Rare Lung Diseases | Contact

Contact Us or Refer a Patient

Contact us if you have questions about the Rare Lung Diseases Program, the diseases we treat or the research we conduct.

Phone

513-636-6771
513-803-1332

Fax

513-636-4615

Email

RLD_Referrals@cchmc.org

Mailing Address

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Rare Lung Diseases Program
Division of Pulmonary Medicine
3333 Burnet Avenue
MLC 2021
Cincinnati, OH 45229

The Rare Lung Diseases Program at Cincinnati Children’s accepts referrals from both physicians and families.

How to Refer

Physicians wishing to refer patients to us can contact the Rare Lung Diseases Program at 513-803-1332. For immediate consultation, physicians can contact our on-call pulmonary specialists through the Cincinnati Children’s Physician Priority Link at 513-636-7997 or 1-888-636-7997.

 

If a family member makes the initial contact with us, our team will call the child’s physician to confirm the referral.  Before setting up the first appointment, we will work with families and referring physicians to obtain a patient summary, copies of laboratory and radiology films and reports, and lung biopsy slides. This allows us to plan the first appointment and recommend tests and additional consultations if needed.

 

 

You can help expedite the referral process by working with your child’s physician to organize his medical records. We often request the following records:

  • Referral letter
  • Notes from your pediatrician or primary care provider
  • Office notes and consultations from other physicians involved in your child’s medical care, particularly pulmonary physicians
  • Bronchoscopy reports
  • Hospital discharge summaries
  • Chest CT scans and reports
  • Chest X-rays, especially initial and most recent chest X-rays
  • Other radiology studies that have been done. We would like the films, scans and subsequent reports. We prefer to receive films in electronic format.
  • Reports of pH / impedance probe
  • Report of sweat chloride or other testing for cystic fibrosis
  • Report of surfactant genetic testing
  • Microbiology results, such as respiratory cultures
  • Lab results (from blood work), particularly labs testing immune system function
  • Echocardiogram report
  • Operative / procedure notes
  • Pulmonary function test (PFT) reports
  • Growth curve
  • Lung biopsy slides and pathology report

Many children will not have had many of these tests. We only request records of studies that have been done, and will advise you if further testing is needed once we evaluate your child.

Download the medical release form (PDF)

You can also make the referral process go smoothly by contacting your insurance company to alert them to your child’s condition and check benefit details and referral requirements. If you find that your insurance does not cover this care, or your child does not have insurance, we may be able to help. Contact Financial Services at 513-636-4427 to discuss your concerns.

Referrals to our Program

One of the primary reasons children are referred to our program is for diagnosis of a complex, chronic lung problem. Many of the patients we care for have interstitial or other rare lung diseases. Our diagnostic approaches may include the following specialties:

  • Chest HRCT − A specialized technique is essential, particularly in young children, for the best image quality and to minimize radiation dose.
    •  Alan Brody, MD, (Chief, Thoracic Imaging) is board certified in pediatrics and radiology. He holds a certificate of special qualification in pediatric radiology from the American Board of Radiology. Dr. Brody is a member of multiple national and international medical societies including senior membership in the Society for Thoracic Radiology, and membership in the Fleischner Society. Dr. Brody has been recognized as one of America’s top physicians since 2008.
  • Evaluation of pulmonary physiology: 
    • Infant Pulmonary Function Testing. We have a state of the art system for measuring lung function for infants. In addition, we have special expertise with infants who have interstitial lung disease (ILD).
    • Pulmonary function testing, including diffusion tests, lung volume tests (plethysmography) and spirometry
    • Research techniques not offered at other facilities
    • Exercise studies
    • Flexible bronchoscopy  
      •  Robert Wood, PhD, MD, is a pediatric pulmonary specialist, with particular interest in bronchoscopy. He has played a major role in the development of instrumentation and techniques for flexible bronchoscopy in pediatric patients. He is recognized as a teacher of endoscopic techniques, and has published many papers and book chapters on the subject. Additionally, he has extensive experience with clinical problems in pediatric pulmonary medicine, especially children with complex airway problems and cystic fibrosis.
  • Polysomnography
  • Surgical lung biopsy via VATS (Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery). We have particular experience with VATS in diagnosing different forms of ILD.
  • Genetic testing – which includes whole exome sequencing

Other reasons for referral include:

  • Full range of of therapies available to treat these diseases including access to research and lung transplant
  • Our interdisciplinary approach to caring for diffuse lung diseases, including team case conferences to review diagnosis and management.
  • Our collaboration with a child’s referring physician.
  • Family centered care – an approach that keeps family informed and involved.
  • Opportunities to participate in research studies at Cincinnati Children’s and elsewhere.
Cincinnati Children's Main Campus 3333 Burnet Avenue Cincinnati, OH  45229 513-803-1332