Important Office Updates Concerning COVID-19
Dear Patients and Parents:
As the medical home for you or your child, please feel reassured Carmel Pediatrics is here for you or your child’s medical needs. Our pediatricians are staying informed on all advisories and guidelines regarding COVID-19. This includes taking strides to provide a safe office environment as well as contributing in limiting the spread of COVID-19. In accordance with recommendations by the ISHD and AAP, we will be making the following changes to office appointments and procedures. Most notably, we will be allocating specific morning appointment times for necessary well child visits, eliminating our waiting room, and implementing telemedicine for all non-acute and most acute care, including cough and fever. In addition, to avoid a potential exposure and limit further spread of COVID-19, please contact us prior to visiting an urgent care. Please take the time to read each section below for more specifics.
Well Child Visit Appointments – Birth to 2 and 5 year olds
It is highly recommended by the CDC and AAP, that all children birth to 2 and 5 years of age continue to be immunized on their recommended immunization schedule to prevent emergence of vaccine preventable diseases. Please feel confident, in addition to the allocated office morning appointment times, our office staff is diligently disinfecting our office space. If you have a child in this age range scheduled for an afternoon appointment, you will be receiving a call to reschedule to a morning appointment. All other age well child visits have been cancelled and will be rescheduled when the ISHD reports safe to resume. If scheduled for an appointment, please read Office Appointment Procedures below before your visit.
Telemedicine – Sick, Follow-up, and ADHD/Behavioral Health Appointments – Face to face interaction in Real Time!
Telemedicine appointments will be scheduled for, but not limited to: sick visits, ADHD, anxiety and depression, academic concerns, sleep problems, allergies, rashes/insect bites. While a telemedicine appointment doesn’t substitute for an office visit, we hope to continue to provide a high level of care and pleased to have such a means available for use during this time. If our physicians do not feel confident your concern is being best met with a telemedicine visit, they will schedule you or your child for an in-office appointment. Please call early in the day, to help assist us in scheduling these visits same day. Furthermore, during this time, we will be providing morning telemedicine appointments for urgent weekend concerns. Please call your pediatricians after-hours telephone number on the weekend for instructions on how to schedule such an appointment.
Telemedicine appointments will be billed to your insurance. Copays will apply and be collected at the time of scheduling. A convenience charge of $25.00 will also be applied.
Office Appointment Procedures – For your safety!
Please arrive 15 minutes prior to your appointment time. Please remain in your vehicle and call us when you arrive. We will check you in over the phone, which includes verifying we have the correct insurance as well as collecting any copays. We are currently accepting credit card payments only. If you have a new insurance card, please take a picture of the front and back of the card and text it to our director @ 317-582-7257 prior to your appointment. Once we have an examine room available, we will call or text you to notify you to proceed to the office. The hospital is screening all individuals as they enter the building. Door 4 is closed. You will need to enter through door 3. The hospital is also only allowing for only the patient and one parent to come up with a child (unless you are a mother who has just had a c-sec delivery, then you may have a second caregiver to carry your newborn). They may ask you and your child, including infants to wear a mask.
Office Hours – Front office may close early for telemedicine
Our regular scheduled business hours are Monday-Friday 8:30 to 5pm. Our front office will most likely be closing prior to 5pm as the physicians are partaking in telemedicine during this time. If you reach the recording that our office is closed during regular business hours and you have a same day concern that you feel can not wait until the next business day, please contact your pediatrician by calling their after-hour patient telephone number. In addition, in attempts to limit persons visiting our office, we will be mailing prescriptions, forms, etc. If you have an urgent need to pick-up a prescription or form, please arrive during morning business hours to be assured the front office is still open.
COVID-19 Questions?
Like, all other viruses, anyone can become infected with COVID-19 if directly exposed to the virus. However, older people and people with underlying health conditions are those being reported at greater risk for serious illness. Most children have more mild symptoms including fever, cough, and fatigue, and may even be asymptomatic. An excellent handout is linked below from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). We encourage you to click on the link for further information including care and isolation recommendations if you or your child suspect either of you are infected with COVID-19, as well as, recommendations to help ease your child’s worries during this time.
Sincerely,
Carmel Pediatrics, LLC