Surprised by Pediatric Practice

[Anonymous]

We go to CMG and love it. Their after-hours service was free about 5 years ago (I think the last time we called), but yes, the trend has been to charge a nominal fee and worth it IMO. We've been to the ER at Suburban several times and based on circumstances of our dc and those already in the queue, we've been seen immediatley in one case and waited nearly 6 hours in another. One note about Nighttime (and Adult too) Peds. on the pike. I believe that you need an appointment there to be seen.

[Anonymous]

As has been previously mentioned, Suburban or Georgetown for pediatric emergencies (or Children's.) Sibley is great for deliveries, but not for treating children. We have been very pleased with Capitol Medical Group. When we had an off-hours emergency (not life-threatening), they warned us to call Georgetown first to see how long the wait would be. Went to Suburban twice for stitches and we had no complaints.

[Anonymous]

KidzDocs in Alexandria recently started charging $20 for afterhours calls. It did make me think twice about calling -- which I suppose is what they want so they can weed out the calls that can wait -- but ultimately I decided it was worth the $20 to ask the questions I needed answers to. They do not charge if your call results in them advising you to go the ER.

[Anonymous]

wow...I hadn't heard of this before and it surprises me - I don't think my practice charges for this, but maybe they've started to and I just didn't realize it

honestly, I really think it's a bad idea -- I understand that pediatrics is not the most lucrative specialty and I do think some PPs make good points about this being a business (e.g. lawyers bill for their time including phone calls) but I think it is interesting that so many posters talk about the interest in discouraging calls

yes, I'm sure there are frivolous calls, but I would sort of think a pediatrics practice would not want to create a financial disincentive for parents to call when they are sort of on the fence about calling but there might in fact be a legitimate concern - e.g. my baby developed a fever at 2 months old and I did page the doctor on a Sunday evening. My DH was hesitant about calling anyway and I would imagine that a $15 charge might have increased his resistance to doing so. As it happened, my ped seemed to think it was quite important I called and wanted to see us first thing the next morning, advised us to watch the baby closely and so forth. Particularly when you are dealing with parents of nonverbal children, it's just not always apparent whether something is nothing or of real concern

[Anonymous]

I actually think it is pretty reasonable. The main time I think it's problematic is for the littlest of babies (first two months), and then that time from Friday night through Sunday night when calling the next day just isn't an option. Kids don't only get sick during business hours. But doctors don't otherwise get paid for these calls; they have to pay people/a service to man the phones. And particularly for practices like Kidzdocs who DON'T charge if it is a real emergency, then it is really just to cover the frivolous calls. There are plenty of calls that aren't pointless; they just don't need to be made at 7, 8, 9 at night but rather can wait until the next day. My friend is an NP in a pediatric practice, and she gets 5, 6, 7 calls per night. Things like, my kid got sand in his eye at the sandbox this morning; what should I do (now that it's 9 hours later). Is it worth calling a doctor? Yes. It should have been done several hours ago, or else not till the next day. My 4 year old has a 100 fever. What do I do? She seriously gets these calls EVERY NIGHT. People that use the after hours service reasonably have a right to be annoyed by the fee. But I'm sure it's really to discourage those who just call whenever the littlest thing happens and they don't feel like waiting until the next day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:KidzDocs in Alexandria recently started charging $20 for afterhours calls. It did make me think twice about calling -- which I suppose is what they want so they can weed out the calls that can wait -- but ultimately I decided it was worth the $20 to ask the questions I needed answers to. They do not charge if your call results in them advising you to go the ER.

I think you have to actually go to the ER to not be charged. . .we use KidzDocs and have found this as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pediatricians make very little money (for all their education and training) and deal with VERY demanding parents, especially in this area. I don't begrudge them the fee.

Totally agree with this -- we are talking about $15, you have got to be kidding me with this criticism. They should be paid for their time.

I have called the emergency line at CMG a total of 5 times in 3 years. $60.00 to pay for excellement advice regarding my child -- I consider it a great deal . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pediatricians make very little money (for all their education and training) and deal with VERY demanding parents, especially in this area. I don't begrudge them the fee.

Totally agree with this -- we are talking about $15, you have got to be kidding me with this criticism. They should be paid for their time.

I have called the emergency line at CMG a total of 5 times in 3 years. $60.00 to pay for excellement advice regarding my child -- I consider it a great deal . . .

PP, sorry -- $75 for five calls.

[Anonymous]

Yes, my husband is an internist and you wouldn't believe the amount of crap that he gets called about after hours because people just don't get around to calling about it during the day. I know pediatricians have it 100 times worse. Our friend who is a pediatrician (at an 8 doctor practice) makes call backs at the top of every hour and is often on the phone unti the next round of calls! And not for emergencies. Often it is just for stuff that the parents didn't get around to calling about during the day (rashes, dietary issues, etc0. To suggest that physicians should get get zero reimbursement for all this time dispensing medical advice is insane!

[Anonymous]

My friend is a pediatrician and a mother called her once at 11:30 on a Friday because she needed an athletic permission slip signed immediately. I'd say a small fee is more than warranted.

[Anonymous]

I've used the Blue Cross free nurse number and the information they give is really helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friend is a pediatrician and a mother called her once at 11:30 on a Friday because she needed an athletic permission slip signed immediately. I'd say a small fee is more than warranted.

Ok, there will always be crazy people. And FWIW, I doubt a $15 charge would have dissuaded that particular crazy from calling about a permission slip. But I think we're talking about legitimate calls from normal people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again - I also didn't "wake up" my pediatrician. I called at 6pm. Our last practice in Boston had a nurse triage service - they were paid very well to take after hours calls - that weeded out the real emergencies from the anxious parent calls. A Dr. was not paged unless absolutely necessary. We loved this service. The nurses were patient, knowledgeable, and very helpful. Why don't practices here do the same?

Many practices here do do the same, OP, including the practice we go to in Falls Church. I also think charging for after-hours calls is off-putting. Whenever I've spoken to a nurse or doctor from our practice after hours and apologized for the intrusion, they tell me that's what they are there for and not to apologize. I guess another thing you've already become acquainted with is how bitchy some people are on DCUM. Welcome to DC!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My friend is a pediatrician and a mother called her once at 11:30 on a Friday because she needed an athletic permission slip signed immediately. I'd say a small fee is more than warranted.

Ok, there will always be crazy people. And FWIW, I doubt a $15 charge would have dissuaded that particular crazy from calling about a permission slip. But I think we're talking about legitimate calls from normal people.

I don't know if you've ever noticed, but the DC area is somewhat devoid of "normal" people and rather full of people who think they're so important that their baby's hangnail is a great national medical emergency. The fees make sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have a problem paying a measly $15 to wake up your pediatrician? Yes, that's what they're there for, but they're not there to fill non-urgent prescriptions at 3AM or to deal with a chronic problem in the middle of the night. The fee (nominal in my opinion) is there to weed out the nutjobs who would otherwise call at the drop of a hat.
People don't blink at paying their hairdressers $300, but $15 for your sick child is too much.
This is the reason doctors are leaving practice in droves.

Oh for the love of all that is good and holy. There is so much wrong with this annoying comment I just don't even know where to start.