Policies
Welcome to South East Bay Pediatric Medical Group. We strive to provide our patients with the highest quality medical care. In an effort to foster a collaborative relationship, we ask that you review our office policy so that you understand your responsibilities in this relationship. Our goal is to provide and maintain an excellent physician-patient relationship. Letting you know our office policy in advance allows for an effective flow of communication and enables us to achieve our goal. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask a member of our staff.
South East Bay Pediatric Medical Group (SEBPMG) reserves the right to make changes in this policy as needs
arise. For the most updated policy, please refer to our website.
New Patients
New patients are always welcome! Our goal is to provide you with the best medical care for your infant, child, or teenager on an ongoing basis, whether it be for routine, ill, or urgent care. We provide care for all children from newborns to young adults through age 21. Routine physical exams are scheduled 1-2 weeks in advance depending on availability. For sick or urgent visits, we make every effort to see you the same day you call for an appointment.
Please check with your insurance plan to make sure that the physician you have chosen at South East Bay Pediatrics is part of your insurance network. If you have trouble finding out whether or not we are a part of your plan, please feel free to contact us directly with your insurance information and we may be able to help you.
Appointments
Our regular office hours are from 8:45 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Monday through Friday; from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during the school year; and by appointment only on Saturday, Sunday, and holidays.
Please call ahead for appointments; make it clear if you need a full physical check-up, a sick visit, or a followup; and provide a brief idea of the patient’s problem so that we can schedule the appropriate type of visit. If several family members are ill and need to be seen at the same time, please let us know beforehand as we are not able to accommodate multiple family members in a single appointment. To help the office run on schedule and minimize waiting times for other patients, we greatly appreciate your prompt arrival for your appointment. If you have a change in address or insurance, please arrive 30 minutes early to allow extra time to update this information.
If you are more than 10 minutes late for your scheduled appointment, we may need to reschedule your visit. There is a $50 fee for missed appointments (please see Financial Policy for more information).
During regular office hours, we do not accept “drop-ins.”
Should you come to the office without an appointment during regular office hours, we will do our best to schedule your child with the next available appointment. There can be a 1-2 hour wait before this availability occurs; therefore, we always encourage you to call for an appointment first.
SEBPMG also offers Drop-In Office Hours on weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) between 8:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. for urgent issues only (e.g., fever, vomiting, ear ache, sore throat, etc.) and only for established patients. There are no Drop-In Office Hours on weekends and holidays. You can walk in anytime during these hours for:
- Children older than 3 months
- Symptoms fewer than 3 days
- Routine health problems (such as sore throat, ear ache, cough, fever, rash, or stuffy nose)
- Only for established patients (no new patients)
- No follow-up or well-checks
Because of the extra, more time-consuming care they may require, children younger than 3 months, with symptoms longer than 3 days, and/or with chronic or complex health problems (like asthma, headaches, stomach aches) cannot be seen during Walk-in Hours and must be scheduled for a regular appointment.
No appointment is necessary during Drop-In Office Hours, as long as the above conditions are met. For these office hours, patients will be seen on a first-come, first-served basis, and we encourage you to arrive early for faster service. However, due to limited capacity and depending on the number of patients, you may be asked to schedule an appointment after 9:00 a.m. If the drop-in office hours are filled and we cannot immediately accommodate you, you will be given the first available regular appointment later that morning.
Urgent Issues/Emergencies
It is always best to call the office during office hours if your child becomes ill during the day. Same-day visits will be scheduled for urgent problems, if possible. If your child appears to have an urgent problem, or becomes ill after regular business hours or on a holiday/weekend, please call our main office number. You will be put into contact with a pediatric advice nurse or the on call doctor, who will help to direct your child’s care. Please note that there is a charge of $35.00 for telephone advice provided outside of normal clinic hours.
We have limited office hours on most holidays, weekends, and evenings for urgent issues. On weekends, please try to call as early as possible after 9:00 A.M. as appointment slots fill rapidly. Again, there are no Drop-In Office Hours on weekends and holidays.
Telephone Advice
We are happy to answer any questions and to address any concerns that you may have about your child.
Please call the office during office hours if your child becomes ill during the day, or for non-urgent problems,
ongoing problems, or routine child care issues (e.g. feeding, sleep, and behavior questions). Your doctor or a
staff member will call you back with advice or to schedule an appointment if necessary. There will be a $35.00
charge for all telephone advice provided outside of normal clinic hours.
Prescription Refills
For prescription refills, please contact your pharmacy first and ask them to fax us a refill authorization request. Our fax number is (510) 792-3420. Prescription refill requests are accepted Monday to Friday, and we require a notice of at least two (2) business days. Please plan accordingly.
Please note that controlled substances, such as ADHD medications, are handled differently due to the nature of these medications. Please refer to our policy on controlled substances for specific details.
Caution:
Recently, we have received refill requests from pharmacies that were automatically generated and which were not in response to any patient request or provider order. In order to protect your child’s safety as well as to prevent unnecessary expense, all medication refills should be reviewed by a medical provider to make sure that the medication is still indicated. Therefore, if you are contacted by a pharmacy asking you to pick up a medicine for your child that you were not expecting to be prescribed or refilled, please call our office before filling the medication.
Patient Safety/Supervision
For the safety of all of our patients, you always need to remain with your children during appointments. Excluding specific situations in which confidentiality of a minor patient is medically necessary during evaluations, or in special circumstances with the express permission or SEBPMG staff, all minors (even those who are not patients) must be accompanied by a parent or designated adult over the age of 18, who remains on site at all times.
SEBPMG strives to maintain a safe and child-friendly office, but some of our office equipment and medical equipment may present a risk of injury to unsupervised children. For this reason, children should generally be kept away from and never allowed to play on countertops, office furniture, or other equipment that is not expressly intended for play. In addition, please supervise children at all times, and please comply with any
requests by our staff to keep your child safe while at SEBPMG.
Vaccination Policy
SEBPMG’s policy on vaccination is based on the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for immunizations and the California School and Childcare Immunization Requirements.
Our doctors strongly believe that vaccination is an important part of keeping children as healthy as possible. Under-vaccinated children are at risk for getting vaccine-preventable illness and pose an increased risk even to the children who are vaccinated. If you choose not to vaccinate your child or do not meet the minimum vaccination requirements outlined in SEBPMG’s Vaccination Policy, SEBPMG may elect to discontinue care of your child. Modified vaccination schedules may be considered on a case-by-case basis, but we require that the minimum vaccination requirements be met.
SEBPMG’s Vaccination Policy can be found on our website.
Privacy Policy
Pursuant to federal regulations, it is the policy of SEBPMG that all physicians and staff must preserve the integrity and the confidentiality of protected health information (PHI) pertaining to our patients. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that our practice and its physicians and staff have the necessary medical and PHI to provide the highest quality medical care possible while protecting the confidentiality of the PHI of our patients to the highest degree possible. Patients can provide confidential information to our physicians and staff with full confidence that their protected health information will remain private and confidential. Our Privacy Policy describes how our practice and its physicians and staff protects PHI. Read the complete Privacy Policy.
Red Flag Rules
Per the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), businesses, including physician practices, will be required to implement identity theft prevention measures. At South East Bay Pediatrics these measures will include the following changes which will affect you directly:
- Identity verification will be required at the time patients are checked into the office. Parents and/or legal guardians bringing patients in for an appointment will need to present a photo identification in order to be registered.
- If parents are unable to bring their children in for an appointment and instead designate another adult (over 18 years of age) to serve as the child’s guardian during the appointment, parents must first sign a signed Consent for Treatment by Designated Guardian Form and this form must be presented at the time of the visit. The designated guardian will need to bring appropriate photo identification for verification.
Patients 18 Years and Above
SEBPMG treats patients up to a maximum age of 21 years old. While we understand that continuity of care and having a longstanding relationship with your provider are important aspects of good medical care, SEBPMG providers are specialists in treating pediatric patients.
When a patient turns 18 and becomes a legal adult, privacy and confidentiality rights prevent SEBPMG from sharing any PHI with parents/guardians in virtually all situations, unless the adult patient has previously signed a valid Authorization to Release Protected Healthcare Information naming the individual with which information can be shared, and specifying what information can be shared. Please understand that this applies even if the adult patient is still covered under a family health insurance policy, or is otherwise still a dependent of their parents/guardians. Also, the prohibition on sharing PHI applies to information about all treatment, even treatment that was received when the patient was still a minor (and to which the parent/guardian previously had full access).
We understand that, as forms and other paperwork are becoming increasingly burdensome for families, this change in privacy and confidentiality can present as an unwelcome and frustrating surprise. We encourage families to prepare for this eventuality as patients approach their 18th birthdays, and perhaps use it as an opportunity to discuss the patient’s own desires around their medical care, as well as the other important changes that accompany the onset of adulthood.
Most importantly, we hope that you understand SEBPMG’s need to adhere to state and federal regulations while providing great service to families, and delivering the best medical care possible to our patients.