Office Policies

 

Appointments 

We see our patients by appointment so we can see your child with the least wait time.   We discourage walk-in patients. We will always see your child if medically necessary.     We will make every effort to see your child on time, because we know your time is as valuable as ours.   Below are some suggestions and guidelines that will help you to understand our systems and allow us to serve you more effectively.

Should we have an emergency and are unable to see you as scheduled, we will let you know as soon as possible so you can have the option to reschedule the appointment. Other situations that cause the wait to be longer:

  • Illness that requires extra time
  • Patients are late or add another child at the office
  • Hospital emergencies

As hard as we try, we cannot always predict the needed amount and/or duration of appointment times correctly.   The volume and degree of illness is not always predictable.   You can help us schedule the appropriate appointment time for your child by giving our staff the purpose of the visit and the specific nature of your concerns.   Please mention if you want tests performed or discussed at the visit.   We may recommend that you speak with our advice line to discuss what type of visit is needed.               

When you call and schedule an appointment, we will repeat back to you the day, time, and practitioner to try to cut down on errors.   As a courtesy, we may confirm your check-up or consultations the day before your appointment by phone call.     If for some reason you do not hear from us the day before, you are still responsible for your appointment.  Always be sure that we have the appropriate contact number to reach you.

When you plan ahead for well care visits, you will likely be able to get the appointment time you want with the practitioner you prefer.   July, August, and September are our busiest time for check-ups, especially for school age children. Our after-school and evening visits go quickly, please call as soon as possible for those appointments. Same day visits for sick children will be made with the practitioner that is available at the time you need.   Please call us as soon as you think your child might need to be seen so we can accommodate your schedule to the best of our ability. 

 

Sick and Well Visits

The appointment time for sick children is shorter than for well child visits.   If your child is already scheduled for a well visit but happens to be sick we can usually still do the check-up.   If your child is scheduled for a sick visit, we usually do not have time that day to do a full check-up.

 

Missed or Cancelled Appointments

Check-up and Consultation appointments that are missed or not cancelled within 24 hours of the scheduled appointment time may incur a missed appointment fee of $25.00.   This will be charged directly to you and not your insurance company.

Your appointment time is reserved exclusively for you and your  child.   Please be considerate of others - if you miss your appointment or cancel at the last minute, we will be unable to care for another patient in your child's place.   As a courtesy, we make appointment reminder calls.   However, should you not receive this courtesy call and the appointment is missed, the charge may still apply.

We do not book as many patients as possible into our appointment schedule.     At our Practice, we believe that we can provide optimal pediatric care only if we have enough time set aside to adequately examine your child and discuss your child's condition and treatment options in detail with you.   This requires that you arrive on time for your appointment.   If you are late for your appointment, we may not be able to accommodate you, and we may need to reschedule your visit.   If you think that you will be more than 15 minutes late for your appointment, please call us as soon as possible so that we may advise you if your late arrival can be accommodated or if we will need to reschedule you. 

 

Pediatric HealthCare has a new vaccine policy effective Nov 1st, 2019.   

Click here to open the full policy statement.

 

Add On Sibling Sick Visits 

We provide visits by appointment only.   If you have a scheduled sick visit for one child and feel another child in your family needs to be seen, please call ahead so we can review the practitioner's schedule to see if the time is available. 

 

Chronic Conditions / Consultations

If your child has a chronic, ongoing situation, we may need to schedule a longer, consultation-type appointment.   Examples: Chronic headaches (>3 weeks), chronic stomach problems (>3 weeks), behavior concerns, new patient with a chronic illness (asthma, diabetes), prematurity associated with multiple medical problems.   Please provide us with as much information as you can and alert us if you think you need more time so that we can book the appointment appropriately.

 

Appointments for Blood Draws, Weight Checks, Vaccines, etc.

Anytime your child needs to come to our office for a visit, but does not need to see a physician, we advise that you set up an appointment with one of our medical assistants. This includes visits for weight checks, blood draws, vaccine administration, and allergy shots. These appointments may be made in advance or on the same day. This allows us to schedule the staff so that they may accommodate you as quickly as possible. If you are not sure if you need an appointment, please ask.

 

Test Results

If you have tests run at our office, we will call you with abnormal results upon receiving them. If you want to know normal results or if the practitioner advises, please call the office. If you haven't heard from us in the time expected, please feel free to call.

Studies done outside our office or through a specialist may not be resulted to us timely. We may be unaware of when you have a test done (such as EKG, hearing evaluation, etc.). Please call in 1-2 days of test completion for results.

 

Sick & Well Entrances

We offer separate sick and well entrances in our office.   We ask that you limit the number of guests that accompany you and your child on an office visit.   Seating is limited in our reception area and your guests might be exposed to illnesses.

Please do not leave children unattended in the reception areas.

If you suspect your child is ill to any degree please be considerate and keep your child in the sick reception area.   If you think your child has chicken pox and needs to be seen, please discuss entry into the facility with staff prior to coming in.   

 

Phone Calls

  We receive many calls each day, and we do our best to answer each call as quickly as possible. We take questions regarding appointments, prescription refills, insurance, etc. during normal office hours.    

 

Advice Line/Medical Assistant Line 

Our staff has been trained to handle many of your questions and will be happy to assist you.   They can help you decide if your child needs to be seen in the office or if there is something you might try at home first.   If your child is ill, please take her/his temperature so we can help you more quickly.     Our goal is to return messages within one-two hours.   If your problem is more urgent than this, please refer back to the front staff/appointment schedulers to inform them of your situation. Occasionally, messages left during peak periods may be prioritized by degree of urgency. We may then return non-urgent calls within four hours.   For example, a question about a camp form may be delayed.   We will attempt to return all calls by the end of the day.   Phone calls left after 4 pm may be returned the next business day when the office opens. If you do not receive a return call from us within a reasonable amount of time, please call us back. 

If your question requires the attention of a practitioner, one will call you back as soon as possible.   Practitioners return phone calls after they finish seeing patients.   If your call is urgent, we suggest you have the Medical Assistants be your liaison between the practitioner and yourself.  Please remember that with non-urgent calls, the practitioner's first priority is to the patients in the office

 

Email Advice Line 

Our office provides secure communication through email for non urgent advice.   Please click here to email our advice staff your non urgent medical question.   If you do not receive a response by the end of the next business day please call our office.

 

After Hours and Emergencies 

If you believe you have a life threatening emergency, dial 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.   When an urgent need arises after our scheduled office hours, you can reach our practitioner on-call through our answering service at 248-691-8637.   Please have a pharmacy number available when needed.   If we feel that your child needs to be evaluated, we prefer to have them evaluated at William Beaumont Hospital Royal Oak or Troy Locations. Both provide Pediatric After Hours Clinics and Pediatric Emergency Department care.

We have found that answering services and pager companies are not flawless.   If your after hours call is not returned in a reasonable amount of time, please call the service back and let them know this is the second time you have called.

Co-pays

A copay is a fee set up by your insurance company, not Pediatric Health Care. It is an arranged payment that you have contracted with your insurance to pay for a specified service, such as a $25 office visit. Your copay is  due at the time of service per your contract with the insurance company.


Referral To Specialists / Testing 

We can help you find a specialist and/or an outside testing facility and will work closely with them to care for your child's needs.   Our practitioners will help you decide when a specialist or outside testing is necessary.   Depending on the situation, you can discuss your needs with your practitioner when you are in the office. If you call with concerns potentially requiring subspecialty evaluation, we may ask you to be evaluated in our office first. 

It is your responsibility to know if your insurance requires you to have a referral and the time requirements.   Most insurance cards have the information on the back of the card or a phone number you can call to find out the information. We need a week to obtain non-urgent referrals and will obtain emergency room referrals within the time period you specify, if possible.   If you go to the emergency room, please call our office on the first business day following the ER visit and ask us to obtain the referral or you may click here  to request a referral online.   The practitioner's on-call do not keep track of calls for referral purposes. 

 

Medical Records

New patients should bring copies of their prior medical records for their first visit with our practice.   We will make copies for our chart and return the originals to you.

If your child receives care out of town or after hours from another practitioner, please bring a copy of the visit or ask them to mail/fax a copy so we can keep your child's medical record complete.

We have access to any testing/evaluations you have done through Royal Oak, Troy, and Grosse Pointe Beaumont Hospitals.

Your child's medical records are maintained with strict adherence to patient confidentiality laws.   You may, with a written, signed request, obtain copies of your child's medical records.   We charge a $15 copy fee when paper copies of the chart are requested, larger charts may incur an extra fee. We will provide vaccine and growth records at no charge. We usually require 10 business days notice to prepare your records.   We recommend you pick up your records and take them to your new physician if you are moving.

 

Form Policy

At some point you will likely require a health form to be completed for your child.  These are often needed for school, camp, or sports.   We request that you bring these forms to your child's well visit, and we will be happy to complete them free of charge.    

In addition, as a result of HIPAA regulations, we require a signed release of information in order to complete these forms.   The Patient Privacy Policy Form is often completed at your first visit to our office. Please ensure that the Privacy Form was completed or enclose a written request for us to complete your health form. We appreciate your patience as we complete your forms.

Please allow us 3-5 business days. Once completed, we can have the forms available for you to pick up at the office or we can return the forms to you by mail (with a self addressed stamped envelope) or by fax.

42141 Mound Road  -  Sterling Heights, MI 48314  -  phone: 586-254-7593  -  fax: 586-254-7834