New Patient Information
Welcome to our practice! We are so pleased that you have chosen our practice to care for your children. We want you to feel comfortable in every way possible, so please feel free to ask any questions you might have for us. Click here for our brochure which outlines a lot of the details about practice operations and policies.
Insurance Accepted
Please click here to see a list of insurance currently accepted and some procedures/diagnoses that are not consistently covered.
Your First Appointment
Please provide us with your insurance information as early as possible, even when you set up your appointment if possible, so that we can verify your insurance in advance. This will help us minimize any waiting time for you while we verify the insurance. Please arrive at least 15 minutes early to your first appointment for paperwork and verifying your insurance. For your convenience, we have provided a link to download and print all the forms you will need to fill out. Filling them out in advance will save you time at your first visit. Please let us know about any changes in insurance before all appointments whenever possible.
NEW PATIENT FORMS LINK
“Meet the Pedi”
Every month our doctors meet prospective parents/patients in an informal way in the Seton Southwest Hospital classroom. We meet from 5:30-6:30 on every 2nd Tuesday of the month. Typically we introduce ourselves and then open it up to all questions that you might have. Parents looking to change pediatricians as well as expectant parents looking for a pediatrician for their first child are welcome to attend. Call our office to let them know if you are interested in attending. Attendance is free of charge.
If you prefer a 1:1 consultation with one of our physicians, you may schedule this individually, but please understand this visit will be subject to charge.
Dates for 2010:
Jan 12
Feb 9
Mar 9
Apr 13
May11
Jun 8
Jul 13
Aug 10
Sep 14
Oct 12
Nov 9
Dec 14
Delivering Your Newborn at Seton Southwest Hospital
We are pleased to provide the vast majority of newborn care at Seton Southwest Hospital. We especially enjoy meeting our brand new patients from their very beginning. We attend higher risk deliveries (caesarian sections, vacuum/forceps deliveries, meconium deliveries, etc.) at the discretion of the attending obstetrician. For healthy babies without any high risk concerns, we will see the baby within 24 hours of delivery, and then daily throughout the hospital stay. Rarely (approximately 12-15 times per year) we need to transfer a baby to another hospital due to respiratory or other complications. We will personally care for the baby until the transport team has arrived and assumed care. Babies are typically transferred to Seton Medical Center NICU or Dell Children’s Medical Center NICU, depending on the need and capacity of each facility.
A Note on Circumcisions
We also perform the majority of circumcisions at Seton Southwest Hospital. If you would like a circumcision performed, please let your nurse know and we will take care of the rest. Typically circumcisions are performed after about 24 hours of age, but certainly after the baby is stable and has urinated at least once.
Sometimes parents are unsure whether they should or should not have their child circumcised. This is truly a personal decision, and we respect your right to make that decision. Circumcision is primarily a cosmetic procedure, although it does provide some very small medical benefits. These include a reduced rate of urinary tract infection during the first year of life (which is quite a rare event anyway) as well as reduced rate of penile cancer in later adult life (also quite unusual). The procedure is becoming less common, so it is less of a concern that boys “look” different from their peers, brothers or fathers.
If you do choose to have your son circumcised, we do our very best to make the procedure as comfortable as possible. All of us use a local anesthetic to numb the skin, and we use a concentrated sucrose solution for the babies to suck on. These do seem to make a huge difference, and we find that babies often sleep through the entire procedure. After care is very easy and involves 4x4 gauze pads with plain Vaseline applied to the end of the penis for 4-5 days.
We do provide circumcisions in our office if the procedure is desired, but unable to be accomplished in the newborn nursery. It is our preference that the procedure is done in the nursery if at all possible. It is better for the baby and easier on you.
Delivering Your Baby at Another Hospital
Because of our commitment to Seton Southwest Hospital nursery, we can not round on babies born at other hospitals. All hospitals have staff pediatricians or neonatologists to see your baby while they are in the hospital. You do not need to make special arrangements. However, whenever we don’t see a newborn in the hospital, we typically want to see them about the 4th or 5th day of age. The doctor that sees your newborn in the hospital will let you know if you need to make earlier arrangements for special concerns such as jaundice or feeding problems. Please call as early as possible when you know when you need to be seen, but rest assured that if you are discharged on the weekend, we are still happy to see your baby on Monday as needed. Do not feel the need to call on the weekends for an appointment.
