During normal office hours, a phone nurse will be available to take your call. Our nurses are educated to answer most uncomplicated questions asked by parents regarding healthy and sick infants and children. If the nurse cannot answer your questions, the nurse will speak with the appropriate physician to determine what course of action is needed and will return your call. If we need to call you back, please stay by the phone and keep the line free.

When you need a prescription refilled, please call during office hours and have your pharmacy phone number available. A phone nurse is available between the hours of 9:00 A.M. and 12:30 P.M., and again from 1:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M. The phone nurses arrive at the office at 7:30 A.M. to begin answering calls left during the night and to make any necessary appointments. If you feel you need to make an appointment for the following day after the switchboard closes at 4:30 P.M. call our ill-hot line (490-7337) and leave a message. Make sure that you include the child's name as well as a phone number where you can be reached. The message on the after hours voice system for Fort Wayne Pediatrics number (490-7337) will guide you through this process. A nurse will return your call shortly after 7:30 A.M. the following morning. The doctors reserve some appointment time slots early in the morning for ill children, so be prepared to bring your child into the office early the next morning if you have left a message on the ill hot-line wanting your ill child to be seen.

Our physicians rotate being on call during the evening hours and on weekends. The answering service number is 480-5944. The answering service staff is not medically trained and cannot make medical decisions for you. Please limit your after hour calls to situations that cannot wait until the following morning. The physicians check in with the answering service on an hourly basis while on call and will return your phone call as quickly as possible. Due to the volume of calls received, please allow up to a two-hour time frame for your call to be returned. Again, if you feel there is a possibility that the doctor will call in a prescription, please have your pharmacy name and phone number available to give to the doctor.

In the event that you have a severe emergency, proceed to the hospital emergency room or call an ambulance (911).

We receive a very large volume of phone calls on a daily basis. Phone studies indicate that our busiest time is between the hours of 9:00 A.M. and 10:30 A.M. If you are calling to make a routine appointment, we suggest that you avoid calling during this time.

PAYMENT POLICY

Payment for services rendered is required at the time of your visit. Whoever brings the child to the office is responsible for payment at that time. We will supply you with an encounter form from which you can bill your insurance company. We will submit your insurance for a plan with which we have a contractual agreement. All co-payments are expected at the time of service.

For your convenience, we do accept major credit cards: MasterCard, Visa and Discover. Should you have serious financial problems that prevent payment of your bills, please contact our business manager.

APPOINTMENTS

Our office policy states that all appointments must be cancelled no later that the morning of the appointment or the patient may be billed directly for the full charge of the visit. Well-child checkups and consultations require a 24-hour notice. This cannot be billed to your insurance company. We are sure that you are aware of the demand for your physicians' time and can respect the fact that it is a common courtesy to call us in advance if you cannot make an appointment so that we can give the time to someone else. Please help us contribute to your child's health by keeping appointments.

As your pediatricians, we will not only see your child for illnesses, but for the routine well-child examinations that are recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. During the first two years of life, visits will be frequent. Your baby will nearly double his/her birth weight by 4 to 6 months, triple it by one year and quadruple it by 2 years. This is an incredible amount of growth. We need to follow your infant/child's growth and varying stages of development closely and give the required immunizations and advice that coincides with each will-child visit.

Each year preventable diseases cause many illnesses and even deaths. Many states, including Indiana, have adopted laws that require children enrolling in school and daycare to be fully immunized. At your child's first visit to our office, you will receive immunization pamphlets giving you specific information about the vaccines that your child will receive. We will ask you to read and sign the consent forms. The booklets you receive provide adequate information for you to make an educated decision about the pros and cons of the vaccines recommended. It is the intent of Fort Wayne Pediatrics to have all children in our practice immunized appropriately as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Frequent examinations enable us to talk about nutrition, discipline, accident prevention, toddler behavior, school readiness, sexuality, adolescent rebellion, and other important topics that may arise. The health of your child and your family is very important to us.

Each physical examination is scheduled for approximately 15 minutes, enough time to do a thorough physical examination on you baby or child and to answer any of your basic questions. In order for us to stay on time, we request that you only ask questions concerning your child for whom the visit has been scheduled. Thank you for being considerate.

We hope this information has helped answer some of your questions concerning our practice. We appreciate your confidence in us and we will do our best to provide your child and you with the very best care possible. Welcome to Fort Wayne Pediatrics!