Please take a moment to read our most commonly asked questions. We're always available to answer your questions and encourage you to contact our office if you have a question that is not answered below.
Q: What is a Pediatrician?
A: A pediatrician is a medical doctor who specializes in the care of children. Pediatricians have undergone special training in the health and illnesses of infants, teens and young adults, and the majority of pediatricians are certified by the American Board of Pediatrics after passing a comprehensive exam.
Pediatricians provide preventive health care for children in good health and medical care for children who are acutely or chronically ill. They also provide parents with support and advice with issues such as growth and development, safety and prevention, nutrition, and emotional wellness to foster a lifetime of good health.
Q: Can I meet Dr. Blanchard or Dr. Wilson before signing up?
A: Absolutely! The whole goal behind this small home-based practice is for us to feel like family or at least a close family friend! When you call the practice phone number, one of the doctors will answer or call you back. We want you to text us or email us questions, as you would do if your friend was a pediatrician and you wanted to run something by her. Given this model, it is very important that we all go into this relationship feeling as though it is a good fit, thus everyone is asked to meet at least one of us before fully enrolling.
Q: How often should my child see the pediatrician?
A: Your child should not only see the pediatrician for an illness. It is also important to schedule well-child-care exams regularly, beginning in infancy. Also called well-care visits or checkups, these routine examinations provide the best opportunity for the doctor to observe the progress of your child's physical and mental growth and development; to counsel and teach parents; to detect problems through screening tests; to provide immunizations, and to get to know one another. Well-care visits are strongly recommended as part of preventive pediatric care.
Well-child visits are also a good time for parents to raise questions and concerns about a child's development, behavior, nutrition, safety and overall well-being.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends this schedule for routine well-care visits:
- 3 to 5 days
- 1 month
- 2 months
- 4 months
- 6 months
- 9 months
- 12 months
- 15 months
- 18 months
- 24 months
- 30 months
- 3 years
- 4 years
- And once every year thereafter for an annual health supervision visit that includes a physical exam as well as a developmental, behavioral, and learning assessment.
Q: What is the best way to schedule an appointment?
A: Call or text for sick visits! For well child visits, we will get in touch with families who are enrolled in the primary care arm to schedule your families check ups. Whenever possible, we will try to coordinate sibling check ups so that we can come to your house and see all the kids in one visit. If there is a more chronic issue that we need to see your child for, feel free to email us as well.
Q: Is your practice accepting new patients?
A: We are currently accepting patients. However, we keep our total patient panel small so that we can devote our full attention to our existing members. Please call for updated availability.
Q: Why does my child need to receive vaccinations?
A: Immunizations are a series of shots given to children at different ages to help ward off serious, and potentially fatal, childhood diseases. Making sure your child receives immunizations when scheduled is the best way to help protect your child from potentially fatal diseases. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, vaccinations have reduced the number of infections from vaccine-preventable diseases by more than 90%. If you're apprehensive about vaccinations, please do not hesitate to contact our office.
Q: Do you accept insurance?
A: No. We, at Personal Pediatrics, do not bill your insurance carrier. Your yearly membership fee will cover most of the care you receive (see services section). We can provide documentation for you to submit to your insurance company for possible reimbursement but each insurance plan is different and you will have to check with them about what can and cannot be reimbursed. Any auxiliary expenses such as external lab work or imaging that we order can be billed through your insurance.
Q: Do I still need insurance?
A: Yes. you will still need an insurance plan to cover any emergency room or hospital visits, specialist visits, and labs or imaging as noted above. Given that we are not operating through insurance, anyone that is enrolling in the primary care arm will need to be on a PPO plan so that imaging and labs as well as external specialists can bill directly to your insurance.
Q: What hospital do you refer to?
A: Because we are not insurance based, you can go to whichever specialist provides the best care for your child. Both Dr. Blanchard and Dr. Wilson have been practicing primary care on the South Shore of Massachusetts for a long time and have extensive working knowledge of the best pediatric specialists in the area.