General Office Information

Introduction

Thank you for entrusting us with the health and care of your child. Pediatricians have the training and experience in providing comprehensive healthcare for your children from birth through adolescence. By means of a program of regularly scheduled periodic comprehensive examinations, your child’s physician will be able to monitor his or her growth and development, detect any deviations from normal, make recommendations for further evaluation and treatment whenever indicated, provide guidance in dealing with routine problems and provide routine immunizations.

Thank you again for the opportunity to serve you and your child. If you have any suggestions as to how we can improve our service to you, please bring them to our attention.

Office Hours

Monday – Friday: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM

(closed for lunch: 12:15 – 1:15 PM)

Saturday: 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM

For urgent sick appointments only

Sundays & major holidays: Closed

All patients are seen by appointment only.
If you would like to have your child seen for an acute problem, please call early for a same day appointment.
If you must cancel an appointment, you should notify the office at least 24 hours prior to your appointment. We reserve the right to impose a no-show fee for cancellations and missed appointments.

Telephone Calls

During office hours, a nurse or medical assistant who has been trained to respond to routine medical questions answers telephone calls to the office. Questions concerning routine problems should be made during regular office hours.
Physician callbacks, in general, will be made at the end of the morning and afternoon sessions.
Calls for prescription refills, insurance referrals and school/camp/sports forms can only be accepted during office hours when your child’s medical record is available.
After hours phone calls are for the sudden onset of a serious illness or a sudden change in an ongoing illness. These calls are answered by a commercial answering service. When you call the answering service, please make sure that the operator has your correct name and telephone number. You MUST remove any “blocking” services so the physician can return your call and that you remain available to receive a return call.

After Hours Medical Care

After-hours care is reserved for emergencies or urgent problems. Your call will be answered by a commercial answering service and forwarded to either the physician on call or to the Pediatric Nurse at Night Nurse, an after-hours pediatric program. If it is determined that your child requires medical attention, they will be referred to the emergency room at South Shore Hospital, Boston’s Childrens Hospital, Newton Wellesley Hospital or to another appropriate facility.
Please make sure to notify our business office on the next regular business day if your child has been directed to the hospital or urgent care for after-hours care to process any necessary insurance referrals.
In the rare event that there is a problem with our telephone line, please call 1-508-370-7920 and ask the operator to contact the on-call provider for Tri-County Pediatrics.
If you believe your child has a life-threatening emergency, you should proceed to the nearest emergency room or call 911.

Referrals

There are many insurance plans with different rules. It is important that you understand your insurance plan and whether it requires you to list a primary care provider (PCP) to care for your child.
If your plan REQUIRES a PCP, please be certain that our physicians are on the insurance company’s provider list. You must then request the insurance carrier assign your physician as the PCP to have your insurance claims paid.
If your insurance company requires referrals from your child’s PCP, you must get authorization from your child’s own doctor BEFORE the child sees the specialist or any other health care facility, unless you believe your child has a life-threatening emergency.
If you or your child’s PCP determine that they need to see a specialist, you must call our office for a referral during regular business hours after you have made the appointment with the specialist. You will need to provide the date of the appointment, the specialist’s name, the provider’s NPI number, the office FAX number, and the reason for the appointment. Please allow five (5) business days to process the referral. Failure to do this may result in denied coverage for the visit by your insurance company, making you financially responsible for the visit.

Fees

The physician-patient relationship is established with the understanding that the physician agrees to provide professional services for which the patient or, in the case of pediatrics, the patient’s parents or guardian agrees to pay an established fee. We believe our fees are reasonable, fair, and competitive with those of other pediatricians in the area.
We are willing to discuss our fees with you at any time.
Although our agreement is with you directly, we will assist you in any way we can to obtain reimbursement from your insurance carrier for reimbursable expenses. Ultimate responsibility for the payment of bills rests with the parents.
It is our policy that all office fees will be paid at the time the service is rendered. Exceptions to this policy will only be made in the case of financial hardship and should be arranged in advance.
Services rendered outside of regular business hours may be subject to a convenience fee.

Co-payments

We participate in insurance plans that require co-payments for office visits.
All co-payments must be paid when checking into the office.
Your insurance carrier determines which appointments are subject to co-payments and/or deductibles.

TEL: 781-344-3791

FAX: 781-341-3614