Frequently Asked Questions

Our routine health maintenance visit schedule follows the American Academy of Pediatrics vaccine guideline for children.

Immunizations are a series of shots given to children at different ages to help ward off serious, and potentially fatal, childhood diseases. Making sure your child receives immunizations when scheduled is the best way to help protect your child from potentially fatal diseases. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, vaccinations have reduced the number of infections from vaccine-preventable diseases by more than 90%. If you're apprehensive about vaccinations, please do not hesitate to contact our office.

Yes, we promote breastfeeding. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding babies for the first six to twelve months. Breastfeeding helps defend children against infections, prevents allergies, and protects against a number of chronic conditions. While experts believe that breast milk is the best nutritional choice for infants, breastfeeding may not be possible for all women.

Some women have specific medical considerations that impede breastfeeding; others choose to feed by formula because of discomfort, work schedule, or lifestyle choices. In these cases, an iron-fortified, milk-based infant formula is a good alternative. We will gladly discuss your diet and feeding concerns at your child's well care visit, or please call during office hours to speak with our experienced nursing staff.

We recommend that your newborn be seen in our office 1-2 days after discharge from the hospital. Our staff understands the importance of this first visit and will make every effort to schedule this visit promptly.

As all children are different, we advise following several appropriate steps to advance your child's diet based on age and development. Please discuss these steps with our providers at your well care visit.

Yes, we always welcome new patients to our practice! If your child is new to the practice and needs a well visit, please note that we need all prior records sent to our office before making your appointment. This gives our staff adequate time to prepare prior to your appointment and that means less wait time. It also allows for us to give an appropriate amount of time for the appointment in case there are additional issues to discuss and make sure that the last well visit has been at least one year prior for insurance purposes. If the entire chart is unavailable in time, we ask that you please have your prior doctors office fax the vaccine records and last well summary to our office in the meantime. Thank you and welcome aboard!

Yes, in fact we strongly encourage parents-to-be to visit our office for a prenatal appointment. This is a great way to get acquainted with our office and our provider. During this visit, we will answer any questions that you have about our practice or your new child. Visit our expectant parent's page for more information.

To make an appointment please call our office. We ask that you arrive at our office 10 - 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment time. This will allow you to complete any necessary paperwork and to update any demographic and insurance changes. If you must cancel an appointment, please notify us as soon as possible so we can offer that time to someone else.

Emergencies arise. We will advise you if there is going to be a delay in seeing you. If your schedule won't allow you to wait, we will be happy to reschedule your appointment. We do appreciate your patience and cooperation during our busy times and we will make every effort to keep your wait time to a minimum.

If you are registered with our Patient Portal system, please request a medication refill through this system.  Otherwise, please call our office during normal business hours to request a refill request. Allow one business day for all routine prescription refills. For prescriptions that require prior authorization from your insurance company, please plan ahead to allow at least three to five days for refill approval. 

We have a provider on call 24 hours a day, please call our office. This is for emergency purposes ONLY. Refill of medications and referrals will not get handled after hours.

IN THE EVENT OF A LIFE THREATENING EMERGENCY, CALL 911.

To help protect your child from many serious infectious diseases, we follow the immunization schedule recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Please discuss your immunization questions and concerns with the provider or nurse.

A pediatric nurse practitioner is an advanced practice nurse who specializes in the care of children. Pediatric Nurse Practitioners have undergone special training in the health and illnesses of infants, teens and young adults.

Pediatric Nurse Pracitioners provide preventive health care for children in good health and medical care for children who are acutely or chronically ill. They also provide parents with support and advice with issues such as growth and development, safety and prevention, nutrition, and emotional wellness to foster a lifetime of good health.

You will receive a call quickly with any lab results that require urgent attention. Other abnormal lab results will be addressed promptly by the provider that ordered the labs or tests. 

If you’re ever in doubt about whether your child needs a sick visit, call our office. The friendly staff asks a few questions to determine the severity of your child’s symptoms, and then help you decide if you need to come into the office.

While all the conditions often treated during a sick visit have the potential to need immediate care, some symptoms are red flags that your child needs quick medical attention.

Call us immediately for the following symptoms:

• Fever of 100.4ºF or higher in children younger than one-year-old
• Fever that lasts longer than three days
• Unusual symptoms lasting more than three days
• Persistent pain
• Widespread rash, Fever of 102ºF or higher, plus other symptoms in children over one-year-old

Other symptoms that may appear with a fever that signal a potentially serious problem include a rash, stiff neck, vomiting, and headache.

When your child is sick, call the office as early in the day as possible so they can schedule a same-day visit if necessary.

If you have questions about your child’s symptoms or you need to schedule a sick visit, call our office or book an appointment.