Office Policies
After Hours Care
A Pediatrician or Pediatric Nurse Practitioner is available twenty-four hours a day.
But for LIFE THREATENING emergencies, please call 911.
We rotate the responsibility of after-hours telephone calls and in-office week-end work. Please do not ask us to contact your primary pediatric provider after-hours/week-ends. All of the providers are experienced in handling whatever problems may arise.
If after leaving a message, your call has not been returned within 60 minutes, please call us again.
Always disengage caller ID after leaving a message with the answering service. The provider returning your call as the providers will be calling from a blocked telephone line.
Please be respectful and reserve after hours calls for truly urgent issues.
After hours, we cannot schedule routine appointments or answer billing questions. Please contact us during regular business hours and our staff will readily assist you.
We do not refill prescriptions after hours for the safety of the child because we do not have immediate access to the child's medical chart or history available to us. Parents should use our website or call during regular business hours for prescription refills.
Have the telephone number of a late-night or 24-hour pharmacy available in case prescriptions need to be called in.
Appointments
All visits are by appointment only
In order to run our office efficiently and minimize waiting time, we see patients by appointment only. We do not have walk-in hours.
If your child is ill, please call our office as early in the day as possible, so that we may arrange to see him/her as soon as is needed. All sick patients are seen the same day.
On week-ends and holidays, please call by 10 am. We are physically in the office from 9 am to 12 noon on Saturday, Sunday and Holidays. (However, the Scarsdale office is closed on major Holidays and Sundays in the summer months.)
We know that your time is valuable, but emergencies do occur. We ask for your understanding while waiting in the office. All visits are given the necessary time.
For routine appointments, please call or e-mail the office as much in advance as possible so as to schedule your appointment at the most convenient time. If you must cancel an appointment, please call as early as possible so that another child may be scheduled.
While we encourage sibling visits; please note that every sibling will need to have an appointment in order to be seen by the doctor.
If you are unable to keep your appointment, please call at least 24 hours in advance to cancel. There is a $40 fee for missed appointments.
Please alert the receptionist of any changes in address, telephone numbers and insurance when checking in for your appointment.
Insurance co-payments are due at the time of the visit.
New Patients
What to do
The first visit to the office requires a lot of administrative time. Records from previous pediatricians, immunization records, insurance information and patient information sheets must be reviewed prior to the appointment. Please arrive 15 minutes earlier than your scheduled time. Federal laws require us to provide assurance of privacy and to attest that we will keep your personal and medical information confidential. In addition, we need to give you information about our privacy practices, financial policies and have you sign to confirm that you have received that information. To expedite this process, please complete a printed copy of the New Patient Registration Form and bring the forms with you.
Key Forms
If the first visit is a Newborn Visit, recently discharged from the Newborn Nursery, please bring all records; immunization card, hearing test results, metabolic screen receipt and discharge summary.
 *You must have an Acrobat Reader to view the Acrobat files. If you don't already have Adobe Acrobat, you can download the Acrobat Reader Free.
Existing Patients
School and Camp Forms
New York State Education Department requirements now recognize that a physical examination is valid for twelve months.
With each routine annual physical, a Health Certificate / Appraisal Form and Immunization Form will be completed and given to you. Please review the form before leaving the office for accuracy of the information. This form complies with all New York State requirements.
Please keep this certificate in a safe place and make copies to attach to each school, after-school and camp form as needed.
Completing forms is very, very time consuming for staff and physicians. If you need additional forms completed, please submit them with a self-addressed stamped envelope. Allow 7-10 business days for completion. There is an additional charge for this service.
Billing
Payment is due at the time of service unless other arrangements have been made in advance. As per your insurance company, co-payments are due at each visit.
Many families (especially Sabbath observers) find it most convenient to leave an open, valid credit card with signature on file authorizing us to bill the amount due.
Please notify our Billing Department (914-725-8463 or e-mail billing@pedsny.com) as soon as possible if there are any changes in your health insurance.
Currently Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, LLP participates with Oxford/UnitedHealth Plans, Cigna and HealthNet.
Teens
Please Respect Their Confidentiality
Adolescent appointments are made for children ages 13 and above.
Oftentimes, teenagers need to discuss some matters confidentially with their healthcare provider. Therefore, the adolescent appointment allows the physician to spend private time with the patient to go over his/her specific questions and concerns.
While we will of course notify parents if their child is a danger to himself or others, we will otherwise respect our older patients' needs to keep some matters just between themselves and their doctor.
Please call in advance for these appointments and identify your child as a teenager.
For the college bound patient:
Each college has its own forms and requires a separate college physical. Some schools have specific requests for laboratory tests; Immunizations may be required
Bring the forms to the office at the time of the exam. Form can be downloaded from the college website.
Please set up the appointment as soon as possible in the spring.
Admitting Hospitals
Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, LLP is affiliated with New York University Medical Center/Tisch Hospital (www.med.nyu.edu), Mt Sinai Hospital (www.mountsinai.org), and Lenox Hill Hospital (www.lenoxhillhospital.org).
Each website has easy links to find directions to the hospital, local parking facilities, etc.
The Emergency Room entrance for Tisch Hospital is located on First Avenue at 33rd Street; Mt Sinai on Madison Avenue at 100th Street and Lenox Hill Hospital on 77th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues.
All of the pediatricians of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, LLP hold academic appointments and teaching positions at New York University School of Medicine.
Other Important Information
To have on hand
- Local pharmacy with hours of operation
- Late night or 24-hour pharmacy telephone number
- Closest Emergency Room to your home for severe lacerations and broken bones that occur after hours.
- Orthopedic Immediate Care Unit (ICARE)
301 East 17th Street (between First and Second Avenues)
212-598-7600
8 am to 11 pm - Seven days a week
This is an emergency room affiliated with NYU exclusively dedicated to walk-in orthopedic injuries. If you suspect a fracture after hours, ICARE is faster, easier and less scary than a conventional emergency room.
- NYC Poison Control Center
212-POISONS (764-7667) or 1-800-222-1222
The poison control center is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by registered pharmacists and nurses certified in poison information. Access to the Language Line provides translation services in more than 150 languages, and services are available for the hearing impaired utilizing telecommunications devices for the deaf at (TDD) 212-689-9014. The New York City Poison Control Center also produces educational materials including brochures, telephone stickers, and videos which are available free of charge.
- Hudson Valley Poison Education Center
1-800-222-1222
http://poisoneducation.org
An excellent resource for educational materials, stickers in addition to a 24-hour Hotline.
- Early Intervention Program
Early Intervention is a comprehensive interagency program that supports infants and children with developmental delays in their efforts to realize their full potential. It reduces the likelihood of delays among at-risk children, assists and empowers families to meet their child's and their own needs, and entitles children, regardless of race, ethnicity or income, to services through the program.
To contact your Early Intervention office: call 1-800-522-5006; in New York City-311.
- Early Intervention Program Referral Form
- Early Intervention Program: Westchester County Health Department 914-813-5094
- There are many local agencies which contract with the city or state to deliver Early Intervention services. You can also call these agencies directly.
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