Marin Pediatric Associates - Information and Forms from the Practice Marin Pediatric Associates

Joining our Practice

New patients:

If you would like to join our practice, please call our office to find out which of our doctors is currently accepting new patients. We encourage you to make a prenatal or "meet and greet" visit to see our office, meet the staff, and get more information, whether you are expecting a new baby, adopting, or looking for a new pediatrician. (There is a small fee for this type of visit)

Insurance info:

We participate in many insurance plans. Effective 9/18/18 we will be preferred providers under the UCSF Benioff Children's Physicians (UBCP) and billing under the UBCP tax ID number. By calling our office, we can give you the most up-to-date information on which plans we participate in as preferred providers. For HMO patients, we are affiliated with the Meritage Medical Network. This is the only HMO Group we are affiliated with and it is important that one of our doctors is listed as your child's Primary Care Provider (PCP) to receive care in our office. (FYI: For parents who are HMO patients, you do not necessarily need to be part of the same HMO group as your child)

New Parents:

Let the hospital and obstetrician know who your pediatrician will be. Once your baby is delivered, the hospital will contact our office to notify us that your baby has been born. One of our doctors will come visit you and your new baby in the hospital if you are delivering at Marin General Hospital. If you are delivering at another hospital, our office will still be notified about the birth but their hospital staff will care for your new baby during your stay in the hospital.

Preparing for your first visit:

New Patients:

There is a lot of information to gather for your first visit including contact information, family medical history and insurance information. For older kids, there will also be records from previous doctors (click here for Records Request form), immunization records, and past medical history.

To help things go more smoothly at that first visit, it helps to bring with you your completed new patient forms. These can be downloaded from our website (see "Forms and Policies" tab to the left). For older kids, either bringing in their old records with you to the visit, or arranging to have them sent here prior to the visit is extremely helpful. Otherwise you will be asked to fill out our registration forms and medical records requests at that first visit.

Please bring any relevant insurance information with you at the time of your first visit.

New Babies:

The first well baby or post-hospital follow-up appointment is usually scheduled for 2 to 8 days after your discharge from the hospital. It is a good idea to call the office from the hospital to set up your first appointment. We recommend that you give yourselves plenty of extra time to get here for that first visit! Please bring any relevant insurance information with you at that time. Since most people do not have the baby's card yet, we can copy the mother's card.

It is your responsibility to add your baby to your insurance plan as soon as possible to avoid gaps in coverage. Though your baby is usually covered under the mother's plan for their birth and hospital care, your baby will not continue to have insurance coverage unless you call your insurance company and notify them that you want to add your baby to your health insurance plan. For HMO patients, you must specify one of us as your Pediatrician, or as your baby's Primary Care Provider (PCP), to be seen in our office.

If you have any questions or need assistance please contact our billing department.

Appointments:

Please be prepared to show your current insurance card. If you have a co-payment with your plan, payment is expected at the time of service. Our experience with treating children has taught us that making the co-payment at the time of check-in makes your checkout process easier.

Well Child Appointments

We book appointments up to six months in advance. We encourage you to schedule well visits as far in advance as possible so that you have the most choice of days and times for your appointment. Time slots in highest demand are the first morning appointment or after school hours.

Well child check-ups are normally scheduled at 3 -14 days of age, 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 24, and 30 months of age and every year from age 3 years on. This schedule can vary and not all insurance plans permit exams at the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended intervals.

Insurance companies consider all well care, physicals, sports physicals, camp physicals, or school physicals as "Preventive Care" and have extremely varied coverage as to benefits for these services, including age, frequency, intervals between visits, and even location. Parents will be responsible for understanding the limitations of their covered benefits and for payment for visits demanded by schools or camps but not covered by insurance. Please consult your own policies for this information.

Kindergarten entry exams should be scheduled in the spring if possible to avoid the last minute rush.

By keeping to the above schedule of routine exams, you will never find yourself in a last minute panic to get a sports, school or camp physical done before a deadline. We consider any physical done within the last 1 - 2 years as "current" and will be able to sign most forms for you based on these visits. However, you need to check your form to see if a different time frame regarding the last physical is required. If it has been longer since your child's last physical, or well care, we will need to see your child for such an exam prior to signing any forms.

If Your Child is Sick:

We are committed to seeing your child the same day if you feel they should be seen. Visits are by appointment only, except during our walk-in clinic hours on Mon-Thurs 8:30-9:30am. These walk-in visits are for urgent, short visits only, and not for complex or chronic problems. [WALK-IN CLINIC SUSPENDED DURING COVID PANDEMIC]

During our office hours, the advice staff is available to answer any questions you might have. If your child needs to be seen, a same day appointment will be scheduled. For emergencies, we will try to see you as soon as possible, or direct you to the emergency room if that is more appropriate.

Our advice staff can help you decide whether or not your child needs to be seen on that day. Our medical assistants are trained and advised by our physicians. They will also help you with advice for appropriate measures to use when care and observation at home is the appropriate course of action.

If you would like to schedule an appointment without first speaking to the advice staff, just call our office and speak to one of our front desk staff.

In the evening and on weekends, our patients are seen at the Marin Pediatric After Hours Clinic in the offices of Prima Medical group located at 100A Drakes Landing Road, Suite 225, Greenbrae, CA 94904. Click here for information on after hours advice and appointments at the After Hours Clinic.

Non-urgent, problem oriented visits:

We are committed to seeing your child the same day if you feel they should be seen. But there are often non-urgent issues that need to be discussed and evaluated. If you have questions our advice staff can help you determine the best length of time to allow for such a visit (anywhere from 10 – 60 min.) and how soon to schedule this visit.

Such visits may cover concerns about: (this is not a complete list)

Acne

ADD or ADHD

Allergies

Asthma management

Behavioral concerns

Chronic abdominal pain

Chronic ear infections

Chronic joint pains

Chronic sports related pains or injuries

Developmental concerns

Eczema or chronic skin conditions

Fatigue

GERD or reflux

Headaches (chronic)

School problems

Sleep problems

Travel consultations

Warts

Weight/nutrition

We encourage you to schedule these visits as far in advance as possible so that you have the most choice of days and times for your appointment. Time slots in highest demand are the first morning appointment or after school hours.

Staying on Schedule:

We are committed to seeing your child the same day if you feel they should be seen. Visits are by appointment only, except during our walk-in clinic hours on Mon-Thurs 8:30-9:30am. These walk-in visits are for urgent, short visits only, and not for complex or chronic problems.

The doctors make every effort to stay on time; emergencies, however, are unavoidable especially in a pediatric practice. We appreciate patients making every effort to be on time. If you are going to be late, please notify the office to see whether the appointment should be kept. There may be times when you will be asked to reschedule. Missed appointments or appointments cancelled with less than 24 hours notice will incur a charge (see billing policies).

Please notify the office ahead of time if you plan to bring a second (or third) child to an existing appointment and want him/her seen as well. Having multiple children seen in a single time slot makes the doctor late, does not allow us to give your concerns about each child the best possible care and attention, and is not fair to those who are waiting

For same day, urgent visits, we do our best to address all your concerns. However, in the interests of best care for your child, and staying on time for our other patients, we may ask you to schedule a return appointment with sufficient time allotted to go over all the other, non-urgent concerns or to review the current issue in greater depth after the immediate, urgent care needs have improved.

After Hours Care:

Always call 911 for emergencies.

All requests for medication refills, making or cancelling appointments in our office, and non-urgent questions should be made during regular office hours by calling the office or contacting us through the MyChart patient portal.

Additionally, we recommend consulting the HealthyChildren.org website, curated by the American Academy of Pediatrics for trusted answers to many questions, including dosing for OTC meds.

When our office is closed, you can reach the appropriate after hours care by dialing (415) 461-8828 to be connected with the After Hours Advice Nurse. Effective 2/1/24 there will be a charge to patients (approx $30) for advice nurse calls. After listening to an informational message about your options and potential charges, you can elect to stay on the line and be connected to an Advice Nurse. Pediatric practices in Marin (and many in Bay Area) are impacted by this change in advice nurse coverage which is no longer being provided, free of charge, by UCSF.

To avoid charges for Pediatric Advice nurse calls we offer the following options and suggestions for care and/or advice that cannot wait till our office reopens:

For advice only, many insurance plans provide their own advice nurse lines that you can call directly. Please consult the back of your insurance card for your Advice Nurse or 24/7 Nurse phone number.

For visits that cannot wait for our routine office hours we recommend:

MarinHealth Pediatric After Hours Clinic, located at 1100 Larkspur Landing Circle, Suite 10 in Larkspur, provides medical care by pediatricians. Visits here are by appointment only. To make an appointment you can call 415-464-1350 or consult the MarinHealth website to access online scheduling.

MarinHealth Urgent Care, located in Terra Linda at 4000 Civic Center Dr #206, San Rafael, provides drop-in visits and appointments for urgent medical or minor injury care by emergency room trained MD's and NP's. Care is for patients aged 3 months and older. You can schedule a same-day or next-day appointment at their Urgent Care Clinic online or by calling their office: 1-415-925-8865.

MarinHealth clinics share the same medical system that we use so all your child's information is available to them, and a record of your visit with them instantly becomes part of your child's medical record with us.

DignityHealth-GoHealth Urgent Care Clinic is located at 750 Redwood Highway Frontage Rd STE 1204, Mill Valley. They treat minor medical issues and minor injuries. You can make appointments on-line or call 415-384-4778. They can access your child's medical record through a link called “Care Everywhere.”

Patients who need to be seen urgently when the above resources are closed are referred to the nearest Emergency Room.

Patients who have severe illness or injuries or lacerations should proceed directly to the nearest Emergency Room.

Always call 911 for emergencies.

Provider Daily Schedules:

Schedule of Well-child Visits

** please note that not all insurance plans will cover well care visits for some of these ages. It is your responsibility to verify the specifics of covered benefits under your health insurance plan.

MPA Immunization Schedule:

We believe that vaccines save lives.

We believe strongly in the safety, effectiveness and importance of vaccines.

We believe that vaccines should be given according to the schedule recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

While there are legitimate reasons to deviate from the vaccine schedule (i.e. serious illness at the time of a well check-up, shortage of vaccine), it is our policy to discourage the spreading out of or splitting up of the vaccines.

Below are links to the most current immunization schedules:

CDC Immunization Schedules

For more details on our office vaccine policy, please refer to:

MPA Vaccine Policy statement

The Problem with Dr. Bob's Vaccine Schedule

Immunization Action Coalition

Forms and Policies

Registration Forms:

If you are coming into our office for a visit for the first time, please complete the following forms and bring them with you to your first visit. If a sibling already comes to our practice, we still need these forms completed for the new patient (we can use this new registration form as an update for the older siblings).

For older kids, either bringing in their old records with you to the visit, or arranging to have them sent here prior to the visit is extremely helpful (see medical records request form below). Please remember to bring a current insurance card as well.

Each of the registration forms below can be downloaded, printed-out, filled-in and brought into our office when complete.

New Patient Registration

Patient Health Questionaire
              (for newborns, please complete only the relevant sections,
               i.e. skip the general medical and past medical history sections)

Medical Records Request Form
              (to get records from prior physicians office if applicable)

MPA Notice of Privacy (HIPPA)
              (This form is for your information only and is for you
               to read and keep. Please ask us if you have any
               questions about our office policies related to the
               privacy of your child's medical records.)

Changes to Demographic or Insurance Information:

Please complete the appropriate form and bring to your next visit or fax it to our office: (415)-461-3772.

18 Years and Older Forms:
                For our existing patients who have turned 18 years old, you must complete this form and bring it to your next appointment. This form gives us permission to continue providing you with medical care, and lets you specify who we are allowed to share your healh information with (parents or other adults).

Change of Demographic info form:
                Please complete this form if:

Your address or contact information has changed

You wish to change the authorization for adults other than
           parent/guardian to obtain medical care for your minor child(ren).

Change of Insurance info form:
                (We will also need a copy of the front and back.
                of your current insurance card.)

Medical Records forms:

Medical Records Request Form:
                This form allows us to get records from your previous doctors. You can send this to them yourself or bring it to the visit and we will fax it for you. This form is not necessary for new babies.

Medical Records Release Form:
                If you would like to request a copy of a patient's MPA records for yourself or to be transferred to another doctor, please complete the following form and submit it along with the records release fee ($35 - $45 plus postage). If the patient is over 18 years of age, they must sign the release themselves.

       If your new physician has an EMR with access to "Care Everywhere", you do not need to request your records. The new physician can access your file by looking for the UCSF and Sutter connections.

Policies:

MPA Notice of Privacy (HIPPA):
                Please ask us if you have any questions about our office policies related to the privacy of your child's medical records.

MPA Vaccine Policy statement
                (for more information regarding vaccines, please visit the links section of our website)

MPA Billing Policy
                (this is also included in the registration forms)

HIPAA Privacy Policy:

Click here to open up the Marin Pediatric Associates Notice of Privacy Practices

Poison Control:

The phone number for poison control in California is:

1-800-222-1222

Click here for more info

Always call 911 for emergencies.

Dosing info for Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen:

Children's acetaminophen and ibuprofen are available over the counter for the temporary reduction of fever and relief of minor aches and pains due to colds, sore throat, flu, headaches and toothaches for patients. Ibuprofen is also helpful in reducing inflammation.

Dosing guidelines for these medications is provided below. These are guidelines only and do not constitute specific advice on giving these medications to your child.

Age is provided as a convenience, or rough guide only. Dosing should be based on the weight of your child.

Acetaminophen can be used for patients 2 months of age and older.

Dosages can be repeated every 4 - 6 hrs.

Acetaminophen is sold as a generic or under the brand names Tylenol®, Tempra®, Triamenic®, etc. and Feverall® (suppository form).

Acetaminophen:

Ibuprofen is safe for patients 6 months and older.

Dosages can be repeated every 6 - 8 hrs.

Ibuprofen is sold as a generic or under the brand names Advil® or Motrin®.

Ibuprofen:

Our Favorite Parenting Books:

Suicide Prevention: