Pediatricians: hospital affiliation and education important?

[Anonymous]

I'm a pedatric nurse practitioner.

Where your pediatrician is affiliated does not have to have anything to do with where you seek emergency care or hospital admission (God forbid). It only means that if you are seen in your ped's office for something that s/he feels needs hospital admission, they can call ahead to the affiliated hospital and arrange a direct admit there. Otherwise, you would go to the ER of whatever hospital you preferred. Their affiliation does NOT close the door on care at other institutions.

That said, having someone affiliated with Children's or Inove Fairfax (I'd prefer Children's) get you easy referrals and shorter waits. For ahealthy kid, that may not matter, but if you have issues, it is worth its weight in gold. Check out Children's Pediatricians and Associates, who have offices in DC (K ST. & Naylor Rd.) & MD (a bunch of places); all are affiliated with Children's. A quick search on this board should give you some reviews of the specific providers.

I also agree with the NICU Pediatrician re: training...I'd much rather have someone whose style matched mine and whose office practice fit my schedule. Training can only tell you so much--they may have come from a great place but be a real jerk!

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
if the ped is affiliated with Children's, you get priority when you make appointments in their specialty departments. Our ped gave us a special phone # to call. You don't have to wait as long for an appointment.

I believe you, but I think when there's a serious issue the medical community in DC is small enough that the ped just calls the doctor and says 'I really need you to see this child ASAP.' I suppose what this whole thing comes down to is a very personal choice: do you want to line up the best care ahead of time for any number of remote contingencies, or are you willing to bet that you have a relatively healthy child who needs a ped for the run of the mill stuff, which will undoubtedly include at least 10 sick visits in the first 2 years for fevers, ear infections, rashes, etc., and find the best fit for that.

Also one thing no one has mentioned, the single best piece of advice I got about picking a ped is to find one with a lactation consultant on staff. I did, and in the first year I spent far more time with her than anyone else, and she (and the practice that supports her) definitely gets full credit for a very successful nursing experience that did not start out well at all.

IOE, it was much better to have a DR affiliated with Children's to get appointments with specialists. If you are having a serious problem, it can make all the difference. My son was really sick and I learned the hard way that not having a practice really equipped to handle that both internally and externally made our experience so much worse. Yes most kids never need any treatment ear infections but you never know and it can be horrible for the child during their crisis.

[Anonymous]

jmleader wrote:Thanks, everyone. It's useful to hear all the perspectives.

@Anonymous 21:09 pm--this Dr. is affiliated with Howard. I'm guessing it would mostly be relevant with regard to emergency care--ie, if we needed to take the kid into the er, that's where we would take him/her, right? Or wrong? I admit I don't know quite how that works, either, but I'd love to hear any thoughts!

I'd choose Georgetown, George Washington Hosp., Fairfax INOVA, Holy Cross, etc., and unless it was a matter of life or death, only then would I choose Howard.

[Anonymous]

13:18 again

Almost forgot...DEFINITELY go for the practice with the lactation consultant on staff if possible. You won't regret it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:13:18 again

Almost forgot...DEFINITELY go for the practice with the lactation consultant on staff if possible. You won't regret it.

Agree with this 100%. Our practice did not have a lactation consultant on staff when I had both kids, and biy, could I have used it! Of course, they do now...

As for a doctor's education, I have never once looked to see where my doctors were educated. Just found out our ped went to Harvard, after seeing him for 7 years but I wouldn't have cared if he went to no-name U.

[jmleader]

Once again, thank you all so much for this advice. That's really useful to know how it works with specialists and emergency visits. I'm seeing the pediatrician later today and will see what my gut says, but I'll also bear in mind that if the kid needs lots of specialty care, it may be worth it to switch to a pede who can get me in to see a specialist more quickly. And thanks for the lactation consultant tip-off, too!