Pediatrician Decisions

I figured since my Newborn Baby Advice, that I'd write up about pedi care. My DD has been in and out of the doctor's all year. She even had 3 bouts of pneumonia, 2 of which she was hospitized for. So I feel it's essential to like and trust who you see, rather who your children see, for their health!!!

Honestly, it wasn’t until I was about 35 weeks pregnant, after my birthing classes, etc, that I realized I needed to figure out who I would use for a pediatrician (known as a pedi from here on out). I looked up a list of who was affiliated with my hospital I was delivering at, because they were the ones I was most comfortable. It may have even been the list my OB gave me. From that list, I went searching on the googleweb and looked at reviews. I could have gone through my friends, but most live away from me and I honestly didn’t want to have to travel 30 minutes or so to the doctor’s office in the event my child was sick.

When I found the one I liked and had pretty awesome reviews, I called them up several different times. I remember my first question must have sounded like I was a blubbering idiot! I stated that I was due at the end of April with a baby and what I needed to know from them so the hospital had their info. All my hospital needed to know was who is the baby’s pedi. The pedi would need to ‘clear’ the baby before release from the hospital. I’m fairly certain that the hospital has a pedi on call anyway so if you don’t have one, you could always utilize the on call doc. However, you take the baby in for a 2 day post hospital visit and maybe then another week after.

The main points for me were the following:

Group or solo practice:

I opted for group practice with nurse practitioner. I actually end up using my N.P. more often than my main doctor. I choose to utilize one doctor out of the 4 there, but in the event of an emergency, I like the security of knowing there are multiple doctors at my and my child’s disposal!

Hours of service:

My doctor has hours M-F 8 am to 8 pm. They also have regular office hours on Saturday from 8 am to noon. Sunday they are open for emergency doctor appointments from 8 am to noon. Any times aside from that, they will send you to the ER but one of the doctors from the practice is always oncall for the hospital.

Location:

We really lucked out with this one. Our practice has two separate offices. Their one office changed locations when my DD was 3 months old, but the location was better as there was way more parking available. They are also both within about 20 minutes with traffic from my house, in separate directions, so if they say, “We can get you in soon, how long will it take for you to get here?” I know it will be sooner rather than later.

Nurse line:

This is another one I like. If I have a question, but don’t know if it warrants bringing in my child to the office, I can leave a message at the nurse’s station and have them call me back within 30 minutes. For example, my prescription was cut off and I can’t read the rest of the label, what are my directions for giving my child the medicine. Nine times out of ten they will want to see her if it’s in regards to something like a rash or constipation, but hey, if I don’t have to fork over that copay, I’d rather avoid it!

Bedside Manner:

This is more of a feeling than anything else. I get along greatly with everyone at the doctors’ offices. There might be one or two nurses or secretaries that I don’t really like, but can deal with. If you are freaking out because there is something wrong with your child, you don’t want them to react by saying, “Um, hey idiot parent, your child has X and I’m going to send you over to the hospital,” then don’t say another word about it. Unfortunately, the girls (and a few guys – actually I think the only males at the office are the actual doctors) know us all too well. We have been to the doctor’s approximately two times a month since August. If you don’t feel comfortable with the doctor or the nursing staff, listen to your gut. I think there is something to be said for a Mother’s Intuition. Also, doctors are human too. They can make mistakes, although costly, so if you feel something is off on their diagnosis, get a second opinion. Any good doctor will not be offended by this. In fact, when I see the N.P. and she feels that it is something more serious than she can determine correctly, she has had us wait to see one of the doctor’s.

Other thoughts that were more common sense to me:

Does this office take my insurance?

How is billing handled? Do you pay immediately, or do they bill you later?

Vaccinate, delay or none at all? Is the pedi okay with any or all of these?

Views regarding parenting choices on BF/FF, CIO/nonCIO

Wait time for appointments, not only scheduling, but from the actual time of the appointment until you see the doctor?

How many years has the doctor been practicing?

Also, are there a well kids waiting area and a sick kids waiting area? If you’re there with a healthy kid, you really don’t want to go home with a sick kid!!!

Any other things, I saw that BBC’s first year health guide doctor interview list was pretty helpful.

Another thing to remember is you can always change pedi’s if you don’t feel comfortable with one. There is one doctor at my office that I don’t feel 100% comfortable with, and that’s after several appointments with them. I try to schedule my well visit and sick visits with the other people in the office.