Office Policies

• Patients are seen on an appointment basis. Our receptionists are available in helping you schedule your child’s appointment around your busy schedule. We will make every effort to see sick patients on a same-day basis. Well child visits should be scheduled in advance as much as possible. You may call our office to schedule your child’s appointment anytime during our normal business hours of:

Monday – Friday 8:30am to 5:00pm
Saturday* – 9:00am to 12:00 noon

*Saturday appointments are for sick established patients only. There is only one doctor on Saturdays and our doctors rotate these days.

• If you cannot make your appointment, please contact the office as soon as possible in order so we can use this appointment for another child. Failure to cancel your appointment will result in a ‘No Show.’ A third ‘No Show’ will result in dismissal from ABC Pediatrics. The letter will be sent to the parent/guardian via certified mail to the last address of record. For a period of 30 days following dismissal, ABC Pediatrics will address acute care issues only.
  
  
• Some visits may require more time. Please inform the receptionist upon scheduling an appointment if your child has a detailed problem such as a mental health issue or learning disability, or is in need of a procedure. This enables us to plan accordingly.
  
  
• If you are going to be more than fifteen (15) minutes late, please call our office so we can reschedule your appointment. This ensures that our doctors and patients stay on time. If you arrive more than fifteen (15) minutes late to your scheduled appointment, approval from the physician will need to be received and you maybe worked back into the schedule. This may result in a longer wait time. Also, if the physician is busy, the appointment may be cancelled.

• For your convenience, we have a patient portal. You will receive your password in the office. If you forget your password, please call the office and we can reset this for you. You will have access to your child’s chart, including access to: Exit Summary, Growth Chart, Vaccine Record. You may also request on-going medication refills and send messages to various staff members.

• A nurse is available to answer your questions during our normal business hours. Because these calls are returned in order of medical urgency, you will be asked to leave a message. Please understand, we have many messages left on a daily basis, so you may receive a call back towards the end of the day. If you feel your child will need to be seen in the office, please schedule an appointment.

• We are available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if your child has an acute illness, injury or other medical emergency. If you have a question or corner and it is after our normal business hours, you may use our after-hours triage service. To utilize this service, please call our main number and follow the prompts. There is an after-hour charge that will be billed to your insurance company (including Medicaid plans) for this service. If your insurance company doesn’t cover this amount in full, you understand that you will be responsible for no more than $30 charge. Our triage service does have access to an on-call physician for urgent matters regarding such attention.

• All doctors at ABC Pediatrics follow the immunization schedule recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). If you choose to split up your child’s vaccines outside of the AAP’s recommended immunization schedule, your child will be scheduled with a nurse for these visits. A nurse visit will be billed to your insurance company. Some insurance companies may not consider this visit as ‘preventative’ since it is not billed with a well exam. If your insurance company doesn’t cover the nurse visit in full, you understand that you will be responsible for no more than $20.

• We see and evaluate children with ADHD. We also prescribe medicine for this disorder if we have diagnosed ADHD. Since the medicines to treat ADHD are controlled substances and have strict laws governing them, we need to see ADHD patients every three (3) months. We request a 24-hour notice prior to filling this medication. This medication can be requested by calling our office during normal business hours or by logging into the patient portal and sending the request. As long as your child is up to date on their well exam, these visits can be done either via telehealth or in person.

• We offer allergy injections in our office. Generally, we want to know your child’s allergist and their policies prior to using their serum.

• All medical records requests must be submitted in writing.  You may fill out 
  a medical records release in our office or downloading one from our Patient Forms page.  Once we receive this form, we will complete your request as quickly as possible.  There is a $25 fee per child for individuals requesting and personally picking up records.  There is not a charge for sending these records to a physician’s office (for the first request). There will be a $25 fee per child for sending records to a physician any time thereafter.

• While we do accept most insurance plans, it is your responsibility to make
  sure our provider is in-network under your specific plan. This will ensure the most cost-effective coverage.  We will submit your medical claim to your primary insurance company for you.  We do not file secondary insurance.
  
  
• We will get a general quote of benefits before your child is seen by the physician and your copay/deductible/coinsurance is due at time of service. We also will collect payment in full from our self-pay patients, unless payment arrangements are made in advance.
  
  
• Your child’s welfare is our number one priority.  We will try to work with parents when financial hardships arise.  Please let our office know if your financial situation changes and we can set up payment arrangements.