Policies

We work hard to not overuse antibiotics.

We educate families on appropriate use of antibiotics, but follow evidence-based guidelines and don’t automatically treat ear pain or a green snotty nose with antibiotics.

We do not routinely prescribe antibiotics over the phone as we do not believe that is good medicine. We will prescribe an antibiotic when we believe it is an appropriate treatment.

Everyone's Time is Equally Valuable.

We ask that you arrive 10-1 5 minutes before your scheduled appointment time. We understand sometimes things happen beyond your control that may cause you to be late. However, we reserve the right to ask you to reschedule if you arrive late for your appointment.

Our practice makes every effort to run on time with appointments, as we believe everyone’s time is equally valuable.

Upcoming Appointments Via Phone/Text Message/Email

Missed Appointments: Broken appointments represent a cost to us, to you, and to other patients who could have been seen in the time set aside for you. If you are late or miss an appointment, our office reserves the right to ask you to reschedule your child's appointment and mark your child as a No Show for that visit. 

Our practice allows our patients to receive 3 No Shows during a years time. Once a 3rd No Show is received, our practice may discharge your child from our practice.

Click here to download and print our Financial Policy

Download and print a copy our privacy policy here.

Efficiency through the use of technology

You will be encouraged to consult our website, register for and use our patient portal, and effectively use automated reminders for appointments and for routine care/immunizations that are due.

As medical professionals, we feel very strongly that vaccinating children on schedule with currently available vaccines is absolutely the right thing to do for all children and young adults. We are making you aware of these facts not to scare you or coerce you, but to emphasize the importance of vaccinating your child. We are more than willing to discuss any questions you may have about vaccines, but do require all new patients to our practice to adhere to the vaccination schedule endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

• We firmly believe in the effectiveness of vaccines to prevent serious illness and to save lives.
• We firmly believe in the safety of our vaccines.
• We firmly believe that all children and young adults should receive all of the recommended vaccines according to the schedule published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
• We firmly believe, based on all available literature, evidence, and current studies, that vaccines do not cause autism or other developmental disabilities.
• We firmly believe that thimerosal, a preservative that has been in vaccines for decades and remains in some vaccines, does not cause autism or other developmental disabilities.
• We firmly believe that vaccinating children and young adults may be the single most important health promoting intervention we perform as health care providers, and that you can support as parents/caregivers.

The recommended vaccines and the schedule of administration are the results of years and years of scientific study and data-gathering on millions of children by thousands of our brightest scientists and physicians.

The vaccine campaign is truly a victim of its own success. It is precisely because vaccines are so effective at preventing illness that we are even discussing whether or not they should be given. Because of vaccines, many of you have never seen a child with polio, tetanus, whooping cough, bacterial meningitis, or even chickenpox, or known a friend or family member whose child died of one of these diseases. Such success can make us complacent or even lazy about vaccinating. But such an attitude, if it becomes widespread, can only lead to tragic results.

Over the past several years, many people in Europe have chosen not to vaccinate their children with the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine after publication of an unfounded suspicion (later retracted) that the vaccine caused autism. As a result of under-immunization, there have been small outbreaks of measles and several deaths from complications of measles in Europe over the past several years. The United States experienced a record number of measles cases during 2019, with 1282 cases from 31 states reported to CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). This is the greatest number of cases since measles elimination was documented in the U.S. in 2000.

Our practice firmly believes in vaccines and as your child's healthcare provider it is our responsibility to recommend what is best for your child.  We understand that you as a parent have the right to ultimately decide if you want to vaccinate your child or not. However, if you choose not to vaccinate your child, for the safety and well being of all of our patients and our staff, we will respectfully ask that you find a new primary care provider for your child. We take every effort to educate, and find a solution that you are comfortable with. This includes allowing delayed vaccine schedules. If you have questions regarding this policy, please reach out to a member of our team. We will be happy to speak with you about any concerns or questions you may have. 

Click here to download our Vaccine Policy

Our practice values the opportunity that we have to treat your child for all of their healthcare needs.  We realize that at times it may be necessary to take your child to see another healthcare provider such as an urgent care or ER. However, our providers ask that you keep that to a minimum and only do so if instructed to by our staff or on-call service. 

Reasons to visit an ER should be due to a true emergency.  This would include things such as a broken bone, if your child was involved in a car accident, if they are having difficulty breathing, if they need stitches and our office is closed, a fever of 105 or greater that you cannot get under control with medications, etc. Urgent Care should not be used unless our staff or on-call-service advises you to take your child. We ask that you bring your child to see our providers above taking them anywhere else. 

Our practice monitors our patient's use of the ER and Urgent Cares. We receive reports when a patient of ours is seen at another healthcare facility and the reason for their visit. If you utilize  other healthcare settings for non-emergent reasons, or without being instructed to do so, you will receive a warning letter in the mail. If you continue  use the ER or Urgent Care after you receive a warning letter- your child will be discharged from our clinic.