Policies

We encourage patients to schedule regular check-ups in advance. There are various times during the year where there is a rush of requests for school physicals and sports clearance examinations. Please make sure that you do not find yourself in a position in which your child cannot return to school or sports because of medical clearance. We try our best to accommodate all requests, but sometimes it may be impossible. Sick call visits or urgent care visits are scheduled during the morning. All sick children will be seen that day. In order to be able to provide same day urgent care visits, we do ask that chronic or non-urgent conditions such as (i.e. acne, behavior issues, constipation, etc.) be scheduled in advance. Our staff will always do their best to try to accommodate you in the safest and hopefully most convenient way that they possibly can.

At the end of your child’s examination, the doctor will give you an encounter form. He or she will note the type of examination, procedures, tests or medications for which you will be charged. Take the form to the “check-out” window at the front desk. Our office is a “fee-for-service” practice and, as such, payment in full is required at the conclusion of your visit. We expect payments for services from the parent accompanying the child. If an absent parent has financial responsibility, we must ask for payment from you and allow you to make arrangements with the responsible party. We currently have contracts with several insurance companies in the form of HMOs, PPOs, etc. for which we will accept your co-payment and file for your services.You must present your card at each visit. Occasionally, a double co-payment is required if laboratory services are provided. Please check with your carrier regarding any benefit or co-payment questions. We hope this information will help make your relationship with our office a pleasant one. Please tell us if you are experiencing a problem. We look forward to a warm and rewarding relationship with you and your family.

Each year at the time of your child’s physical examination, a generic health form is generated by our computer and filled in by your physician. This form encompasses all the necessary medical clearance data required by all institutions. It is to be used in place of all school, camp and sports participation given to you. We ask that you make copies of the original in the event you need to use it more than once. Replacement of this form will be provided at a nominal fee. We will not fill in the individual forms. Should you have an appointment with one child and wish to have a sibling checked, we ask that you call and notify the office so that time will be made available to accomplish this. If you arrive with another child that needs an appointment, we will not be able to see this child right away. Our staff will give you the next available time slot, which may be right away or after a couple of hours depending on the season.These are the kind of issues that cause our doctors to fall behind schedule. We ask that you give the office at least 24 hours notice if you wish to cancel or reschedule an appointment. There may be a service charge for missed appointments.

Exams for newborn infants are performed at 2 weeks of age and 6 weeks of age. Visits will then occur at a frequency of every month until 8 months, then every other month until the baby is one year old. After that visits will be every three months until 2 years old and then yearly. Some weight checks may also be done within the first six months. This recommended schedule is designed by the AAP to accommodate the numerous vaccines that need to be administered and to examine the development of the baby. A deviation from this schedule may occur depending on the well care limitation of your insurance company. Please contact them and find out how many well baby check-ups are allowed.

Please note that our doctors see patients at Good Samaritan Medical Center, Southside Hospital and St. Catherine’s of Sienna Hospital. Good Samaritan Hospital is our preferred hospital for children. It has a freestanding pediatric emergency department, as well as a pediatric intensive care unit, and a multidisciplinary subspecialty care department. The main telephone number for Good Samaritan Hospital is 631-376-3000.

As medical professionals, we feel very strongly that vaccinating children on schedule with currently available vaccines is absolutely the right thing to do for all children and young adults. We are making you aware of these facts not to scare you or coerce you, but to emphasize the importance of vaccinating your child. We are more than willing to discuss any questions you may have about vaccines, but do require all new patients to our practice to adhere to the vaccination schedule endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

• We firmly believe in the effectiveness of vaccines to prevent serious illness and to save lives.
• We firmly believe in the safety of our vaccines.
• We firmly believe that all children and young adults should receive all of the recommended vaccines according to the schedule published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
• We firmly believe, based on all available literature, evidence, and current studies, that vaccines do not cause autism or other developmental disabilities.
• We firmly believe that thimerosal, a preservative that has been in vaccines for decades and remains in some vaccines, does not cause autism or other developmental disabilities.
• We firmly believe that vaccinating children and young adults may be the single most important health promoting intervention we perform as health care providers, and that you can support as parents/caregivers.

The recommended vaccines and the schedule of administration are the results of years and years of scientific study and data-gathering on millions of children by thousands of our brightest scientists and physicians.

The vaccine campaign is truly a victim of its own success. It is precisely because vaccines are so effective at preventing illness that we are even discussing whether or not they should be given. Because of vaccines, many of you have never seen a child with polio, tetanus, whooping cough, bacterial meningitis, or even chickenpox, or known a friend or family member whose child died of one of these diseases. Such success can make us complacent or even lazy about vaccinating. But such an attitude, if it becomes widespread, can only lead to tragic results.

Over the past several years, many people in Europe have chosen not to vaccinate their children with the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine after publication of an unfounded suspicion (later retracted) that the vaccine caused autism. As a result of under-immunization, there have been small outbreaks of measles and several deaths from complications of measles in Europe over the past several years. The United States experienced a record number of measles cases during 2019, with 1282 cases from 31 states reported to CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). This is the greatest number of cases since measles elimination was documented in the U.S. in 2000.

Furthermore, we firmly believe that by not vaccinating your child, you are taking selfish advantage of thousands of others who do vaccinate their children, which decreases the likelihood that a child will contract one of these diseases. We feel such an attitude to be self-centered and unacceptable. Even delaying or “breaking up the vaccines” to give one or two at a time over additional visits goes against expert recommendations, is not supported by any scientific data, can lead to unnecessary delays and errors, and can put your child, other children, and adults at risk for serious illness (or even death). It is therefore against our medical advice as professionals at [Your Practice].

Our in-office lab is capable of doing throat cultures for strep (including rapid testing), urinalysis, urine cultures, hematocrit levels (to test for anemia), mono screening, and testing for occult blood in stools.

• Sunday and Holiday hours are strictly reserved for sick visits. No physical examinations will be performed on these days, regardless of the situation.
• During the months of September to January, we do hold flu clinics in order to properly immunize all the patients that come to RBK in a timely and convenient fashion.
• We offer Urgent Care Services on Sundays from 12 to 8 at our Saxon Office Location.