Policies and Office Information
Office Information
Appointments:
We have two offices, Fox River Grove and Crystal Lake. We have multiple providers that rotate between the two offices. We also have part-time office hours at the Sherman Hospital location. We do ask that you pick one office as your home base. This will allow us access to your child's medical chart for each visit. For continuity of care, we recommend that you schedule your well child appointments with the same provider whenever possible. We can schedule these appointments up to 3 months in advance. Sick visits will be scheduled with the provider available that day at your home office. We make every effort to be on time for your appointment and we ask that you extend the same courtesy. Please call if possible to notify us if you are running late for an appointment, as you might have to reschedule to a different time. On occasion, we might be running late due to an emergency or unforeseen circumstance. Please understand the situation and realize we would do the same for your child.
Missed/Cancelled Confirmed Appointments:
Please note that starting January 1, 2012, there will be a $25 charge for missed CONFIRMED appointments and cancelled appointments less than a 24 hour notice. This fee is NOT billable to your insurance. If you are unable to keep a scheduled appointment and you notify the office PRIOR to the appointment time, there will be no charge.
Scheduler:
We are happy to be assigning a scheduler for physicals and rechecks. She will be covering both offices. If you are in need of an appointment, you will be transferred to the scheduler of the day. With this addition, we are striving to improve our scheduling process.
Saturday Appointments:
Saturday visits are for acute illnesses and emergencies only. Saturday hours are either in the Fox River Grove or the Crystal Lake office. Calls will be transferred to the open office, please be aware of which location your appointment is scheduled in that day. If we have 2 providers that day, we schedule the appointments with the next available provider in consecutive order.
Telephone Care:
Pediatric Associates of Barrington is committed to providing our patients and families access to quality medical care every day and every hour of the day, 365 days a year. Telephone care is the delivery of meaningful medical care over the telephone and often may replace and prevent an office visit. Our staff provides telephone care for the management or consultation of immediate medical needs, adjustment of medications, treatment of chronic illness and assistance with normal growth, development, and behavioral concerns.
Telephone care that involves physician time, expertise and documentation of the medical care delivered is recognized as patient care. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) supports charging for telephone care under certain well-defined circumstances only.
Rest assured we will continue to provide the services of our office-hours nurse telephone line at no cost. We also provide answers to the most commonly asked questions on our website www.pediatric-associates.net and in our handouts which you receive at your visits. Of course, you are always welcome to call for an office appointment for your child to be seen in person at any time during our business hours.
As of January 19, 2009, Pediatric Associates will bill your health plan a nominal fee for specific types of phone calls between you and a physician. You may be responsible for all or part of this fee, depending on your individual health plan coverage. The specific situations are described in the following paragraph. While there is no legal mandate requiring insurance carriers to adhere to AAP recommendations, it is considered a "good faith" gesture for them to do so, given that these recommendations are the current standard in medical care.
Specific circumstances for telephone charges:
1. Calls for physician management of a new problem, including counseling, medical management, and coordination of care NOT resulting in an office visit within the next 24 hours.
2. Calls for physician management about an existing problem for which the patient was not seen in a face-to-face encounter in our office in the previous 7 days and will result in a visit within 24 hours.
3. Calls related to care plan oversight for patients with special needs in residential settings and/or those with a chronic disease who require physician supervision over a period of time during a calendar month.
Our primary goal is to continue to provide excellent pediatric care to your children. We believe this new option gives us flexibility to do just that, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with you and your family, both in person, and on the telephone.
What's New!
Our Barrington office has relocated!
As of January 1, 2012, the NEW address is:
River Pointe Professional Building
912 W. Northwest Highway
Suite G-7
Fox River Grove, IL 60021
(Phone numbers remain the same)
Quick Access
Sick Child?
Same day appointments!
847-381-6700
815-459-6780
Parent Resources
An online resource center providing you with additional helpful information.
