For the safety of our patients and staff, and in an effort to continue delivering the highest quality care, Pediatric Associates has made careful modification to our operational and financial policies. When you call to make an appointment, our staff will review these with you and answer any questions that you may have.
(Last updated 4/18/21)
Appointments
- Portsmouth weekday morning walk-in hours remain suspended until further notice. You must call in advance to schedule a well child check or acute sick visit.
- We continue to offer same-day sick appointments on Saturdays and Sunday in our Portsmouth office from 9am-12pm by appointment only.
- Through a partnership with Spruce Health, we now are able to provide virtual (video) visits as an option for safe remote care. Call our office during business hours to speak with a triage nurse and determine whether your child’s symptoms are suitable for a telemedicine appointment.
Screening
- You will be asked a series of screening questions when you call to book your child’s appointment, and again upon arrival to our office. We appreciate your candor and patience!
- If your child is a college student returning home from campus or has otherwise recently traveled, they will need to quarantine for 10 days before we will see them for their annual check-up; please speak with our triage nurse if there is a more urgent concern.
- Temperatures for both child AND caregiver will be taken by a staff member upon entering the office, regardless of reason for visit or presence/absence of symptoms.
Safety Measures in Office
- Only one symptom-free caregiver will be permitted to accompany children older than 6 months to any scheduled appointment. Two caregivers are permitted for well checks only through the 6 month checkup, and for any appointment for babies 2 months and younger.
- If two siblings are scheduled for simultaneous/back-to-back appointments, two caregivers will be permitted (one per child). Siblings without appointments should remain at home if at all possible.
- We all are wearing masks to protect you from anything we could have been exposed to. Any staff member with sick symptoms is instructed to stay home.
- In keeping with CDC recommendations, we require caregivers to wear masks to all office appointments, and request patients over age 2 years wear masks as well.
- Furthermore, patients and their accompanying caregivers should refrain from wearing valved masks to their appointments, as they can expel viral droplets into the air. Those who do arrive wearing valved masks will be provided with a disposable mask to place over their own mask (or wear instead of their own mask).
- Please keep masks on at all times while in the office.
- We are continuously cleaning and disinfecting all instruments, exam rooms, and high-touch surfaces.
Financial Obligation
Per guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics, for a phone call with EITHER our triage nurse OR one of our providers that is more than 5 minutes in duration and results in a diagnosis and treatment plan, we may submit to your insurance as a telephone visit. You may choose to have a virtual (video) visit with a provider through the Spruce Health telemedicine platform instead, which is billed to your insurance the same as an in-person visit. Any associated fee not covered under your insurance plan becomes the responsibility of the patient/patient representative.
