Need information about our office, paperwork or policies? At Chapel Hill Pediatrics and Adolescents, our staff takes every effort to make working with us a positive experience. For your convenience, we’ve provided answers below to questions that are frequently asked about our office and its policies.
I am transferring my child’s care from another practice. Are there things I need to do before the first visit to your practice?
Yes! To register with our office as new patients, please call us at (919) 942-4173 and press option 2 for scheduling. Please let the receptionist know that you are wanting to register new patients. Let the staff member know which office you would prefer to visit and which pediatrician you would like to see (if you have a preference). If you need to schedule an appointment, the staff member can also do that when you call to register with our office. Chapel Hill Pediatrics and Adolescents will do our best to promptly see new patients for well-child physical exams and routine care of chronic issues. We also go out of our way to offer same-day availability for acute care appointments (sick visits).
If your child is a new patient and has special health needs, please let our staff know so that the pediatrician and/or care coordinator can assist in planning for the visit.
You will also need to make arrangements for your child’s previous medical records to be sent to us. When transferring your child’s care from another practice, please fill out a medical records release form at your prior office and request they send the records to Chapel Hill Pediatrics and Adolescents, PA. Please also request that they fax your child’s immunization records to us at (919) 933-3473.
You can alternatively fill out a medical records request form and drop it off at our office or fax it to us at (919) 933-3473 so that we can request prior medical records for you. Please note that you must complete a release form for each child and each practice where your children were previously seen. Children 12 years of age or older must also sign release forms.
How do I get my baby started at your practice?
Even before your baby is born, it is possible to meet one of our physicians at one of our “Meet and Greet” sessions held at each practice location several times each month. It is also possible to schedule a meeting with a specific physician during office hours (there is a fee for an individual consultation outside of the meet and greet times).
After delivery, your baby will be seen by a physician on staff at the hospital. Prior to discharge, you should contact our office to make an appointment for your newborn’s hospital follow-up visit, usually 1-2 days after discharge.
What is your financial policy?
You can review some of our health insurance and financial policies on our insurance and billing page. For a complete, updated version of our financial policy, please click on the link below to download the payment policy as a PDF.
How do I contact Chapel Hill Pediatrics and Adolescents when the office is closed?
For life-threatening emergencies, we recommend that you dial 911.
All calls during the hours of:
- 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Monday-Friday
- 7:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Saturday
- 7:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Sunday
should be directed to our office(s).
For questions or concerns that arise outside of the hours listed above and cannot wait until the office re-opens we have an answering service ready to take your call. The nurse responding to a call will listen to the concern and provide a recommended course. The pediatrician on-call will be contacted if the nurse feels the decision-making process requires physician input or if the pediatric protocol directs a pediatrician to be involved.
The number to call is 1-877-574-3675. Please note the time you call and if a return call is delayed beyond what you believe is reasonable, please call again.
The fees for “After Hours” nurse triage phone calls are as follows:
Within North Carolina:
- $16/call evenings and weekends
- $35/call on all holidays
- Fees waived for infants less than 60 days old
Out of State:
- $35/call evenings and weekends
- $45/call holidays
Can I correspond with my pediatrician via e-mail?
Due to the variations in each physician’s schedule with regard to days worked, vacation, and holidays, it is difficult to provide consistent and appropriate follow-up for correspondence via e-mail. If you have questions for your regular pediatrician, please contact them through the advice nurse. Your message will be reviewed that day by your regular pediatrician or a member of their pod (two to three physicians who work in the same area of the office “red, yellow, and blue”). Following their review, an appropriate response will come either from your pediatrician or the advice nurse.
Do you accept walk-in appointments?
Chapel Hill Pediatrics and Adolescents do not encourage “walk-ins” during normal business hours or during our after-hours clinic Monday through Friday.
Established patients may walk-in for minor illnesses (fever, earache, cough, cold, etc) with symptoms fewer than 24 hours during certain hours and days:
- The Chapel Hill and Durham Office locations accept walk-in patients Monday through Friday from 7:15 am-7:50 am
- The Chapel Hill Office accepts walk-ins on Saturday and Sunday from 8:00 am -12:00 pm
Chapel Hill Pediatrics and Adolescents do not encourage “walk-ins” from 8:00 am-7:00 pm Monday through Friday. During these hours we operate on scheduled appointments (please note that just the Chapel Hill office is open for urgent care appointments from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm Monday through Friday). Despite our best efforts, there are several factors that interfere with the timeliness of schedules, including the challenges of scheduling the “right” amount of time for any given “complaint,” late arrival of patients, sometimes due to circumstances beyond their control, emergencies, and phone calls requiring immediate attention from the physician.
Exceptions are made for certain emergent conditions* as identified and determined by the Nursing and Physician Staff (please see the list below).
If you do not have an appointment and would like to have your child seen for routine illness or injury visit, please ask the front desk staff for the next available appointment with a physician.
If you are not sure whether or not your child needs to be seen for an emergent condition, our front desk staff will page a nurse to assess your child. As soon as one of our nursing staff is available, your child will be assessed. If our nurses determine your child is stable with no urgent needs you will be offered the next available appointment with a physician. Otherwise, your child will be worked into the schedule as soon as possible.
*Examples of Urgent/Emergent Conditions Include:
- Respiratory Distress (wheezing or trouble breathing)
- Seizures
- Head injuries or changes in the level of consciousness
- Eye trauma
- Illness/fever in infants less than 2 months of age
How far in advance can I schedule my child’s appointment?
We schedule appointments up to five months in advance. If you have an infant, schedule your next well-child appointment before you leave the office for your current appointment. Appointments for well-child check-ups (i.e. physical exams) fill up quite quickly!
When should I schedule my child’s checkup?
Our office follows the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics for the timing of well-child visits. Following the initial newborn hospital follow-up and two-week checkup, well infant checkups occur at two, four, six, nine, twelve, fifteen, and eighteen months. We recommend that your infant’s well-child visits be scheduled at the time of the prior well-child visit (4-month visit scheduled at end of the 2-month visit.) Following the thirty-month visit, children should be seen annually starting at three years of age. Please call three months in advance of the desired appointment time to schedule.
How do I get my child’s sub-specialist physician to share information with my pediatrician?
Most sub-specialist physicians will correspond with your primary care physician by letter once you have identified them and requested that they do so. As part of our affiliation with UNC, we have access to clinic notes and laboratory reports within the UNC system.
How do I arrange for medication refills?
As part of our new website, you will soon be able to request a refill for an existing prescription. Currently, refill requests are processed by messages left on the refill request option of the phone menu. We only accept refill requests for controlled substance prescriptions such as those for ADD or ADHD.
For all other routine prescription refill requests, please call your pharmacy directly and they will fax a refill to our office. For all medication refill requests please remember to allow adequate time for our office and your pharmacy to process the request.
I know that Chapel Hill Pediatrics and Adolescents are no longer administering allergy injections. Is there a local allergist who might administer my child’s allergy injection?
Contact your child’s allergist to see where he or she would recommend your child receive allergy injections. This is a list of allergists in the area who also administer allergy injections:
Local Allergists
- Carolina Allergy and Asthma (493-6580)
6340 Quadrangle Drive, Suite 70
Chapel Hill, NC 27517 - Dr. Peter Bressler (401-6000)
5915 Farrington Road, Suite 106
Chapel Hill, NC 27517 - UNC Allergy (966-1401)
101 Manning Drive
Chapel Hill, NC 27514 - Duke Allergy (684-9914)
@Children’s Health Center
2301 Erwin Road
Durham, NC 27710
OR
@Duke Asthma, Allergy, and Airway Center
4309 Medical Park Drive, Suite 100
Durham, NC 27704