Making An Appointment
Office hours are by appointment only. You can call to make an appointment from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm on Monday through Friday. You can also request a non emergent appointment online through our Patient Portal, and one of our office staff will call you to arrange your appointment time. We have walk-in hours at our Derby location every Saturday morning for sick patients only at 9 am.
After Hours Emergencies - If you believe your child is experiencing a life-threatening emergency, CALL 911.
The On-Call clinician is available after hours to handle urgent questions and situations. To speak to our On-Call clinician after hours, call our office main line, and the phone number will be provided on our answering machine. Your call will generally be returned within 5 to 30 minutes. Please call the on call phone again if you have not received a call within 30 minutes.
Please refer to our "Parent Resources" page for medication dosage and FAQs to help answer any questions prior to making a call to the doctor.
Nurses Line
The Nurses Line can be used for FAQ, prescription refills, and results about your child. When calling the nurses line, leave your child's full name, date of birth, question and a phone number where you can be reached. All questions left on the nurses line will be called back by the end of the day. If you have a question that can not wait, please call and schedule an appointment.
Most insurance companies have an on-call nurse. Look at the back of your insurance card for the correct phone number.
Daycare / School /Camp / Sports Forms
We are happy to complete any health form for your child. Make sure your child has had a well child check-up within the last year. Then call the office to let us know that you need the form completed. When dropping forms off at the office, please make sure your childs name is on the form. All forms will be completed with in 48 hours from drop off.
Prescription Refills
To request a prescription refill you may do the following:
- Submit prescription refills online through our patient portal.
- Call your pharmacy and ask them to send us a prescription refill request electronically.
- Call our nurse line only if you are unable to do the above.
- Please give us 2-4 business days to complete your request.
ADHD Medication Refills
All children who are prescribed ADHD medications require medical monitoring (growth assessment, blood pressure checks, drug effect and side effect) at least every three months. If medications have been changed in anyway, patient may be required to come in monthly until patient is released to the three month check.
Please call office or use patient portal to request refill 5-7 days prior to pick up.
Referrals For your Child
If your child needs to see a specialist, follow these instructions to process a referral:
- Determine if your insurance copay requires you to have a referral for the problem that your child has. Most state insurances require a electronic referral. PPOs do not need referrals.
- Obtain approval from your PCP (clinician) for the referral. When calling our office, please have Name of Specialist, address, and diagnoises ready.
- Make an appointment with the specialist.
- Fill out the Referral Request form.
- It takes approximately 1 - 3 business days to process your referral. Most referrals are now electronic, so there is no hard copy. Your specialist will receive the referral via fax.
Business and Payment Policies
No Show Appointments
A no show appointment is defined as an appointment where the parent/guardian and patient are not in the office within 15 minutes of their designated appointment time and did not call to cancel or reschedule this appointment at least 24 hours in advance. If your child has an excessive amount of no showed appointments, we have the right to release them from our practice.
Annual Physical Examinations/Baby Well Visit Exams
We require annual physical examinations, as well as compliance with the American Academy of Pediatrics Well Child Check-Up Schedule in order to remain active patients in our practice. If the patient is overdue for their physical examination they will be contacted twice by phone, and twice by mail. If there is no appointment made, or the patient is not seen within 30 days of the final letter, the patient will be discharged from our practice.
Co-Payments
All Co-Payments and past due balances are expected at time of service.
Payment due at time of appointment
Payment is required at the time of services rendered. This practice accepts cash, personal check, Visa or MasterCard. There is a service charge of 15.00 for returned checks. If you have a past due balance, any amount paid will be applied to past due balance first.
Patients with an outstanding balance of 120 days overdue must make arrangements for payment prior to scheduling appointments. These accounts will be turned over to collection agency unless prior arrangements are made with our billing service. We realize that there may be financial difficulties; our billing service department has financial hardship and payment plan forms available.
Insurance Plan Participation
It is the patient's responsibility to be aware of their insurance coverage, policy provisions, authorization requirements, as well as network providers if applicable.
Due to relationships between insurers, third party administrators and “umbrella” networks, patients are strongly advised to contact their insurance carrier for participating provider information.
We bill non-participating insurance companies as a courtesy to you. If we have not received payment form a non-participating insurance company within 60 days of the date of service, you will be expected to pay the balance. We will provide you with all necessary information for submitting claims to your insurance company.
Custodial Parent Responsibilities
The custodial parent is responsible for payment at the time of service whether the account is considered self-pay, participating insurances, or nonparticipating insurance. The office does not get involved with divorce specifics, e.g., one parent pays 80% and the other pays 20%. It is the parents' obligation to work out an agreement themselves or through the court system.
We encourage our patients to discuss their financial circumstances with our billing service.
Our billing service department will be happy to assist you with questions and payment plans. You may call them at (716) 639-0155.