How do I pick a pediatrician?

ladipale · November 2010

I mean, do I need to call the office and tell them I pick them?

Had my OB appt today and they said if i don't pick one they just assign whoever is on call that day, but then I need an appt with one for a few days later, right?

Sac ladies - can you recommend yours? I know a lot of you rave about a certain practice, and since I loved the OB rec you gave, figured I might as well use your pedis too.

TIA!

tiki_t · November 2010

You want to schedule some interviews to feel out the pediatrician and pediatric group as well as the front office staff. Usually they don't charge for that. Most pediatricians will schedule some time at the end of the day for interviews.

Here's what you need to look into:

1. The front office staff. Are they friendly and professional? Do they swear in front of kids (yes we experienced this!). Are they easy to make an appointment with?

2. Does the front office and pediatrician get on your nerves or do they keep you calm? Being pregnant, you may or may not be agitated but I can assure you that when you have a newborn, you will be sleep deprived and possibly hormonal. You want to deal with people that you actually like or are less likely to get on your nerves.

3. Ask about their after hours network. I find that kids like to get sick and have freaky things happen in the middle of the night and not everything warrants a trip to the ER. You need to find out how they deal with after hour issues. If they are networked in with other doctors, subscribe to a service, etc.

4. Find out which hospitals that they are affiliated with. If you have an emergency, where would you take your kid? Even if your pediatrician does not treat your child at that hospital, you want them to have easy access to pick up the phone and call that doctor or access the records.

5. Ask who sees your child if your doctor is not available. If they have no back up, you'll be left hanging. Make sure that they have some sort of alternative.

6. (Optional) Find out if they have a sick kid/well kid waiting area of a system where you don't have to put your kid in a room full of extremely sick kids for a well kid check up.

7. Look inside an exam room. Is it clean?

8. How long has the doctor been practicing?

9. If you are having a boy, if you are thinking about doing a circumcision, ask if the doctor is experienced with doing them.

10. Pick a controversial topic to test the doctor's attitude about how much they let the parents participate in driving the medical treatment of the child. A good one is delayed shot schedules. Ask how they feel about it. Even if you are not into doing this, it is a hot button. If the doctor blows up and goes off on it, chances are, they will impose their views about everything on you. However, if they discuss the pros and cons that means that they are more likely to involve you in the decisions of how to treat your child (if you want to be involved).

I'm probably forgetting something else.... but you get the point of why you need to do interviews before even giving birth.

lunabeam · November 2010

I got recs from my OB and a few friends, and then I called the offices and asked if I could schedule a "meet and greet" appointment. Everyone I called was willing to do this. So, we met with a couple of them, and then decided who we liked best. Then I just called the office and told them that we'd like to select Dr. X. It was pretty simple.

For us, DS was visited by whomever was on-call while we were still in the hospital (someone else from the practice we selected, but not the doc we selected), but then we had appointments with our doc in the days after leaving the hospital.

Roni.Cedra · November 2010

I will be going against the grain... we will be using my doctor, who is a family doctor. My DH and I adore her, and were elated to find out that she works with children.

p2p91507 · November 2010

I asked my OB for recs, and this was his peditrician for his kids. So I fiqured if it was good enough for my OB, then it would be good enough for me, so I never called/looked around for other places.

Pediatric Medical Associates www.kiddoc.com We saw 4 of their doctors in the hosiptal (had a c-section so there for a longer time). I've liked every doctor that I have seen so far. I didn't like one of the NP that gave Zach one of his shots, but other than that I have liked everyone. I just felt she rushed me out of there, when I had questions. But next time I will make sure we don't have an appt w/ here.

I was told that they do a tour once a month for new parents at night. I also like that they have a sick "waiting room" and a well "waiting room". Though they are in the same lobby area, they are on opposite sides of the room.

HTH, and feel free to ask anymore questions.

ladipale · November 2010

p2p91507:
I asked my OB for recs, and this was his peditrician for his kids. So I fiqured if it was good enough for my OB, then it would be good enough for me, so I never called/looked around for other places.
Pediatric Medical Associates www.kiddoc.com We saw 4 of their doctors in the hosiptal (had a c-section so there for a longer time). I've liked every doctor that I have seen so far. I didn't like one of the NP that gave Zach one of his shots, but other than that I have liked everyone. I just felt she rushed me out of there, when I had questions. But next time I will make sure we don't have an appt w/ here.
I was told that they do a tour once a month for new parents at night. I also like that they have a sick "waiting room" and a well "waiting room". Though they are in the same lobby area, they are on opposite sides of the room.
HTH, and feel free to ask anymore questions.

I know Dr. Gould (I used to tutor his daughter) so its nice to hear you like his practice. i'll look into them.

AnyaBella · November 2010

I went off of local mom recommendations and interviewed two pediatricians at different practices. I used this set of questions to help guide my decision. After the interviews I didn't have to tell the doctor I had chosen them I just had to inform the hospital during my pre-registration interview who my pediatrician was.

p2p91507 · November 2010

ladipale:
p2p91507:

I know Dr. Gould (I used to tutor his daughter) so its nice to hear you like his practice. i'll look into them.

He's the only one I haven't seen...but he was the doctor that my OB said to see.

Mystery2B · November 2010

Ditto on what previous posters said - I asked around, and had DH ask around at work (since he's an MD) to see who people used...also I wanted someone relatively close by (not a 30 minute drive across town) since A) you can be going with some frequency for weight checks etc and for the possibility that I wouldn't have to drive 30 minutes with a sick and crying baby.

In AZ there were 4 primary practices that people used...so I talked to them (didn't go for visits due to waiting too long/too busy) and got a feel for the groups and how they dealt with things. And then ultimately it was whose name I remembered on the day of (the honest truth).

Here in Sac I asked here, asked at a couple moms groups, had DH ask again at work...some of the practices/docs I was then interested in weren't taking new patients (only taking newborns which I actually view as a good sign that their practice is full and people aren't leaving - my ped in Tucson was like this). And I figured I'd try the doc that all his co-workers use since it turned out well in AZ...they seem ok although I didn't ask as many questions as I did the first time around...more willing to switch now I guess.

PS - I'm sending you a response PM

LV2006 · November 2010

We love Sutter Pediatric and have seen most of the docs there. Dr. MacNeil and Dr Ward are my favorites (McNeil is our primary and she and Dr Ward are a team - I think they job share). Many other Sacties use that office.

Mystery2B · November 2010

LV2006:
We love Sutter Pediatric and have seen most of the docs there. Dr. MacNeil and Dr Ward are my favorites (McNeil is our primary and she and Dr Ward are a team - I think they job share). Many other Sacties use that office.

FYI - Dr. Ward is only taking newborns under 2 weeks old, so if you want to consider them you have to pick them asap/cant's switch to them later.

SweetieP · November 2010

I never 'interviewed' my pedi. I called the office and asked a few questions...I talked to my neighbors/friends with kids....and then made my decision. I met him the morning my son was born. I figured if I didn't like him, I could always change. We clicked and that was that.

(oh - and he's in Roseville at Sutter Pediatrics: 3100 Douglas: Dr. Grattendick)

hersheykiss · November 2010

I got recs from my OB, and called them to schedule a meet and greet session. I made up a list of questions and we just talked. I didn't like any of them and SweetieP recommended Dr. G who we ended up choosing. I am forever grateful to D.

When you get to the hospital to deliver if you have a pedi decided, then you just tell the nurse during the questioning period. The hospital will then call the doc and let them know they have a patient to see. Dr. G came the next morning to check out Emmalee. It was his day off and his birthday to boot, but he came anyway. I knew I had picked a good doctor.

SarahCee · November 2010

We see Dr. Budd or Dr. Gould at this practice https://www.kiddoc.com/. My SIL (who had a very sick child) reccomended the practice. We've had good luck there so far, not crazy about Gould, but Budd is wonderful and doesn't make you feel like a crazy first time parent. There were some insurance issues and they couldn't be his pedi right away since I delivered at UCD, so we ended up scrambling and made an appointment with someone one of the nurses reccomended. We ended up not liking her, but we only had to see her for his first appointment and then switched over to Gould. I know that Gould does go to Sutter (which I think that you are delivering at) and their office is just off of Fair Oaks and University (just as you come over the H Street bridge). gl! i'm happy to answer any questions if you have them :-)

rockylover · November 2010

We also go to Pediatric Medical Associates and picked them after the evening meet and greet. DS has seen Dr. Niazi and Dr. Budd and both of them were great! We have called a few times after hours and have always had good experiences with them calling back. The advice nurse sounds a little rough sometimes but I literally called 5 times one day and every call she helped me out and by the end of that day she was being really great and never made me feel stupid and looking back I was asking some silly questions. Oh and I love the Sick Room/ Healthy room set up for the waiting rooms. GL!

starlily313 · November 2010

I found our planned pediatrician in my pilates class. Seriously. I've known him well over a year, he has decades of experience & the instructor we have takes all three of her kids to him. I always knew he was a pedi, I just didn't know until recently that he works at the hospital location I go to. When I did I asked if he'll be taking new patients in Feb/March & he didn't hesitate a moment before saying he'd take on LO. He's also friends with my OB. It's one of those things that just fell into place.

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