Congratulations on your new expected arrival!
We are honored to be considered as your family’s choice for pediatric care. We are here to answer questions for you prior to your baby’s arrival to ease the transition into parenthood and make your first appointment here a smooth and relaxing experience.
Below are some frequently asked questions we commonly get from our expecting families:
- How do we get our records to you after our baby is born?
You can put down our information on your pre-registration paperwork for the hospital, notify your OB’s office who you have chosen to be your pediatrician, or hand them our business card on arrival to the hospital to deliver. The hospital will then take care of seamlessly sending us any records we will need.
2. Who will take care of the baby while they are in the hospital? Will we have any difficulty making the baby’s first appointment in your office?
We have the pediatric hospitalist team take care of our patients after delivery while they are admitted in the hospital. The advantage to having their team care for your child is that they are in the hospital 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week. If a question develops, there will be always be someone in the hospital that can come see the baby right away and address your concerns. The transition of care from their team to our office is very easy. We will have all your child’s records and we also have a close relationship with the hospitalist team so they will reach out to us personally if there are any more serious issues or concerns that need to be communicated prior to your first appointment.
3. What do you recommend regarding vaccinations?
Our office recommends all childhood vaccinations, and strongly recommend following the CDC schedule of vaccinations. We are not currently accepting any families that have made the choice to not vaccinate their children. We want to have our office be a safe environment for our patients and families to come to, and we want you to know that all people around have taken every precaution to keep us all as safe as possible. Please see additional information regarding vaccines on our website. Also, we will discuss in detail the vaccines and answer any questions you may have during all appointments in which your child is due to receive any vaccines.
4. What insurances do you take?
We take most major commercial insurance carriers you get through your employer including: Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Blue Care Network, Cofinity, HAP, McLaren, Priority Health and Tricare If you have questions regarding whether we take your insurance, please call our office and our friendly front desk staff can assist you.
5. How often will we be visiting the office with our new baby?
Most newborns are seen in their pediatricians office within 1-3 days after leaving the hospital. This depends on how the baby is feeding, and if there are any issues that were being watched more closely (like jaundice). The doctor that sees you in the hospital will tell you what day you should go to your pediatrician’s office. After the first visit, we will usually see you again in 1-2 weeks to do a check in. After that, the well-child check up schedule follows the vaccine schedule- so we will see the baby at 1 month old, 2 months old, 4 months old, 6 months old, 9 months old and at 1 year of age. All of these visits are the routine check-ups, so they do not include any additional visits you may need if you have more concerns about your child or if he or she gets sick.
6. Are you available to answer questions when the office is closed?
We strive to have you leaving each appointment with all questions answered and concerns addressed to minimize the amount of questions that will arise when the office is closed. However, we know that children do not always get sick or injured on a convenient schedule, so you can be rest assured that we are available to answer any emergency questions that come up. We also have a very helpful and informative website with common conditions and how to treat at home, medication dosing sheets, and when a call to the on-call doc or a trip to the ER would be warranted. For those non-emergent questions that you do not want to forget to ask, we also have an email system through our patient portal you can send questions along 24/7, and we will get back to you within 1-3 days. Rule of thumb is, if you have referenced all the resources we have provided you to get your question answered and you still do not know what to do, then call us!
7. Do you offer same day sick appointments?
Yes! Our goal is to offer same day sick appointments when it is needed for your family. If for some rare reason we are unable to accommodate your child in our schedule same day, we can guide you with some at-home treatment tips and see them the next day. Anytime you feel your child needs an appointment, it is always best to call our office and our triage staff can help you decide if we should see them, or try a few things at home first. We also offer 2 nights a week with late appointment times, and 2 mornings a week with earlier appointments to make it easier on your family to get in around work and school schedules.
8. Can we meet you before our baby is born?
Absolutely! If you still have questions after you review our website and get to know the team at Kidology Pediatrics, we would be happy to schedule a consultation visit with your family. Please call our office for further assistance.