FAQS

JOINING THE PRACTICE

If you are interested in joining our practice please give us a call at 617-547-1995 for more information.
It is possible to schedule a meet and greet or prenatal appointment with one of our pediatricians who will explain how our office works and our philosophical approach to care.
In order to transfer care, it is very important that we have your previous medical records prior to the first visit. We recognize that this can be very difficult sometimes. If you are having trouble getting your prior records please provide a most recent health form or other documentation of all vaccines that have been received. That is the essential information that we need.

ARRIVING FOR YOUR VISITS

For well visits or vaccine appointment with patients who have no sick symptoms please come into the waiting room and check in with the front staff.
For sick visits please call the front office when you arrive for your visit to check in. The front staff will check you in and provide your assigned room number
Two caregivers are welcome in the room for all visits.

LATE ARRIVALS

You may need to re-schedule visits, particularly if you arrive more than halfway through your scheduled appointment. We understand the frustration when providers are running late and late arrivals are one aspect of that. But, do know that if we are running late, it is also because we think it is vital to give patients and families the time needed, and you too will receive that courtesy.

EMERGENCIES -- WE ARE ALWAYS AVAILABLE!

If your child is experiencing a life-threatening emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room before calling the office.
One of our clinicians is always available and on-call for emergencies. If it is after hours or on a weekend or holiday, your call will be answered by our answering services. Please leave a message with them and the on-call provider will be paged.
During regular business hours (Mon – Fri 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.), one of our clinicians can be interrupted if there is an emergency. We ask that you call before coming to the office if possible.

CAN I GET A SAME-DAY APPOINTMENT?

Same-day appointments are generally reserved for sick or acute care visits.
To schedule a same-day appointment for your child, please call as early in the day as possible.
If you are unsure whether your child should be seen for a same-day visit or not, please call the office and ask to speak with a clinician who can answer your questions.

ADOLESCENT CONFIDENTIALITY

We want to recognize and support our teenage patients' evolving maturity and independence. Adolescence is a time of transition toward adulthood, and we believe that we should support this healthy transition. Please read our confidentiality policy for adolescent patients.

PRESCRIPTION REFILLS

Please plan ahead so that we can process your child’s prescription appropriately. We ask that you make your refill request on MyChart or call during regular business hours and allow a 3 business days to fulfill your request.

In order to refill a prescription, we will need the following information:

Patient name
Medication name
Dose and frequency of the medication
Pharmacy name and address

ADHD Medication Refills:

Medications like Concerta, Ritalin, and Adderall are federally controlled substances. These refills can now be sent electronically to the pharmacy

With all prescription medications, it is the parent/patient’s responsibility to keep track of medications and call for refills BEFORE the prescription runs out.

IMMUNIZATIONS

Our providers firmly believe that vaccines are safe, and that all children and adolescents should receive all of the recommended vaccines according to the current schedule published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). You may call us with any questions you have about our immunization policies.

To learn more, please review the recommended immunization schedules below:

TEST RESULTS

We will be sending routine normal lab results through MyChart. For this reason, it is important that our office has the correct e-mail and contact information for you and your child on file, and that you are registered to use MyChart.
Please click here to read more about the interpretation of medical test results.
If your test results are abnormal, or if you have any non-routine or urgent lab tests or diagnostic imaging done, our clinicians will contact you via telephone to discuss the results and any necessary follow-up.
You are always welcome to schedule an appointment to discuss test results.

HEALTH FORMS

Your child’s health form is given out at the time of his/her routine annual visit. This form is accepted at daycare programs, schools, athletic programs, and camps for one year from the date of the routine physical exam.
In addition, you can download and print the health form at any time from your MyChart account. Please call the office if you need to set up your account.
For other patient forms for camp, college, sports, etc., we kindly ask for 3 business days for completion of all forms.
Once forms are completed the office can mail them to your home address or you can pick them up at the office during office hours. We can also upload forms to MyChart.

INSURANCE REFERRALS - VISITS AT OUTSIDE ORGANZIATIONS

We ask that you call the office at least 5 business days prior to your appointment with a specialist. We require the following information in order to process the insurance referral:

Date of the appointment
Name of the specialist and/or name of the practice
Phone and fax number of the specialist and/or practice

Please contact your insurance provider directly if you have questions about your coverage.

When seen at an outside practice, organization or specialist, please either ask them to forward records to our office, or bring a copy of your records to our office.