Three things have to be in place before we can book a first appointment: your insurance, your child’s primary care provider changed to one of ours, and your child’s complete previous records received by our office.
Since July 2019 we haven’t registered a new patient without all three. It isn’t a formality — we can’t safely care for a child whose history we don’t have. Records in particular can take weeks to arrive from a previous practice, so start there.
The steps
- Check we’re in-network. Confirm our practice has a contract with your carrier — see Insurance & Billing for the plans we participate in.
- Call your insurer and have your child’s primary care provider changed to one of our doctors. We confirm eligibility before scheduling.
- Send us the records. Complete previous medical and immunization records, from every provider your child has seen.
What “complete records” means
- Newborn hospital discharge documentation
- Growth charts
- Immunization history
- Office visit notes from previous providers
- Consult notes from any specialists
Your first visit
Arrive at least fifteen minutes early to go through pre-visit paperwork, and bring your child’s insurance card so we can scan it.
Expecting a baby
If you’re joining us with a newborn, check first that we accept the insurance your baby will have and that the pediatrician you’ve chosen is taking new patients.
Prenatal consults are available if you’d like to see the office and meet a pediatrician beforehand. It’s short — a look around, how we work, and time with a doctor for your questions. Contact the New Patient Advocate to arrange one.
Your obstetrician or the hospital will ask who you’ve chosen as your child’s primary care physician. On the day your baby is discharged, call us to book the newborn visit — we like to see new arrivals two days after they leave hospital.
Vaccines
We follow the schedule recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Our full vaccine policy is available in the documents on this page.
The paperwork itself is on New Patient Forms — filling it in beforehand saves time at the first visit.