EPSDT Care for Kids is Iowa's federally mandated Medicaid program for children. The EPSDT Care for Kids program provides routine physicals or well-child check-ups for Medicaid eliglible children at certain specified ages. It is considered preventive care.
Children birth through age 20 years of age who have an active Iowa Medicaid card.
Initial and periodic health check-ups including, but not limited to, the following:
The 2013 recommended immunization schedules for persons aged 0 - 18 years and the catch-up immunization schedule have been approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The 2013 recommendations are included on two schedules: one for children ages 0 through 18 years and a catch-up schedule . Additional information is found on the CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/.
Changes were published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report MMWR on February 1, 2013, in supplement volume 62, number 1. For 2013, several new references and links to additional information have been added, including one for travel vaccine requirements and recommendations. New references also are provided for vaccination of persons with primary and secondary immunodeficiencies. Changes to the previous schedules include the following:
The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act requires that health-care providers provide parents or patients with copies of Vaccine Information Statements (VIS) before administering each dose of the vaccines listed in the schedules. Additional information on VIS is available from the CDC at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/default.htm.
The Child and Adolescent Reporting System (CAReS) is used by Title V Child Health agencies to document a client's demographic information, needs, and services provided. The CAReS User Manual 
has been developed as a step-by-step guide for data entry.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) EPSDT Web page 
provides information on EPSDT benefits and state agency responsibilities and required activities.
The Iowa Medicaid Enterprise reports EPSDT screening data to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) each Federal Fiscal Year (October 1 - September 30). The annual CMS 416 Report provides basic information on children's participation in the Medicaid program based upon this data. The information is used to assess the effectiveness of state EPSDT programs in terms of the number of Medicaid enrolled children who are provided screening services and referred for treatment. States are required to maintain a minimum Participation Rate of 80%. Participation Rates indicate the extent to which the number of Medicaid eligible members who should be screened during the year receive at least one initial or periodic screening service. The unit of measure is the number of Medicaid enrolled children receiving at least one initial or periodic screening service divided by the unduplicated count of Medicaid enrolled children who should receive at least one initial or periodic screening service in the year. The initial and periodic screening services are based on the Iowa Recommendations for Scheduling Care for Kids Screenings.
The Iowa Medicaid Provider Manual for Screening Centers contains basic information concerning Iowa's Medical Assistance Program (Medicaid). All providers of medical and health services participating as a Medicaid Screening Center use this manual. It includes information on policies, procedures, and billing for this Medicaid program.
The EPSDT Care for Kids Informing and Care Coordination Handbook assists Title V Child Health agencies and their subcontractors in implementing EPSDT Care for Kids informing and care coordination services.
The EPSDT Care for Kids Newsletter informs Iowa health care professionals about Iowa's EPSDT Care for Kids program. It is published three times a year and provides information about new developments in the field of children's health care. Archived newsletters dating back to 1997 are found on-line and may be searched by topic and date.
This EPSDT Care for Kids Provider Resource Web page provides information for Iowa's EPSDT Care for Kids professional providers. It contains useful tools, resources, and links for EPSDT Care for Kids services with special emphasis on promoting healthy physical, mental, social, and emotional development of children birth through age three.
The Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Library, located at the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health at Georgetown University, is a virtual guide to MCH information. It offers a combination of MCH information compiled by library staff and pathways to the best MCH information available from other websites, organizations, and libraries. Knowledge paths on MCH related topics contain selections of recent, high quality resources and tools for staying abreast of new developments. Components of a knowledge path include links to websites, electronic publications, databases, discussion groups, and citations from journal articles and other print resources.
The EPSDT Knowledge Path includes guidelines for the frequency, timing, and content of health-promotion and disease-prevention services for infants, children, and adolescents. Separate sections present resources for professionals (health professionals, program administrators, policymakers, and researchers) and for families. A special topics area lists resources about oral health services as part of the EPSDT benefit. View the EPSDT Knowledge Path online at http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/kp_EPSDT.html .
The HRSA EPSDT Web site provides information about how EPSDT works with public health, families, managed care organizations, pediatricians, and other health providers.
The Iowa Child Health and Development Record forms are tools that serve as a guide for well child screening, anticipatory guidance, and documentation of the child's care plan. These forms are age-specific for young children from birth through age 5, based on the Iowa EPSDT Care for Kids Health Maintenance Recommendations.
The Iowa Medicaid Enterprise Provider Services provides information for providers about the Medicaid program.
Iowa's Blood Lead Testing Guidelines provide key information for addressing lead risk assessment for children and guidelines for blood lead testing and follow-up. Included in this document are the following:
The Iowa EPSDT Care for Kids Health Maintenance Recommendations is commonly called the Periodicity Schedule. This document provides a one-page summary of the ages at which recommended health screening services are to be provided as a child grows. These guidelines are based upon Bright Futures, Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents, 3rd Edition adopted by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and supported by Iowa's Chapter of the AAP.
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