Oregon Babies
? about pediatrician
So....do I just call and say "Hey, I'm having a baby soon, will your doctor be available for new patients?" I'm really confused on how I set something up for someone who isn't even here yet....and the insurance isn't set up yet obviously 'cause I can't add her til after she's here to my DH's stuff.....I guess the whole concept is just odd to me even though I understand that I need to do it and have one by the time she gets here. Can someone kinda clear it up for me on what they did? And who yours is/will be for suggestions. I know I've gotten a couple suggestions before, but just getting nervous about all this. Thanks ladies!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: ? about pediatrician
Well I have Kaiser, and I tried to call and set up some "meet and greet appts" and they wouldn't let me until the baby is actually here. Then when in the hospital I put in a request for a certain pedi and they just scheduled baby's first 2 appts with random Dr's that were available. I didn't like either of those Dr's, so I called and talked to a nurse friend who works there, and she rec'd my current Pedi.
Dr Leila Mensch at Mt Scott (Kaiser Sunnyside) is fantastic, but probably too far of a drive for you.
Good luck!! It will all work out, don't stress about it!
I started by getting a couple of recommendations from friends with kids. I called the office to set up a new patient consult and met with the doctor for about 30 minutes (though that may vary depending on the practice). We really liked the first doctor that we met with, so we chose him. We filled out all of the patient paperwork (minus name, date of birth and ss#). I also told my OB/GYN who we had chosen so that she could note that in my chart and his office could be notified once she was born. He then came and performed a check-up before we left the hospital.
For the new patient consult prior to her birth, we were not charged for that, so there was no need to deal with insurance. I did make sure he was a preferred provider on our insurance plan though. All of the blanks on the forms were filled out at her first visit at his office. We are insured through DH's employer, and I believe he had 30 or 60 (cannot remember) days to add her to his policy. Check your policy to see what time frame this needs to be done within though.
I am more than happy to answer any other questions you may have. Let me know!
DD #2 - 03.13
You should check with HR, but my insurance company automatically covered the babies for up to 30 days after they were born until I officially registered them.
We interviewed a pediatrician before the babies were born and listed him as their pediatrician on the hospital forms. Once the babies arrived, the hospital contacted him so that he could do their daily checkups. If your pediatrician doesn't have access to the hospital at which you're delivering, one of the hospitalists will do the checkups. Either interviewing a pediatrician or calling to make sure they're accepting new patients is a good next step.
We see Monique Pritchard at Sellwood Medical Clinic. She's OMG amazing! You can check out Urban Mamas for pediatrican advice for different areas of town. The best advice I have for you in choosing a pediatrician is to figure out what's most important to you and DH - weekend hours, supportive of breastfeeding, etc. We're doing a delayed vaccination schedule (totally not extreme, just slower that CDC guidelines) and ended up switching from our first pedi because, while he was initially supportive, he changed his tune after the babies were born.