Picking a pediatrician

[smilee1079]

I think I know which pediatrician we want to use. Do I need to call them ahead of time to get set up there or just wait till baby is born? I also want to know if they perform circumcision.

[zeewifeandmama]

We were told just to give the hospital the pedis name and that they would tell them when I delivered and they'd come to round. As for the circ, my OB did it. She's the surgeon after all so I didn't think it was weird.

[Deleted]

We met with our pedi ahead of time just to get a feel for his style. He gave us forms to fill out if we decided to use him...that way we didn't have to worry about them at our first appt. we didn't tell him we picked him or anything official. We just told the hospital his name when I was in labor. He would have performed the circ had we needed one...but he is one of the only pedis in our hospital system that does them. I would call your pedis office and find out what they do.

[Brie]

They asked for the pedi name when we checked into the hospital. They notify the practice that there's a new baby and they come by for the exam the next morning on rounds.

Our pedi did his circ on day 3 right before we checked out.

[mie]

We called to see if the doctor was accepting new patients and also made an appointment to meet with him. The hospital contacted him after I gave birth.

[auntie]

Dec 29, 2012 23:26:33 GMT -5 smilee1079 said:

I think I know which pediatrician we want to use. Do I need to call them ahead of time to get set up there or just wait till baby is born? I also want to know if they perform circumcision.

You should contact the office soon. Make sure the practice is accepting newborns as patients. You'll want to make sure they take your insurance and find out if they have privilidges at the hospital where you deliver. If they don't work out of your hospital, another staff pedi there will do the newborn exams- NBD. Many practices allow prospective families to have a short consult before delivery.

Ordinarily, pedis don't do circs. I posted about that under birth plans.

Other questions I would want to know about-

1. Whether you get a choice of doctor or get assigned whoever is available. DS's pedis allow you to schedule with a specific doc for well checks, but it's luck of the draw for sick visits. Do they use CNP or PAs in leiu of physicians for some stuff?

Do they have docs with different areas of expertise? Some docs that are more interested in certain ages or conditions. Dr. S was great with newborns and skin issues, Br. B is great with older kids and asthma, Dr. K is an expert in adolescents and has a lot of teen gyno work and Dr. M is great around behavioral and developmental stuff.

2. Do you want a pedi who does strictly medical stuff or are you also looking for parental guidence?

3. What's the procedure for calling in questions and concerns? Do they have a call-in hour manned by a doc or RN? Or can you call anytime?

4. What's their after hours protocol? DS's pedis offer sick visits and vaccine clinics on Saturdays and Sundays 9- noon. After 8pm, calls go to a CHOP nurse who will arrange emergency care if needed. This is huge IMHO and why I haven't switched DS to a family practice.

5. One of the most important things to know is how easy it is to get a referal to a specialist if you need one.

[smilee1079]

Thanks everyone. I will call over there this week for more info!