Office Visits: Your child will usually be scheduled for two types of appointments.  Sick and Well. Appointments are available Monday through Friday - 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m..   Urgent late day appointments are seen from 4:30 p.m to 5:30 p.m. Our office phones open at 7:30 a.m. on weekday mornings. Patients are encouraged to make appointments with the doctor of their choice. However, if that doctor is not available, we expect that our patients will be willing to see another doctor who is available. Sick visits can and usually should be made for the same day.  Chronic problems or rechecks can be scheduled for future dates. Well (preventative) visits are generally scheduled a few days to a few weeks into the future.  We schedule a limited number of well visits to be able to accommodate the children that are acutely ill. Our patients are seen by appointment only.   Children with acute problems who come to the office withoutappointments will be scheduled as soon as possible, but there may be a significant wait.    For your own convenience, always call for an appointment before coming to the office.  We can always work an extra patient into our schedule, provided we have some advanced notice.  If you cannot keep your appointment or you are going to be late, please call the office beforehand.  If you are going to be significantly late, your appointment may have to be rescheduled. Working Parents If you have signed our “Consent for Treatment” form, a baby-sitter or relative may bring the child to the office for treatment. The mid-day and extended office hours are specifically intended to accommodate working parents who otherwise might have difficulty using our regular office hours. You can help us keep our schedule on time by: 1. Being on time on the correct date – if you are more than 15 minutes late, you may be asked to reschedule. 2.  Not asking us to see other children who do not have an appointment. 3.  Being specific about the reason for the visit when you make the appointment, i.e., well check, earache, recurrent headaches, or any prolonged symptoms or illness. 4.  Indicating if your child has a complex or chronic medical problem that will require extra time. 5.  Calling to reschedule or cancel an appointment if you are unable to keep your appointment.  A "no show" fee of $40.00 will be assessed for all no show, no cancelled appointments.) Telephone Calls  (please have your chart number available when you call) Emergency Calls - Call 911 for life threatening emergencies in which your child may require immediate treatment. Injuries - If you believe your child has had a minor injury, call our office and ask to speak to one of our nurses immediately.   They will evaluate the injury and advise you to seek care in our office or request that you seek care from the emergency room. Advice - If you would like advice on how to care for your child, our telephone advice nurse can help.  Our nurses are trained to make decisions about patient care that need to be seen by a physician and how to provide home care for children that may not need to be seen by a physician.   You will be asked to leave a message and a nurse will return your call. After-Hours Calls If you have an urgent problem that began after 5:30 p.m. or when our office is closed, please call our regular phone number, 714-565-7960 and discuss the problem with the Advice Nurse on call. Please remain near your phone until we can call you back.  Please have paper and pencil ready and have your pharmacy phone number available. In the event of drowning, unconsciousness, severe injury, or other life- threatening emergency, call 911 immediately!  It is a good idea for you to know beforehand which hospital emergency room or urgent care center your insurance company will authorize.  If you feel you need to go to an emergency room, then please go.  However, if time permits, please call us before you go.  Our advice nurse will help you determine if your child needs to be seen or if home measures are OK until the office opens. We will be able to offer advice as well as authorize the emergency room visit for your insurance company.  We strongly advise against taking a very ill child to a local walk-in clinic. After-hours calls should be limited to such emergencies mentioned above as well as urgent conditions such as lacerations, very high fevers, difficulty breathing (not a stuffy nose), or severe pain.  Questions regarding non-emergency problems such as colds, sore throats, low-grade fevers, mild flu symptoms, pinworms, diaper rash or minor injuries are best handled during our regular office hours. Remember, if there is a question or problem that the nurse cannot answer, they will contact the on-call physician for assistance. Newborn Hospital Visits One of our physicians will visit the hospital nursery each morning.   The babies are evaluated to make sure there are no health problems.  The physician will also visit with Mom to answer any questions she may have.  We will request that you call the office to set up an appointment when your child is 2 weeks old.  An early appointment should be scheduled if there are any problems or concerns. Hospital Visits In the event that your child becomes ill or has an injury that requires hospitalization, one of our physicians will see your child on a daily basis.  If required by your insurance, your child may be followed by a hospital staff physician. The physician that follows your child's hospital stay will arrange for any sub-speciality visits that may be necessary. Our Laboratory Services Our laboratory is certified to provide a limited number of tests in the office.  Your insurance coverage may dictate if we can perform any of these tests in the office.   Rapid Strep Rapid Mono Rapid Influenza Hemoglobin Cholesterol, Lipid Panel Glucose Urinalysis Referrals to Specialists Your insurance coverage may dictate how your child may be referred to a specialist. If your medical group requires pre-authorization our referral  coordinator will process the referral at the direction of your physician. If your medical group or your insurance coverage allows for a direct referral, the physicians will give you   the information directly.