Current Patients

We hope that you will find this page helpful in answering some of the more common questions and requests that arise. Thank you for choosing Quincy Pediatrics for all of your child’s healthcare needs!

• Call Hour
• Sick Visits / Medical Advice
• Emergencies
• Evening Hours
• After Hours
• Saturday
• Sunday / Holidays
• Wait Time

Call Hour

A pediatrician is available by phone from 7AM-8AM every day to discuss acute illnesses and to schedule our first appointments of the morning for sick children.

During the winter months and especially Monday mornings, the phone lines are often very busy so we appreciate your patience.

The doctor is not actually in the office during call hour. We ask that questions regarding complicated issues, previously booked appointments or billing wait until the office is open. Our office staff will be happy to assist upon opening at 8:30AM.

Sick Visits/ Medical Advice

Our specially trained nurses are available by phone starting at 8:30AM Monday - Friday, and 9AM on Saturday to discuss routine childcare questions, problems, or illnesses. The nurse also schedules appointments for sick visits and consultations, and assists with prescription refills.

We make every effort to schedule appointments for ill children on the day that you call us.

We understand parents prefer that their children not miss any school; however, to strive for short wait times and prompt visits, we may request your child be dismissed for their appointments. We will be happy to provide a note to excuse school absences for the time they are seen in our office. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Two or more children: If you would like us to see more than one child, please schedule both of them when you make your appointment. Without an appointment, we may not be able to see a sick sibling right away, and you may be asked to wait while the provider sees a scheduled patient who may be waiting.

When calling to discuss an ill child's symptoms with the nurse, we recommend:

• having a pen and paper to record advice/instructions
• have a recent temperature (rectal for infants, oral for older children are the preferred method)
• a list of your child's symptoms and treatments administered

Reminder: Our office is closed for lunch 12PM-1PM; please hold non-urgent calls until 1PM

Emergencies

If an emergency should arise, please call 911. Emergencies are considered to be those conditions that are life-threatening: loss of consciousness, severe bleeding, seizure, respiratory distress, etc.

If you are dealing with a life-threatening emergency, please call 911 for an ambulance or go to the closest emergency room. The emergency room physician will communicate with us so we can coordinate your child's care.

In the case of a minor emergency: laceration, sprain, earache, sore throat, minor injury, question of a fracture, etc, please call our office first for instructions.

Evening hours (Quincy office only)

Our practice provides evening hours for acutely ill patients starting at 5:30pm in the Quincy office (see office hours). Marshfield patients can be seen in the Quincy office as well during this time. During the evening there is only one nurse and one doctor to care for the patients and answer phone calls. Therefore, we do not book or take calls for routine visits, rechecks and medication refills at this time. We ask that referrals, billing questions and record information be held until regular office hours when we have additional personnel to assist with your requests.

After Hours

When our office is closed, one of our physicians is always available by phone to answer urgent questions and respond to emergencies. The on-call physician takes calls from home after hours. Call our office phone number (617) 773-5070, and our answering service will page the physician and he/she will call you back.

During these hours the physician will check messages hourly and usually returns phone calls in batches. If your problem is truly urgent and cannot wait, please have the doctor paged immediately.

Emergency calls will be returned immediately. Less emergent questions will usually be returned within 30 minutes. In the rare case that you have not heard back from the physician within 30 minutes, please check with the answering service to be sure that you have given the correct phone number, and that the physician has been paged. If you have a block on your phone, you MUST de-activate this service by pressing *87.

Saturday

All nine of our pediatricians rotate the call hours and weekends. For the convenience of working parents, we schedule a limited number of routine physicals on Saturdays. The same physician that performs routine check-ups with also be seeing those children who are in for sick appointments. Therefore, wait times may be longer than what you would experience during the week.

We advise that routine check-ups involving complex medical problems or multiple concerns be scheduled during regular office hours to allow for adequate time to address these issues. In these cases, when booking your appointment please mention this to our staff so that the appropriate amount of time is reserved.

Sunday/Holidays

Our office is open for urgent illnesses 365 days a year. As there is only one doctor available on Sundays, we may not be able to see your child for an illness that is not urgent. Routine visits, rechecks and non urgent visits are not seen on Sundays, evenings or the following holidays:

New Years Day, Martin Luther King Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving Day, The Day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Day.

Wait Time

A question we are often asked is, "how long is the wait"? One of the many advantages of our office is that we fit into the schedule any sick child who needs to be seen the same day. Therefore, it is sometimes difficult to anticipate patient volume or length of wait times. We feel that being available to see your child when he/she is acutely ill is of the utmost importance. However, this can sometimes be challenging for the schedule, especially during a busy time of year. If you can only make an appointment for after school, your wait time will likely be longer because this is the busiest time of the day for us. We therefore strongly encourage you to schedule appointments earlier in the day.

Once in the office, patients may not always be seen in the order of their arrival. Scheduled appointments (physicals/med checks/rechecks) are seen as close as possible to their given times and sick children are seen between these appointments. On the occasion that an emergency arises and your child needs more immediate evaluation, our nurses will assess your child. If necessary, the nurse will have a doctor see your child right away.

Please understand that we cannot always predict how sick a child might be when they come into the office. That child may require more time than the schedule allotted. This can sometimes cause an unanticipated delay and may lead to a longer wait time. We realize the challenge of waiting in an office with children and ALWAYS strive to be on time. We assure you that your child will receive our full time and attention during his/her visit; the care you and your child will receive from us will be comprehensive and compassionate!