Pediatric Care Center | Mckinney Pediatrics Tx

FAQ

FAQ

We’d love to be your partner in health as you raise your child! Please review our frequently asked questions and
feel free to contact our staff for any other questions via email or phone.

For Conventional Medical Visits:

Scheduling And Visits

The easiest way to schedule a wellness or sick visit for your child is to call our office at 469-290-3208. You may also access the secure Patient Portal and send a request as well.

For acute care, call the office to speak with triage staff, who will listen to your concerns and schedule an appointment for you. Sometimes an appointment may not be needed, and staff will advise you regarding your issue, or check with the provider and call you back.

If we are on with another caller, you will be asked to leave a message and you will receive a return call.

For well visits, call our routine appointment line. We recommend that children under 2 years of age come at the periodic wellness visits set by the AAP, and for children over 3 years of age to come annually for their wellness checkups.  Well visits may be scheduled up to 1 year in advance. You will receive an automated reminder 1 month ahead of when your child is due for their next well visit. 

For emergencies, please call 911. 

Virtual/Telehealth

For your convenience and safety, we are now offering virtual medicine or telehealth visits. This service is only available to our existing patients, as new patients must be seen in person for their initial visit circumstances.

Telehealth, or a “virtual visit”, is a consultation with one of our physicians via video conferencing. This option is convenient, allows your child to be seen without coming into our office, and provides care by your regular pediatric provider (who knows your child’s full history, and has access to their medical chart.) ​

Virtual visits are not for all conditions. We can provide care for most of the following acute care concerns:

  • Rash
  • Pinkeye without fever in children over 2
  • Colds
  • Some fevers
  • Allergies
  • Mild croup
  • Constipation, diarrhea or vomiting Minor traumas (lacerations, abrasions, bites)

We also provide Telehealth appointments for behavioral and mental health concerns- both initial evaluations and follow up care as appropriate.

As we cannot listen to your child’s lungs or see their ears, we cannot evaluate ear pain, significant coughs, or assess concerns that require laboratory evaluation such as urinary tract infections and strep or flu testing.

It is also possible that after video-conferencing, we may ask you to bring your child in for an in person sick visit if we need to perform a physical exam that reaches beyond the abilities of video conferencing.

Appointments for telehealth visits can be made by calling our office. 

As of April 2021, many insurers no longer cover telehealth appointments. Please contact your insurer to confirm coverage prior to booking an appointment.

Office Hours

We make every effort to meet the needs of our patients, offering both routine well visits and sick visit appointments.

Although we will try to accommodate you if come for a walk-in visit, we highly recommend you call ahead to schedule an appointment in order to ensure that your child receives the most efficient care.  

Please familiarize yourself with our office hours to see if they work for your family.

Timeliness and Missed Appointments

Our practice makes every effort to run on time with appointments, as we believe everyone’s time is equally valuable.

As a courtesy, we will remind you of your upcoming appointments via phone/text message/email.

We ask that you arrive 5 minutes before your scheduled appointment time. We understand sometimes things happen beyond your control that may cause you to be late. However, we reserve the right to ask you to reschedule if you arrive late for your appointment.

Missed Appointments: Broken appointments represent a cost to us, to you, and to other patients who could have been seen in the time set aside for you. We reserve the right to charge a fee for canceled or missed appointments. We request 24 hours notice for cancellation of appointments.

A fee will be charged for a second missed appointment. The third consecutive missed appointment will result in discharge from the practice.

For new patients, a fee may be charged if the FIRST appointment is missed.

After Hours

When our office is closed overnight and you have an urgent issue that cannot wait until morning, you can call our main number and the nurse on-call will give you advice regarding your child's problem.

You may wish to check the "Is Your Child Sick?®" section of our website for helpful information before using this service. 

Technology/How to Contact Us

Our practice prides itself on efficiency through use of technology. You will be encouraged to consult our website, register for and use our patient portal, and effectively use automated reminders for appointments and for routine care. However, if a question or request is deemed to be too complicated, we will ask the patient to schedule a virtual or in person visit, in order to better serve your needs.

Antibiotics

We work hard to not overuse antibiotics. We educate families on appropriate use of antibiotics, but follow evidence-based guidelines and don’t automatically treat ear pain or a runny nose with antibiotics.

We do not routinely prescribe antibiotics over the phone as we do not believe that is good medicine. We will prescribe an antibiotic when we believe it is an appropriate treatment.

Forms Request

You may submit a school form to be completed by fax, email or patient portal. Please allow 3-5 business days for forms to be reviewed, signed and upload to the patient portal.

Medical Records

In keeping with this practice’s duty to protect patient confidentiality, we will not release confidential medical information without strict adherence to state and federal laws, rules, and regulations.

This facility recognizes the right of patients to obtain copies of their medical records or have them forwarded to another designee such as a relative, physician, or attorney. A parent or legal guardian will be required to sign the Medical Release Form when the patient is a minor. No other persons will be permitted to sign a record release in lieu of patients without a court order or similar legal directive.

The patient, or other person authorized to consent, has the right to withdraw consent to the release of any information. Such withdrawal must be in writing. No information should be released after consent has been withdrawn.

A copy of a written Medical Records Release Form must be retained and placed in the patient’s permanent medical record.

If a personal copay of medical records are requested, minimum fee of $25 may be charged for copying, mailing, or otherwise complying with any approved request for the release of medical records. There is no charge for medical records released directly to another provider's office.

Billing And Insurance

We accept most insurance plans at this time. We fulfill most insurance companies’ requirements for an in-network primary care physician practice.

Insurance copays are expected to be paid at the time of service. If you are unable to comply, you must speak with our staff prior to the visit to set up a payment plan.

Certain insurance plans may not cover all labs and procedures performed at Well Rooted Pediatrics. In those cases, you will be billed for the balance.

We will submit your medical claim on your behalf to your insurance, so it is vitally important to give us accurate information upfront. We can assist you with claim resolution in certain cases.

A detailed billing summary will be provided upon request. Statements for balances are sent out monthly and due upon receipt.

For Conventional Medical Visits

Functional Medicine Visits:

What does a Functional Medicine Appointment look like?

We are happy that you are interested in exploring what Functional Medicine can do for your child! During your initial Functional Medicine consultation, Well Rooted providers will carefully review and discuss your child’s medical history as well as perform any needed physical exams. If you are a good candidate for our services, we will discuss the functional medicine options, lab tests, and schedule your follow-up appointments.

We are can only accept patients that live in the State of Texas or if the appointment is in person.

Does my child need a diagnosis for treatment?

No. Whether your child has a new diagnosis, long-time diagnosis, no diagnosis or simply is coming for preventative wellness, we treat children up to 21 years of age in various stages of health and recovery.

What type of appointments do you accept?

Currently, I can only see patients in the State of Texas and we accept patients mostly by telemedicine. If you reside in Texas, you can be seen in person or telehealth. If you live outside of the State, you must be seen in person.  In person appointments are available on a more limited basis.

What are the restrictions on Virtual visits?

If you are an out-of-state resident, your initial visit at Well Rooted Pediatrics must be in person and is treated as a consultation. Subsequent visits can be conducted virtually, for an additional consultation, if needed. Otherwise, out of state patients must follow up with their primary care physicians. The State Nursing Board requires nurse practitioners to be licensed in the patient’s home state (Texas only).

For in-state residents of Texas, the initial visit for Functional Medicine services will be in person, and follow up visits will vary between virtual and in person visits, as needed.

Billing and Insurance

The cost of Functional Medicine services provided by Well Rooted Pediatrics will be billed to your insurance initially. If you do not have insurance, you will be considered a cash pay patient. Payment is due at the time of service.

Money orders, and major credit cards are accepted, as well as Health Spending Account cards.

Outside services like advanced specialty testing and prescription medications may be covered by your health insurance depending on their rules and formularies. If they are not covered, you will pay those fees directly to the lab , pharmacy or dispensary.

Why are there additional costs for functional medicine services?

Although we make every effort to bill your insurance for our services, some of the functional medicine services are not covered by your insurance plan. That is because insurance companies would rather pay for multiple short visits that focus on pharmaceutical interventions than long, personalized visits that focus on root cause resolution of disease. By working directly for you and not the insurance company, we are able to give you the personalized care needed to move towards optimal health.

Advanced Lab Tests

Most lab tests ordered by a Well Rooted Pediatrics will be billed directly to your insurance by the lab. Some lab companies require an upfront amount which is collected at the time the lab is turned in.

Some lab tests we offer as part of our functional medicine testing program may not be covered by insurance and in these cases, you will be charged a fee for the advanced test by that lab company.
The specific tests ordered will be personalized to your child based on the initial Functional Medicine evaluation with a Well Rooted Pediatrics, and may include blood, saliva, urine or stool testing.

We will make every effort to make you fully aware of any additional lab fees that may be incurred and to give you the opportunity to choose which lab tests you feel comfortable paying for. You are under no obligation to purchase any specialty testing.

Should any lab results indicate you may need further testing you will be directed to continue your care with our providers or a relevant specialist.  If a lab test kit is mailed to you by Well Rooted Pediatrics, you will be charged the day the kit is mailed.

If your insurance company only pays for blood work done at a particular lab facility like LabCorp, or Quest, you must inform us of this in advance of having blood work done. Most insurance plans cover labs done by major national labs – including Rupa Health labs and Direct Labs, which are lab companies often used by Well Rooted Pediatrics because of their favorable pricing policies for patients.

What if I have already done lab work?

Great! We would like to have a copy of any lab work completed within the last 12 months.

Cancellations

48 hour notice is required for cancellation; we must charge cancellations received less than 48 hours prior to the appointment time. A credit card or HSA will be required to be on file prior to scheduling your appointment

Big News: We’re Relocating to a New Home in Frisco!

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