Choosing a pediatric office.
Choosing your child's healthcare provider is an important decision! Before doing so, you should make sure that your expectations and personal philosophies match well with Reading Pediatrics and our providers.
At Reading Pediatrics, our family of providers and staff work hard to give our families quality medical care for their children. We provide friendly service at all of our four convenient locations, as well as extended weekday and weekend hours.
The below link contains some helpful bits of information about our practice beliefs.
We work hard to provide comprehensive medical care and serve as your medical home. To that end, we expect that you contact our office FIRST before seeking specialty care, or heading to another provider for urgent care. We want to be involved in either providing care in our office where appropriate, or referring you to the most appropriate specialist and helping to coordinate your care.
Whenever you do see a specialist, we ask that you request a report be sent directly to our office so we may stay informed and have the most up-to-date information in your medical record.
Insurance copays are expected to be paid at the time of service. If you are unable to comply, you must speak with the billing department prior to the visit to set up a payment plan.
We make every effort to meet the needs of our patients, offering both routine well visits and sick visit appointments. We are open 365 days a year!
Each of our 4 locations have varying office hours, so to ensure we provided you with the most efficient care we highly recommend you call ahead to schedule an appointment. Please familiarize yourself with our office hours to see if they work for your family.
Our Vaccine Policy follows the schedule outlined by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
We recognize the value of having your child vaccinated, and will discuss all recommended vaccines with you.
When our office is closed overnight and you have an urgent issue that cannot wait until morning, you can call our main number. Our night nurse triage company will give you advice regarding your child's problem. If needed they may schedule an appointment for your child during our next office hours. The nurse will contact the physician on call for further guidance in the management of your child if necessary.
You may wish to check the "Is Your Child Sick?" section of our website for helpful information before using this service. Read more about After Hours care.
Make sure we participate with your insurance plan. Please click here for more insurance information.
It is your responsibility to know the limits and coverage of your particular health insurance policy, to show your cards to us at each visit, and be prepared to pay any copays at the time of service.
Our billing staff will do their best to assist you with insurance questions; however, If you have questions about your coverage, it is best check with your specific insurance company. Our office does not want you to be surprised by a bill, but must always bill your health plan based on federal guidelines and the actual services provided.
For acute care, call the office to speak with triage staff, who will listen to your concerns and schedule an appointment for you. Sometimes an appointment may not be needed, and staff will advise you regarding your issue, or check with the physician and call you back.
If our nurse is on with another caller, you will be asked to leave a message and you will receive a return call within 1-2 hours.
For well visits, call our routine appointment line.. Well visits may be scheduled up to 6 months in advance. You will receive an automated reminder 3 months ahead of when your child is due for their next well visit. (Automated reminders are also sent for any vaccines for which your child is due.)
Our practice makes every effort to run on time with appointments, as we believe everyone’s time is equally valuable.
As a courtesy, we will remind you of your upcoming appointments via phone/text message/email.
We ask that you arrive 10-15 minutes before your scheduled appointment time.We understand sometimes things happen beyond your control that may cause you to be late. However, we reserve the right to ask you to reschedule if you arrive late for your appointment.
Missed Appointments: Broken appointments represent a cost to us, to you, and to other patients who could have been seen in the time set aside for you. We reserve the right to charge a fee for missed appointments. We request 24 hours notice for cancellation of appointments. Repeatedly missing appointments may result in dismissal from the practice.
We work hard to not overuse antibiotics. We educate families on appropriate use of antibiotics, but follow evidence-based guidelines and don’t automatically treat fevers or illnesses with antibiotics.
We do not routinely prescribe antibiotics over the phone as we do not believe that is good medicine. We will prescribe an antibiotic when we believe it is an appropriate treatment.
Our practice is continuing to improve our efficiency through the use of technology. You will be encouraged to consult our website, and register for and use our patient portal. We are also using automated reminders for appointments and for routine care/immunizations that are due.