Office Policies

The doctors, providers, and staff are dedicated to the health and well being of your children from birth through adulthood. We thank you for entrusting the health and welfare of your children to us and strive to continuously improve to provide the best pediatric medical care.

Availability

Nassau Pediatric Associates doctors are available via phone to our patients 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The Office opens 364 days per year. (Closed Christmas day)

Appointments

When scheduling appointments, be aware of the various types of appointments

• Well Care
• Sick Visits
• Rechecks
• Vaccine only – These visits are scheduled for a short period of time. If you have other concerns or an illness please call to change the visit so we can schedule an appropriate amount of time.

Due to the extra time needed to perform Well Care visits on multiple children we can only schedule two Well Care visits at the same time. Triplets and other multiple-birth children are exceptions.
Please arrive 10 minutes prior to your scheduled well care visits.

Walk In Hours

Effective November 2017 we will have available Walk-in hours from 8:45am – 10:00am Monday through Friday during regular business days for our established Nassau Pediatric patients. There are no Walk-in hours on Saturdays, Sundays, or the holidays listed. Please call for an appointment on these days.

Walk-in hours are for sick visits of minor complexity; these are quick and simple problems. More complicated or recurrent/persistent issues should be scheduled by phone to be given sufficient time and attention.

We hope you find these Walk-in hours convenient.

Timeliness

We value your time and it is a priority for us to see your child in a timely manner. Please be on time for your appointment. Patients arriving late are the main reason why our appointments run late. If you are greater than 20 minutes late for a Well Care appointment we may ask you to reschedule. Please arrive 10 minutes before scheduled appointment time to sign in, update insurance, etc.

Late Policy

To avoid a long waiting time in our office we work diligently to be timely and efficient. If you arrive 20 minutes past your scheduled well care appointment we will ask you to reschedule for a different day out of courtesy to our other scheduled patients. When possible, we will try to work the appointment back into the schedule later in the day. Requests for a specific provider are not guaranteed based on the provider’s specific schedule of appointments that day.

Cancellations/No Shows

We require 24 hours notice for cancellation of Well Care appointments. Cancellations of Well Care visits - other than for insurance reasons – may be subject to $25 rescheduling fee which must be paid prior to rescheduling a new appointment. No Shows will be subject to the same fee.

Phone Calls

All patients are encouraged to call with any questions. Our office staff is trained to answer most nonclinical questions. If you feel your child is sick, please schedule an appointment to be seen.

When leaving a health-related message with our staff, please keep in mind that our providers are caring for patients that are in the office. We make every effort to call you back as soon as possible. Most callbacks will be made at lunchtime or after 6:00pm. If you have a medical concern requiring a quicker response, please inform our staff member and a provider will speak with you or call you back in a timely manner.

For emergencies, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency department.

After Hour Calls

After hour calls will be answered by our answering service and one of our providers will respond in a timely fashion. Please reserve prescription refill requests, appointment scheduling, and other non-urgent calls for regular business hours.

Office Hours

• Monday – Friday: 8:45am-12pm, 1pm-6pm
• Closed from 12pm – 1pm
• Saturday: 8:45am – 12:30 pm
• Sunday: Same day urgent visits by appointment only

Holidays

We are available in the morning for same day urgent visits on the following holidays:

• New Year’s Day
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas – Closed
• On all other holidays, we are available at regular business hours.

Paperwork

All school forms, day care forms, camp forms, sports forms, WIC forms, referrals, letter requests etc. must be left in our office to be complete and require 48 hours’ notice. There is an associated fee for processing these forms.

Hospitals

Our doctors are affiliated with Cohen Children’s Hospital at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Winthrop University Hospital and North Shore Manhasset. In order to improve our availability to our office patients, we no longer see admitted patients or newborns while they are in the hospital. Our hospitalist colleagues in the hospital will care for our patients with close communication with us.

Well Care

For patients under 18 years of age, a parent/guardian must accompany the patient. Proof of guardianship must be provided. For visits requiring vaccines, a signed parental/guardian consent is required for each specific vaccine.

Well Care Limits

Some insurance companies limit your Well Care coverage. Please contact your insurance company prior to any Well Care visit to make sure it will be covered. We try our hardest to keep track of this for you, but it is extremely difficult. Any Well Care not covered will be your responsibility. It is your responsibility to understand your insurance coverage.