Your Visit
Ever wonder what happens when you visit Bear Creek Pediatrics? Before you walk through the door? When you’re at the front desk? While you’re waiting in the exam room? Let’s go step-by-step, take a look behind the scenes, and find out…
Before You Arrive
If you are transferring into our clinic from another clinic, you can sign a release of information form, from your previous clinic. That will start the process of getting your prior medical information to us. If your child needs shots, is taking medications, or has other pertinent health history, we can review that prior to your appointment.
At the Front Desk
Your appointment day is here, and you arrive. Our Front Office Associates get any updated information, collect forms and co-pays, and get you checked into our computer system. They verify your contact information every visit, just to make sure we can get in touch with you if we need to — you might be surprised how often phone numbers and email addresses change. They will ask to see your insurance card because insurances can also change quite frequently. Once your child is brought back to the Exam Room, one of our Medical Assistants (MAs) will get a complete set of vital signs (height, weight, temperature, and blood pressure) and ask some necessary medical history questions, which allows your Provider, especially in the case of a sick visit, to get a quick picture of what’s going on before entering the room. This is all very important information for the provider that helps guide the treatment.
In the Reception Area
We try, of course, to be as fast and efficient as possible, but we can’t always predict when other concerns, problems, or even emergencies will arise. And we always want to give every one of our patients as much time as we need to make the best possible assessment, provide the best possible care, and answer all your questions and concerns. We do our best to let you know when a Provider is running behind, but please feel free to ask for an update if it seems like you’ve been waiting a long time.
In the Exam Room With a Medical Assistant (MA)
MAs have medical training, so they’re prepared to spot any warning signs or “red flags” that come up when taking vitals and history. If they see a sign for concern — if, say, a child who came in for a cough and cold symptoms is wheezing and breathing rapidly — they’ll move quickly to get a Provider into the room right away. Situations like this are the reason why you may sometimes have a longer-than-usual wait; we’ll skip over appointment orders if it’s necessary to safeguard the health and safety of one of our patients. Once all of your information has been gathered, the MA will leave the exam room and let your Provider know you’re ready to be seen.
In the Exam Room With a Provider
Now it’s your turn! Once your Provider reviews the history and asks if you have any other questions or concerns, they begin their exam. After the exam, once your Provider has finished the Well Visit, or made a diagnosis and recommended treatment for a Sick Visit, your child may need immunizations, testing, or treatments in the office. If that’s the case, your Provider alerts your MA, who will prepare and deliver whatever you need to complete your appointment. Prescriptions will be sent to your pharmacy electronically.
At Check-Out
Once your exam and treatment are complete, you head back to the front office to check out. This is the perfect time to make your next appointment or pick up any forms you need to have completed. This is also the time for patients who pay out of pocket to make their payments.
After You Leave
Even after you go home, there are still a few important things that are happening inside our office. If your child needs a referral to an outside specialist, we will complete that within 1-2 days. If you have not heard back from them after 7-10 business days, let us know so we can check on it. Once office notes have been completed, notes are submitted to our Biller, who will submit charges to your insurance company. Our Biller will follow the charges and update our account after payment is received. We may not know until then whether there are certain charges or parts of your bill that your individual insurance plan did or didn’t cover. If there’s a balance due, our Biller will send a paper statement (bill) to you. You can call our office and pay the balance over the phone, or mail us a check.
When You Call With a Concern
Our MAs are busy rooming patients, administering shots, sending referrals, AND answering phone calls! If our MA is not at her desk to answer the phone, leave a message and she will get back to you within 30 min, or as soon as possible. Our MAs work as a team to answer all phone calls, questions, and concerns about medical issues. They’re able to answer many of these questions themselves, per phone triage protocol, but if needed they’ll consult with one of our Providers to get you the best possible care advice. We do not have staff for after-hours phone advice. Consult the phone triage advice line associated with your medical insurance.