Policies

Appointments

Due to frequent changes in health insurance coverage, please be prepared to show us your insurance card upon arrival for each visit.

We ask that all new patients arrive at least fifteen minutes in advance to fill out all new patient paperwork. Please bring all relevant paperwork from your child’s previous pediatrician, including immunization records and laboratory test results.

Well-visits take more time in our schedule than sick visits; they must be scheduled separately. We also ask that no more than two siblings be scheduled consecutively for Well check-ups, as our appointment schedule will not allow for more.

A parent or legal guardian should be present at the time of each child’s visit. Patients who arrive alone or with a caretaker will be required to have prior written parental permission to be seen by one of our providers with the exception of an emergency visit.
Due to our large volume of patients, we will do our best to accommodate you with after-hours care if available and/or necessary.

Walk-in Appointments

We make every effort to keep your waiting time to a minimum; please call before arriving for an appointment. Walk-in patients will be asked to wait for the next available appointment. Siblings of patients with scheduled appointments will be considered a walk-in. Medical emergencies will be seen immediately.

Waiting Rooms

No smoking, drinking, or eating during your visit to the office. Of course, you may breastfeed or offer formula to an infant in one of the rooms, if it is time to feed the baby. Please, limit friends and relatives accompanying you to the office.

Cancellations

If you are unable to keep your appointment, please notify our office at least 24 hours in advance so that another patient may be given this time.

Late Policy

Trying to ensure that your wait time is kept to a minimum is difficult when patients are late. Late patients make other patients that were on time wait longer. If you are more than 15 minutes late, you may need to reschedule if it is a non-urgent visit

Emergencies and After Hours Care

For life-threatening emergencies, call 911

We understand that having a sick child is stressful, especially when your Pediatric Office is closed!  As your child’s medical home, we want to make sure we are available to offer advice even when we are not in the office.  If you need to speak to one of our Providers about your sick child after hours, please call our main office number and our answering service will connect you with the physician on-call.  Our Providers are available 24/7 to answer questions and make sure your child gets the care that they need. 

When an emergency visit is recommended by our on-call Provider, we advise you to take your child to a Pediatric Emergency Hospital, such as Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

If your child is less than three months old with any fever or even a low-grade fever, you need to call us immediately.  If your infant is less than six weeks old and is not interested in eating for more than 4 or 5 hours, you should contact us.

In general the main idea is to check how the child looks and feel. Ex: (is the child active and alert)

Newborn Hospital

We take care of all of our newborns in the hospitals. The practice has privileges at Emory Decatur Hospital.

Telephone Calls

During office hours, the telephone is answered by an individual. After hours calls go to our answering service who then calls the physician. Our physicians answer the calls after hours; we do not use the nurse advice line.

Prescription Refills

To refill your child’s medication, just call our office and one of our staff members will take care of your request.  Your pharmacy may also fax us a refill request.  Please allow 24 hours for refills to be processed, and make sure that your child is up to date with Well check-ups and medication follow-ups if they have a chronic illness.

Payments

In general, payment (cash, check, credit cards, except American Express) is expected for all medical services at the time they are rendered. Our fees are within the accepted norm of the medical profession and are standard for all areas in which we practice. Our fee schedule is available from our receptionists by request. The charges for office visits, consultations, hospitalizations, and prolonged care are determined by the amount of time and expertise involved.

A consultation appointment and after-hours visits (Saturday) will be charged at a higher rate than the regular office visit.

In all cases, the responsibility for payment is the exclusive obligation of the patient’s guardian. If financial problems arise, please call our office. Arrangements for payment should be made with us. A receipt will be given to you at the time of payment for you to use for insurance payments.

If one of our doctors saw your baby in the hospital you will receive a bill.

Insurance

If you are a member of a special insurance plan that our office is participating in, please bring your insurance card on your first visit to the office and we will file your insurance for you. Some companies pay fixed allowances for certain procedures and others pay a percentage of this charge. It is your responsibility to pay any deductible amount, co-insurance, or any other balance not paid by your insurance company.

Medicaid

It is of vital importance that you complete a letter requesting financial assistance for your child. When you receive your eligibility statement, you should bring it to the office. If we do not receive your child’s Medicaid number and eligibility statement, you are responsible for your bill. It is important to notify us of any change in marital status, address, phone number, etc.

Referrals

For all non-emergency referrals, please contact our office at least one week in advance. For all emergency referrals, please contact our office the following business day. In the event your child may need to see a specialist or may require emergency care, your HMO or POS insurance company requires that you be referred by your primary care physician. If you do not receive authorization from us prior to your visit with a specialist or within the next business day of your emergency care, your insurance company may not pay for the treatment. Our office will not provide authorization for visits retroactively.

When it is necessary for you to obtain an emergency referral from our physician, your insurance company will require that our office provide them with certain information. Our staff will need to ask you questions such as the time, place, and date of the emergency visit as well as the reason for the visit, etc.