For Patients:
Office Policies
Learn how we operate to better help us serve you
Our hours are:
Monday – Friday
8:30 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
Saturday – Sunday
Closed. Saturday office hours temporarily suspended.
Due to frequent changes in health insurance coverage, please be prepared to show us your insurance card upon arrival for each visit.
Patients are seen by appointment only. We realize that children sometimes need immediate attention, but we ask that you call our office prior to arrival. Occasionally emergencies will arise which will disrupt the normal appointment schedule. We ask you to please be patient with us when this occurs. We apologize and appreciate your understanding.
Because well visits take more time in our schedule than sick visits, they must be scheduled separately. If your child is scheduled for a sick appointment, please do not ask us to perform a well check-up during the same visit, as we will not be able to do so.
We also ask that no more than two siblings be scheduled consecutively for well check-ups, as our appointment schedule will not allow for more; however, we will make exceptions for triplets.
Please arrive 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment time, in order to complete the check-in process.
If you are unable to keep your appointment, please notify our office at least 24 hours in advance so that another patient may be given this time.
When you call our office (770-442-1050) your call will be routed through our voicemail system. You will be required to follow the prompts to reach the appropriate person to handle your needs. Although our phone nurses try to answer all your questions, we do not believe that quality medical care can be rendered by telephone, so please call for an appointment if you believe treatment may be required.
You will quickly learn that the first thing in the morning is a very busy time to call. Please try to call between 10:00 A.M. and 12:15 P.M. for less urgent concerns. Our office is closed for lunch from 12:20 P.M. to 1:30 P.M. All calls during this time will be answered by our answering service. The answering service will be able to reach the physician on-call in case there is an emergency.
Please call for prescription refills during office hours so that your child’s chart may be reviewed. Please have your pharmacy address and telephone number available when you call so we may assist you more efficiently.
We at North Fulton Pediatrics believe in evidence based medicine, which has firmly shown the safety of vaccines. We believe vaccinating children and adolescents is one of our main responsibilities as your pediatrician. In order to best protect our patients, we require families to vaccinate their children. We strongly encourage following the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) vaccination schedule. While we do not believe in any benefit of separating vaccines, we believe in working with families to provide care that is supportive and allows us to grow together. Regrettably, if a family is unable to commit to completing vaccines within the required timeframe, we are unable to continue providing care for their children in this practice. We look forward to working together to keep your family healthy and protecting OUR FUTURE.
Call 911 immediately in cases of life-threatening emergencies.
All non-emergency calls are handled during regular office hours. If you have an emergency or serious problem after hours, please call our office at 770-442-1050 and discuss the problem with one of our physicians. We are on call 24 hours for emergencies.
In the rare instance that your child will need to be admitted to the hospital, we admit to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite. At this time, we utilize physicians called Hospitalists to manage your child’s care. These physicians are members of a specialty dedicated to the care of hospitalized children. We keep in close contact with you and the Hospitalists while your child is at Scottish Rite and we will provide appropriate follow-up care.
After office hours, if you need advice for the care of your child or if you believe your child needs urgent care, please call our office number: 770-442-1050. Our answering service will take your message. Your call should be answered within 30 minutes, and usually much sooner. If you have not received a call back within this time, please notify our answering service at 770-442-1050.
The physician on call will counsel you over the phone. If he or she recommends you be seen after hours, the physician will guide you to the facility that will be best able to care for your child’s problem with the most convenience for you.
Often, parents decide to take their child to an “Urgent Care” facility without calling us first. Urgent Care facilities vary in their ability to handle the variety of pediatric problems. Choosing the wrong facility may mean that your child will need to be referred to another center for further testing or care. This will increase your costs and delay the proper treatment of your child. Also, if you are part of a managed care plan and do not receive authorization from us for your visit, your insurance may not pay for this treatment.
For all non-emergency referrals, please contact our office at least one week in advance. In the event your child may need to see a specialist, your HMO or POS insurance company requires that you be referred by one of our primary care physicians (PCP). If we have referred your child to a specialist, please contact our office at least one week prior to each scheduled follow-up appointment with the specialist, so we may contact your insurance company to get the necessary authorization. If you are part of an HMO or POS plan and you do not receive authorization from us prior to your visit with a specialist, your insurance company may not pay for this treatment.
When it is necessary for you to obtain an emergency referral from our physician, your insurance company will require that our office provide them with certain information. Our staff will need to ask you questions such as the time, place, and date of the emergency visit as well as the reason for the visit, etc.