Ridgefield Pediatric Associates

A Patient-Centered Medical Home is not a building, place or hospital. Rather, it is an approach to providing comprehensive healthcare. As your PCMH, we want to be the first place you think of for all of your child’s medical needs. We believe that the partnership between the patient, the patient’s family, and his/her primary care provider and care team is important. The care team, led by your primary care provider, is committed to providing the best healthcare services possible. Your child’s care team will work with you and any outside providers or facilities to coordinate care across all settings, including behavioral health. The team will offer appropriate medical advice, information, and self-management support based on current recommendations and evidence-based guidelines.

Your Care Team

• Knows the health history of your child
• Listens to your questions, concerns and feelings, as well as those of your child
• Learns about you, your family, your life situation, your health goals and preferences
• Coordinates your child’s care with other healthcare providers
• Creates a trusting, collaborative relationship with you and your child
• Treats your child with compassion and an understanding of his/her strengths
• Develops a care plan with you and your child when needed
• Respects and honors your culture and traditions
• Keeps your child up to date with all vaccines and preventative screenings
• Takes care of short term illnesses, long term chronic diseases, and your child’s overall well being
• Provides behavioral health services when appropriate
• Will notify you about test results in a timely manner
• Gives you information on community resources and other services to support your child’s health
• Helps you make the best decisions for your child’s care

You and Your Child

• Are comfortable sharing concerns and questions with your pediatric team and other health care providers
• Provide a complete and accurate medical and family history to your pediatric team to ensure that the practice has all of the most important and relevant medical information to effectively care for your child
• Routinely communicate your child’s needs and family priorities to your pediatric team
• Remember to tell your pediatric team about any care received between visits (including emergency room visits, urgent care clinics) so we can help coordinate your child’s care
• Ask questions if you do not understand something
• Keep scheduled appointments or call to reschedule as soon as possible
• Bring your insurance card to each appointment
• Pay copays and past-due balances at the time of service

We see you, the parent, as an important member of your child’s health care team. As your child matures, we hope he or she will become an increasingly active team member. Preparing your child to take the lead in caring for his or her own health is, ultimately, our team’s most important task.

We want to make your experience as a new patient a positive one. Here is our checklist for new patients:

• Notify your insurance company of your new provider before the visit, so they can verify we are a participating provider with your plan.
• Fax or send us a copy of your child’s immunization record before the visit.
• Fill out our registration form online and email it back to us. Please make sure your insurance information is included on this form. We will need the subscriber’s name, date of birth, insurance number and group number for electronic billing.
• Bring your child’s insurance card with you to the visit, as well as any records from other providers.
• Introduce yourself to our staff. Our staff members are happy to answer any questions you have about our practice. You can reach our New Patient Coordinator, Susan Ptakowski, at Susan_ptakowski@bchphysicians.org. 

We offer a wide range of services including:

• a variety of lab tests in our office, including CBC testing, strep tests and urine tests
• yearly "developmental screenings"
• consultations about attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• ear piercing - $60

We accept walk-in patients for acute sick visits Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Please do not come to the office without calling first. We schedule appointments Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday by appointment only.

Appointments for sick visits are scheduled during regular office hours. Please try to call as early in the day as possible. We will always see your sick child the same day that you call, if necessary. Although we will make every attempt to schedule your child’s visit with your child’s primary care physician (PCP), schedules do not always permit this.

If you feel your child’s complaints are long-standing, complex health issues that need the services of your PCP, please tell our scheduling staff so we can schedule the right amount of time.

Follow-up appointments

We make every effort to open our schedule six months in advance. When you call for these appointments, we encourage you to see the same provider for continuity of care. Please try to make these appointments in advance so you can get the provider of your choice. Spring and summer are busy months, so we ask that you plan ahead.

Late policy

If a patient shows up 15 minutes late for a well visit and we cannot accommodate them in the schedule they will need to reschedule.

We charge an additional after-hours fee for appointments after 5:00pm, weekend and holiday visits. Most insurance plans pay for this service; however, some plans charge the expense to the patient’s deductible. Please check the policy with your insurance plan.

Our providers are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on an on-call basis. If your child needs care after hours, call our office number and our call center will contact the provider on call to request a call back. You should hear from a provider within 20 minutes. If you don’t, please call back. If your child is having an emergency and you don’t think it can wait, please call 911 or take your child to the nearest emergency room right away.

Insurance companies require us to verify your insurance information before your visit, so please bring your child’s insurance card with you along with your copay.

Please understand that Ridgefield Pediatrics recommends when children should be seen for sick visits, well visits and rechecks. There are times when your insurance company may not pay for these visits. Our responsibility is to provide the best medical care for your child and we don’t base our frequency of care on insurance terms.

Ridgefield Pediatrics follows the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics for age-appropriate screenings for development, autism, teenage concerns, eye exams and other visits. We do not know if your insurance carrier will cover these tests, so please check with your plan if you are concerned about costs. We want to do what is best for your child and believe these screenings are an important part in the care of your child.

Please take a moment to review our financial policies and current fee schedule:

• Ridgefield Pediatrics Financial Policy
• Ridgefield Pediatrics Fee Schedule

• Reasons to Vaccinate: Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and the Vaccines that Prevent Them
• Regular and Alternate Immunization Schedules and Standing Orders for Ridgefield Pediatrics

Forms may be printed and completed prior to your appointment with us.

• Health History Form
• HIPAA Acknowledgement and Consent Form (please read our HIPAA Privacy Policies before signing)
• HIPAA Consent Form (18 years or older)
• Authorization for Release of Patient Information/Records
• Minor Consent

• Registration Form 2017

• International Travel Questionnaire
• Medical and Allergy Information

School forms and Pre-school forms are done free of charge if they are required as a mandatory form for school entrance or grade acceptance. We suggest parents keep the school form on file for the years it is mandated and try to use this form when applying to camp. School forms can be obtained from your child’s school office.

We have a $5.00 charge for camp forms. Camps usually have their own forms, and each camp’s form is different. It takes time for our staff to input the information that is necessary into this form and then each form must be reviewed by a provider and signed off on, assuring that all medical information is updated and accurate. We need approximately two weeks to complete the camp forms. If you need the form within 48 hours, there will be a $20.00 rush fee. We have thousands of camp forms to complete each summer and having you get them to us early in the summer is appreciated.

• Impact Testing Questionnaire