Important information about Coronavirus

COVID-19 (coronavirus) Updates– 3/18/20

Information on the spread of the novel coronavirus is changing daily and may be causing you confusion or concern for your family. Please be assured that Child and Adolescent Health Specialists is closely monitoring the situation and is getting very frequent updates through our Affiliated Pediatrics and Mass General Hospital Brigham/Partners network , Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO) , other physician and health organizations as well as other physicians around the globe.  

LIMITING EXPOSURE TO THE VIRUS

We have implemented many measures at Child and Adolescent Health to try and help limit spread of the virus and continue to review these daily.   The most important mode of transition remains direct close contact with an individual who is contagious with the virus.  As a medical facility, we continue to assess the potential for this to occur in our office, and we are asking for your understanding as we have implemented the following procedures to reduce the risk of exposing our patients or our staff to the disease:

• All appointment requests regarding any respiratory symptoms (possible COVID-19 symptoms) will need to be reviewed and approved by a nurse or MD in our office before an appointment can be scheduled. Our staff will be taking pertinent information, and then discussing with the clinical team in our office to determine what should happen next. Someone from our office will call you back with a plan. This will take extra time, and we ask for your patience given the increased number of phone calls we are receiving.
• We are conducting triage and telehealth visits, by telephone and video when this is appropriate, in place of in person visits. You can set up a login for videocalls thru your computer by clicking this link Kidsdoc Telehealth. Downloadable instructions to set up kidsDOC for computer or iphone app. Copayments and deductibles may apply as they would for in office visits for follow up, consultations, therapy and sick unrelated to Covid-19. 
• Because you can have mild symptoms or even none, and have the Coronavirus, everyone should remain at home and avoid public spaces, avoid even small family gatherings and play dates, and stay away from anyone who has high risk for complications, to reduce spreading the illness to others. 
• We request that parents or caregivers who have fever, nasal congestion, sneezing or cough please call us in advance of your child’s appointment so we can assess whether you should be coming to our office as well. If there is no alternate person to bring your child, we will discuss whether rescheduling the appointment would be more appropriate.
• We are practicing social distancing at our office, asking you to maintain 6 feet distance between other patients and our staff to the extent this is possible.
• We are reorganizing our scheduling to reduce contact between patients.
• Any patient/parent or caregiver may be asked to wear a mask once you arrive in the office and while you are in the building.
• We may be contacting you about rescheduling less urgent visits to a future date while we are managing the coronavirus concerns. We appreciate your understanding as this may be inconvenient, but we want to assure you that minimizing risk to your child is our main concern.

If you have opened a Patient Gateway account, please make sure it is active to receive emails sent from our office.

• If you are not on Patient Gateway, please ask us about signing up when you are in contact with our office. This will allow us to send you forms to complete for virtual appointments, you can send messages to your doctor, request refills for medications. Once set up this can be done thru a simple phone app.
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• Other websites/hotlines
  • Centers for Disease Control (CDC) https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/index.html
  • Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/frequently-asked-questions-about-covid-19
  • Massachusetts Coronavirus information 211
  • American Academy of Pediatrics: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/chest-lungs/Pages/2019-Novel-Coronavirus.aspx
• MassGeneral/Brigham/Partners coronavirus hotline: phone 617-724-7000 (expect wait times)

Our ability to remain open and available to care for our patients during this pandemic is our foremost concern, and we are asking everyone to help reduce risk to other patients and our staff.   Please follow all the public health recommendations for “social distancing and good handwashing (through and often for 20 seconds) to reduce spread of this disease. 

It will take the entire country’s effort to reduce spreading this illness, and to protect the most vulnerable individuals among us - older adults, or medically vulnerable individuals among us.

 O U R   S E R V I C E S

At Child and Adolescent Health Specialists, PC, our physicians believe that the best health-care for children is provided in partnership between families and health professionals. Our team approach to holistic healthcare includes patient and family, your chosen Primary care Physician who will oversee your children's health needs, our Developmental-Behavioral Specialists and Clinicians when needed, and our clinical and administrative support staff, to assure all your children's needs are met in a coordinated manner, on an ongoing basis. 

We value your insight and perspective as a parent. Therefore, we are committed to fostering open communication and mutual respect. We are dedicated to exceeding your expectations.

We are proud to have achieved PCMH and Mass Behavioral Integration Distinction in 2018, to serve the needs of our patients throughout the South Shore in Cohasset, Hull, Hingham, Weymouth and Quincy, to Scituate, Norwell, Duxbury, Kingston, Marshfield, Pembroke up to the Bridgewaters. Our specialists see patients from local area towns, as well as Cape Cod, Plymouth, Carver, up to Mansfield, and Brockton area towns. 

Child and Adolescent Health Specialists is proud to be affiliated with Affiliated Pediatric Practices. APP is a group of pediatricians who came together to share best practices and expertise to provide the highest quality care to children. This affiliation also allows us inside access to Specialists in the MGHfC and Partners Healthcare Network. We look forward to continuing to grow and improve with their expertise and our partnerships with our families. 

• General Pediatrics and Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics
• An inviting, child-friendly, state-of-the-art office environment
• Convenient office hours Mon-Sat with early morning, evening and every Saturday appointments
• Access to one of our pediatricians available 24/7 - Call our main number 781-383-8380 after hours or Holidays to reach the physician on call
• Specialization in developmental, behavioral and mood disorders, and learning problems
• CIC Trained Healthcare Providers in Concussion Management and ImPACT testing
• On-site behavioral health clinicians and speech therapists
• Referral and Cordination of patient healthcare needs by your Primary Care Physician, with appropriate area specialists
• X-ray, lab, children's dentistry, adult medical and dental offices, and physical therapy in our building

Health Care Billing 101
Each year brings about changes in insurance coverage. Please review our Healthcare Billing 101 to understand how insurance billing works in our office. We want to make sure you aren't surprised to discover that you have to pay for your appointment because your insurance is not correct.

Please click on this link to read about our Privacy Practices

Please click on this link to read our Policy for Divorced Parents/Custody Issues.