerodigestive Medicine. 

A 45-minute appointment with an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist and a Speech Language Pathologist (swallow expert). This appointment type is best for patients with isolated aspiration or dysphagia.
 

A 45-minute appointment with an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist and a Speech Language Pathologist (voice expert). This appointment type is best for patients with hoarseness or a vocal cord issue.

A 2-hour coordinated office visit, with experts from Otolaryngology, Pulmonary Medicine, Gastroenterology, Speech-Language Pathology, and Pediatric Surgery (if needed). The team evaluates patients and then develops a comprehensive and coordinated assessment and plan. The plan is then communicated with the referring provider and the patient family. 

This appointment type is best for:

• Babies with the common combination of Stridor, Feeding Difficulties, Reflux, and Cough
• Babies with unexplained and persistent Aspiration 
• Children with Recalcitrant Cough/Recalcitrant Asthma, Recurrent Pneumonias, or Recurrent Croup
• Children with Subglottic Stenosis requiring Reconstruction, or Tracheoesophageal Fistula/Esophageal Atresia 

We may also schedule coordinated diagnostic tests or interventions, as needed, during the initial team clinic appointment, including: 

• Chest X-Ray
• Pulmonary Function Testing
• Flexible Fiberoptic Laryngoscopy
• Flexible Fiberoptic Evaluation of Swallowing
• Nutritional Evaluation
• Impedance pH Testing
• Clinical Feeding and Voice Evaluation
• Modified Barium Swallow
• Audiogram 

As part of the Coordinated Comprehensive Plan, we may recommend Coordinated Surgical Endoscopy (“Triple Scope”), as needed, for further diagnostic evaluation and treatment.

Call the Aerodigestive Office: 860.545.8100. Please be patient. Our team is helping patients all day and can return phone calls generally within 48 hours. 

We screen all Otolaryngology appointment requests for potential Aerodigestive candidates in order to proactively ensure our patients are placed into the best-fit appointment type

• EPIC: “Ambulatory Referral” to Aerodigestive Medicine
• Phone: Call the Aerodigestive Office: 860.545.8100
• Fax: Fax to Central Referral Office at 860.837.9898, directed to Aerodigestive.

We screen all Otolaryngology referrals for potential Aerodigestive candidates in order to proactively ensure our patients are placed into the best-fit appointment type. 

The Aerodigestive Medicine Coordinator screens the referral for our best-fit next appointment in Hartford or Farmington, as space and medical condition allows. This screening may include a review of the patient's medical record, a phone interview with referring provider, and a phone interview with family. If the patient is a good candidate for Aerodigestive Medicine, the coordinator will schedule an appointment. 

• The length of the visit will be between 30 minutes and 2 hours, depending on the visit type. The coordinator will inform you of the visit length when the appointment is scheduled. 
• If a feeding assessment is planned, children must arrive slightly hungry and with preferred food/drinks and preferred bottle/cup, so that best feeding evaluations can be done. 
• Arrive 15 minutes early to account for possible delays in our parking garages or check in lines. 

These visits are coordinated for convenience and comprehensive care. They are still full visits with multiple specialists and will be billed as such.  All copays are due at the visit. The coordinator will inform the patient family of the expected copay ahead of the visit. 

• Late Policy: Out of respect for all of our families, and to remain on time for them, if a family arrives late to an appointment, we may not be able to see them that day and we may need to reschedule their appointment. 
• No-Show Policy: Our visits are lengthy and often involve multiple specialists, and thus are resource-intense. We will confirm all appointments in the week prior with a phone call or MyChart message. If a family “no-shows” a coordinated appointment, this is a large amount of time we could have devoted to another child that goes unused. If this occurs, we may revoke the privilege of rescheduling another coordinated block appointment, and we may need to care for that family with individual appointments moving forward.