Pediatrician Meet & Greet

cmurphy09 · February 2012

Hi Ladies, I won't technically be in my 3rd Tri until 2 weeks from now. But have a few questions for those of you who went through your Pediatric Meet&Greet since I'm getting ready to.

What do/have you look(ed) for in a Pediatrician & what questions do/have you ask(ed)?

Any suggestions, feel free!

Stef33 · February 2012

I didn't do a meet and greet but I got a TON of referrals. I did a lot of internet research and started asking women I knew, who they brought their children too. Quite a few of them said they go to the pediatrician I chose and they love them. Even my doctor brings her children there. I called to do a meet and greet with a pediatrician but the receptionist there said that they really only get 2 or 3 every few months and it isn't very common. So whether or not you do a meet and greet I'd also recommend asking other women about who they use. GL!

MrsLindinger0905 · February 2012

We went in with a list of questions, but didn't have to ask a single one! The doctors short explanation of how the practice works was very thorough, and that was the first sign that I liked her!

Questions that we took in to ask were: Who would take care of LO if you are out of the office, how far in advance do you schedule well baby appts, how soon would you get LO in for a sick appt, who answers the phone during the day, how soon are voicemails/emails returned, is there an 'on-call' phone line after hours and how long would it take to get a response, do either of the doctors go to a specific hospital, what types of major equipment (x-rays, etc) do they have in office... just to name a few

Overall the doctor and her nurse were very friendly and very bubbly which I loved. I feel like if she makes me feel at east she'll make LO feel at ease too

ktpaladino · February 2012

I would ask what vaccination schedule they follow if that is of any importance to you!

llc730 · February 2012

There are three types of questions that I asked:

1. The straight forward stuff like Do they have any evening hours? What kind of services available after hours, etc.

2. Things that involve your beliefs. Questions about vaccinations, antibiotics, breastfeeding etc. I was very commited to EBF so I didn't want a pedi whose first suggestion for any problems would be to supplement.

3. Something about them. How long have they been practicing? Do they have and areas of specialty or topics of research that interest them? I asked these questions because I wanted a pedi who was honestly invested in their profession and not someone who was just "punching a clock". I knew this was the tupe that would care about my child and keep up with current research and recommendations.

LeenieRN · February 2012

We just had one tonight. Like other posters you will see they will give you an overview so many basic questions you have will be answered in your intro. This practice also gave me a booklet of newborn care/how they handle everything so it had a ton of info and when to call, what's normal, etc so that will be a great reference as it is specific to the practice and how they handle everything. I had a few specific questions aside from the general ones (how do you handle after hours calls, avg response time for a call back during office hours and after hours, weekends, etc)

These were my add'l ones that may help:

1. Do you use a nurse triage line during the office hours and if yes, do they follow specific protocols (i.e.: i call and my baby has a temp of 101--do they follow guidelines for the practice so that you get the same answer/direction no matter who answers the call. The booklet gave me fever guidelines, eating, BM guidelines specific to the practice---but had it not I would have asked for their specific guidelines of what they consider fever/when to call, etc...

2. They have 2 practices (both close to me) but each one has late hours rotating days and weekends. I'll be using "office a" so i wanted to make sure that if i had to go to the other office "b" on a weekend/night....does the office use an electronic medical record (EMR) so that no matter what office/who i see they can access all of the babies info, and i want have to rely on my memory or "they don't have the chart" here.

3. I think as a another poster mentioned you also want to make sure your beliefs align or can be supported by the practice and their philosophy. Some topics that this impacts is breastfeeding, circumcision and vaccinations. If you know what you want in these areas- you want to get their take and will they support you if you don't want do some of them. Like anything you should get all of the info first to make an informed decision but you want to know do they support you. For example--- if you are committed to breastfeeding--you want to know that they will support you/help you and not discourage you to switch to bottles immediately unless it is needed (baby is not taking, not working for you, baby is not gaining weight, etc).

I think you will know if you have the rapport, like the staff when you entered (were they nice/greeting or surlly) and is the office clean/up dated equipment, etc.

I agree with get recommendations from neighbors or sometimes your OB can help you narrow down choices as well.

Best of Luck!

Mamasaurus · February 2012

I asked about assessing development and colic, because I know those are two things that many pedi's handle or approach differently. I wanted one that would not be super aggressive, but would still be looking to make sure there are no problems. I also asked about his attitude towards antibiotics, because I think they are often over-prescribed. Also, of course, I double checked to make sure the practice takes my insurance!

bingham101 · February 2012

With the pediatrician, I started with a list of who took our insurance. Then I googled a list of questions. The bump has a good list I think. I called the Dr. office to get a feel on how they handle new patients. My office was very forward on wanting you to meet the dr. first so you are comfortable with the location of the office and if you have any questions. I also asked my friends and family for referrals. I think the most important things are keeping up on education and just that you like their bed side manner. Babies have lots of Dr. apts. Also, a lot of offices have nurses that see patients as well. I wanted to make sure the Dr. had a policy so we get to choose who we see and we are not forced to see a NP. NP are great if LO is sick and you need to get in right away, but sometimes you want to see the doctor!

klh5779 · February 2012

I work in the healthcare field so I received a lot of recommendations from co-workers regarding pediatricians in our area... ultimately I went with the group that my boss recommended - he and his wife have used them for their three kids over the past 12 years and they had nothing but good things to say. I went to the scheduled meet & greet about 2 weeks ago with some questions in mind, but as others have said, most of my questions were answered by the end of the session. One of the things that was important to me was that they have the sick and well kids separated into different waiting areas, which this office does (don't want my LO picking up any extra germs if I am just taking him in for a shot or something). I also wanted to make sure that it was always possible to get a same-day appointment if necessary. You'll also want to make sure the office is in-network with your insurance company - seems silly but I almost forgot to ask! So I would just think about the things that are important to you and start your search! Good luck!