Office & Appointment Policies

 

What ages do you treat?

Sunshine Pediatrics may begin seeing your child as a newborn. We will continue to see your child until the child completes their last year of high school, including their pre-college exam.

 

Do I need to fill out any forms before I come in?

Once you have scheduled your appointment with us you will receive an email with the registration paperwork and office policies. The documents can be filled out electronically and submitted back to us right from your email. This needs to be completed prior to your appointment or your appointment will be rescheduled.

 

What if my child is sick? Do you accept walk-ins?

Sunshine Pediatrics sees patients on an appointment only basis. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we do offer a walk- in hours for our established patients only from 5-6pm. Walk-in hours are for sick visits only. Sports physicals, well visits, and medication rechecks will not be seen during walk-in hours and need to be scheduled during regular business hours.

 

How often does my baby need to be seen for a well child visit?

We follow the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics well child checkup schedule, which recommends the following visits:

 

Newborn (3-5 days hospital births; 24 hours after birth if home birth or birth center birth)

2 week

1 month

2 months

4 months

6 months

9 months

12 months

15 months

18 months

24 months

30 months

Annual checkups for ages 3 years and up

We encourage you to schedule your child's next appointment while you are in the office.

 

Can you (re)fill my child's prescription over the phone?

Prescriptions can only be refilled during normal office hours. The on-call physician will not prescribe or refill any medication after office hours. When calling in for a refill, the required time needed is 24 - 48 hours to complete your request.

 

Our office will make every effort to handle your request in the shortest time possible. When you are calling to renew a prescription, please leave the name and the phone number of your pharmacy along with the name of the medication, dosage and quantity.

 

Please note: ADHD/ADD refills cannot be called in or mailed out. These are controlled substances and the prescriptions are now sent electronically. Please ensure that we have your correct pharmacy on file. (Once a prescription is sent electronically, it cannot be transferred to another pharmacy.)

 

For a new ADD/ADHD prescription, you will have an initial med check after 30 days. For maintenance of long-term treatment, you will have an appointment every 3 months. It is the parent's responsibility to call and schedule these appointments in a timely manner so that their child does not run out of these medications.

 

Financial & Insurance

 

I have to cancel my appointment. Will there be a fee?

Missed appointments, without notice, are disruptive to our office and keep others from being seen. We request a 24 hour cancellation notice to avoid the $35.00 no-show fee.

 

Do I need to bring my insurance card?

Due to frequent changes in health insurance coverage, we require that you provide proof of insurance coverage at each visit. If you do not have insurance, are unable to provide proof of insurance coverage, or are on a plan in which we do not participate, full payment is required at the time of your visit.

 

When is my co-pay due and how can I pay?

All co-payments are due at the time of service. Please be aware that some services provided may not be covered by your insurance. You are personally responsible for these services. For your convenience we accept cash, Visa/MasterCard (including debit cards), American Express, and Discover.

 

What if my insurance doesn't pay?

If we are a participating provider, we will file your insurance for each visit. Should there be a dispute with your insurance company, our insurance department will attempt to resolve it for you as a courtesy. During this time, the balance may be transferred to your responsibility. Please note that your insurance policy is a contract between you and your insurance company, therefore, your balance is your responsibility. Financial arrangements for large balances can be made through our payment program. Failure to resolve any past due accounts will result in referral to a collection agency. Any family whose account is forwarded to a collection agency will be dismissed from our practice.

 

New Babies

 

My baby was born at the hospital. When should they be seen?

If you are a parent of a newborn, please call the office after being discharged from the hospital to make your baby's first appointment. We like to see hospital-born babies at 3-5 days of age. If you have a newborn boy who you choose to have circumcised, we prefer to circumcise your son on between 2-6 weeks. Please inform us when you call so we can appropriately schedule enough time for the procedure.

 

My baby was born at a birth center or at home. When should I schedule their first visit?

If you had a homebirth, or delivered at a birth center, please call the office within a few hours. All babies born under these circumstances need to be seen in our office within 24 hours of birth. You must have an appointment for this visit.

 

If your baby is born on a weekend, please call our office. The telephone system will route you to the voicemail of the on-call provider. Someone will call you back first thing Monday morning and we will see your baby the same day.

 

Medical Records

 

What if I need to transfer my child's records to another doctor?

When requesting your child(ren)'s medical record to be transferred, please be advised that the required time needed to complete your request is 5 business days. There is also no fee to transfer your child's record to one doctor. In the event you are requesting copies of the medical records yourself, there will be a fee per child in accordance with Florida law. We will make every effort to complete your request in the shortest time possible. Immunization records can be provided at no charge for current patients. Immunization records are always available, by request, during your well-child visit. If you need immunization records at any other time, there is a $5 fee per child, per form.

 

My child needs a form for daycare, sports, school, or camp. How do I get that?

Immunization forms for daycare and/or school can be requested at the time of routine well child visits at no charge. It is your responsibility to make your request for the forms when the nurse is working your child up for their well child visit.

 

If you request required documents by phone or at a sick visit there will be an administrative fee of $5.00. We require 72 business hours to complete the forms.

 

These forms will be dated with the date of the last well child visit. Your child must have been seen at our practice, for a well child check, within the year. However, some schools require that the physical be done closer to the time of the event or sport season. It is your responsibility to check with your child's program to see when it needs to be completed. If your child requires another separate physical, you will need to schedule an appointment for a “sport physical” at a charge of $50.00 (no insurance can be filed for a sport physical).

 

Do you use paper or electronic records?

All of Sunshine Pediatrics' medical records are maintained by a Electronic Medical Records (EMR) program. EMR offers maximum confidentiality, improved continuity of care, and advanced record keeping.

 

Our staff will scan in the paper medical records of patients transferring into our practice to create an electronic chart. The electronic medical record allows the practitioner to reference your child's entire medical history, enter notes and prescriptions, and record other necessary information.