Welcome to Child Health Associates, P.C.

Child Health Associates, P.C., was established in 1987 as a pediatric group practice. We are proud to provide preventative well care, acute care and supportive services for children and their families. Our board-certified pediatricians are dedicated to enhancing the growth, development and well-being of all children, from birth through adolescence. We stress the importance of regular health maintenance exams to monitor children's overall health and development. At Child Health Associates, P.C., we strive to provide quality healthcare for your child in partnership with you and your family.

**PLEASE READ CAREFULLY AS OUR OFFICE POLICIES ARE CHANGING IN LIGHT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC**

*Our walk-in clinic has been suspended until further notice. Please DO NOT walk into the office for any reason unless you have an appointment. *

Whenever possible, we ask that only 1 well adult accompany a child to their visit. If possible, please do not bring other children to the office if they do not have an appointment.

Updated Tuesday 11/19/2020

PHONE TRIAGE AND SCREENING

To minimize the spread of COVID-19 and to implement the "social distancing" recommended by the Department of Public Health, we will continue to thoroughly screen patients for exposure to COVID-19 over the phone.  We are experiencing higher call volumes and are working hard to take care of everyone’s needs.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.  Rest assured, your health and safety are our number one priority.

SEPARATION OF SICK AND WELL VISITS

• We will be doing well child visits all day keeping them in a separate section from our sick visits. 
• Again, please DO NOT walk into the office unless you have an appointment.
• We understand that occasionally children that are here for well visits are also sick. Whenever possible, we will limit contact between sick and well children by getting children into exam rooms as quickly as possible.

CHA ADOLESCENT CONFIDENTIALITY POLICY

During our adolescent well visits starting at age 13, we will have part of each visit alone with our teens. We see this as an opportunity for teens to become more comfortable speaking alone with an adult healthcare provider, something that they will need to do independently once they are adults themselves. 
When teens share something with us that they ask to remain confidential, we will honor that request, unless they plan to harm themselves or someone else. Although we always encourage adolescent patients to be open and honest with their parents, we also want them to have a “safe” place to go with any health concern, and sometimes we can be that safe place. We hope that parents will trust us to take the best care of our teens in these situations.

We are also happy to speak privately with parents during the visit, at their request, about any concerns that they may want to share with us about their teen. We will maintain our patient’s confidentiality in these discussions, however.

This policy is consistent with Massachusetts state law surrounding adolescent confidentiality, as well as the policies of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.  We consider it a privilege to take care of our teens, and we look forward to working together, with this policy in mind, as our teens grow up! 

VIRTUAL WAITING ROOM

We will be employing a "virtual waiting room." For all appointments please arrive to the office a few minutes before your appointment time and wait in your car. At the time of your appointment, one of our receptionists will call you and register your child. You will then be contacted by the nurse/ma and asked to come into the office. Vital signs will be taken and then you will be put directly into an exam room.

PAPERWORK

Any paperwork that needs to be dropped off or picked up will need to be picked up by a single healthy adult before 3:30 PM. 

TESTING

We can test for COVID-19 at Child Health. The test is sent to Quest for processing. Currently, results from Quest are taking 7-10 days on average. 

MASKS

Masks are required for everyone coming into the office over the age of 2.

MASK EXEMPTIONS

A growing body of evidence suggests that universal mask-wearing, when combined with other measures such as physical distancing and proper hand hygiene, can minimize the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
There are very few medical problems that would prevent a child from wearing a mask, and masks do not pose a safety risk when worn properly.

For these reasons, and in agreement with local health officials and other area practices, Child Health Associates will not be providing medical exemptions for masks.

We recognize that children do not always want to wear masks, and that there are some medical problems (i.e. autism spectrum disorder, developmental delays, sensory issues) that will certainly make it more difficult to maintain proper mask-wearing. However, for the safety of your child and everyone your child interacts with, it is important that we work with mask-resistant children to familiarize them with mask-wearing. This can be accomplished by practicing mask-wearing for short periods of time daily, and gradually increasing the time spent mask-wearing. Parent modeling of mask-wearing is also important: if parents normalize mask-wearing, children will be more agreeable to mask-wearing.

We certainly empathize that wearing a mask for long periods of time is not the most comfortable way to go about your day, but we do so knowing that it is one of several measures we must take to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

HELPFUL WEBSITE LINKS

• www.Childrenshospital.org
• For general information:     www.CDC.gov/coronavirus
• Information for Parents:     www.healthychildren.org
• Talking to Children about COVID-19:     www.nasponline.org - COVID-19 Resources

VIRTUAL VISITS (Telehealth)
To best serve our families during the COVID-19 outbreak, Child Health Associates is now temporarily offering Virtual Visits.  We are still offering well and sick visits in our office, as outlined in our previous communication, and taking steps to contain and limit the spread of COVID-19.  Though Virtual Visits cannot fully replicate an in-person visit, they are another way to enable us to evaluate patients and support families during this challenging time.

Procedure for a Virtual Visit:

1. Call the office and a provider will determine if a Virtual Visit is appropriate for your child.
2. We will set up a time for the Virtual Visit and register your child over the phone.
3. Before your visit:
   -  Try to be ready 5 minutes before your appointment.
   -  Set up your device or computer in a quiet, well-lit room if possible.
   -  If appropriate, dress your child in easy-to-remove clothing (to check breathing or a rash).
   -  If they have a fever, take your child's temperature.
   -  If possible, weigh your child (for infants, a parent can stand on a scale with and without     your child and subtract the difference).
4. At the time of the Virtual Visit, you will receive an invitation via text.
   -  Virtual Visits will be conducted through the DOXY.ME meeting application. You do not    need to download an application; the visit will take place over a secure website.
   -  Camera and microphone access will be required.
   -  If your provider is not online at your scheduled time, please wait and they will join you shortly.
5. Your Provider may determine that your child needs to be seen in the office or at another facility.
6. Please note: because these are considered medical visits with a medical provider, your Insurance will be billed for the service.
   -  If a Virtual Visit turns into an office visit, then you will only be billed once for both services.
   -  If multiple children are evaluated during the Virtual Visit, then each child's visit will be billed separately.
7. Additional Virtual Visit tips:
   -  Have a good internet connection.
   -  If your internet is running slow, please restart your device or computer prior to the appointment to ensure peak performance.
   -  Call our office for any issues at 508-832-9691