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When you have a question or your child is sick...
What
if I have a medical question or are unsure if my child needs an
appointment?
During regular office
hours, please call the office, and we will respond as soon as possible.
You may also send us an e-mail request which will be responded to
before 9:00 AM the next business day. Those messages that are more
urgent or may require an early morning appointment will be responded
to first, typically by 8:30 AM.
NOTE:
If you have an urgent medical question or concern that arises after
regular office hours, and you feel that it would be unsafe to wait
until the following day for medical treatment, please click
here.
Do
you have sick and well-child waiting rooms, and how can I reduce
the chances of my child picking up a sickness at your office?
In theory, having two
waiting rooms sounds like a wonderful way to decrease the incidence
of children being unnecessarily exposed to contagious infections
in a doctor’s office. However, as clearly stated in the American
Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement on Infection Control
in Physicians’ Offices:
There are no
studies documenting the need for, or benefit of, separate waiting
areas for well and ill children. Efforts should be made to limit
transmission of infectious agents by avoidance of crowding, shortening
waiting times, and minimizing the sharing of toys.
Thus, in designing the
office, I purposefully chose not to create two separate waiting
rooms. Rather I chose to focus on those areas that have been proven
to reduce disease transmission in any setting, whether it is a doctor’s
office, shopping mall, grocery store, or your own home.
Most infections are spread
by transmitting a germ from a contaminated surface to a mucous membrane.
When I say, “contaminated surfaces,” I am referring
to surfaces where a living germ has landed or been placed (usually
by a contaminated hand), such as doorknobs, elevator buttons, chair
rails, toys, and other people’s hands. Mucous membranes are
parts of your body that can internalize a germ and thus lead to
infection. These include your eyes, nose, and mouth. After several
hours, many germs die and the contaminated surfaces usually become
less infectious. Therefore, the vast majority of infections are
transmitted when a child or their caregiver touches a contaminated
surface and thereby contaminates their hands, and then touches their
(or someone else’s) eyes, nose, or mouth.
To minimize the risk of
infection, I have instituted the following proactive infection control
policies for my office:
- Toys: No group toys will be provided. Especially
because it would be impossible to clean every group toy after
every child, I have created a system where each child has their
own bucket of toys for the duration of their visit. These toys
are given to the child upon their arrival in the waiting room
and kept throughout the visit. After the bucket has been used
and prior to the next use, the toys are either disinfected or
allowed to sit out overnight to allow the germs that may have
been placed on them to die.
- Waiting Room: Twice a day we will do a thorough
disinfectant wipe down of the waiting room, including all chairs,
countertops, and door handles. Also, we will strive to minimize
your time in the waiting room.
- Examining Rooms: Although table paper prevents
some contamination, the use of it is an ineffective substitute
for true examining room infection control. If in fact the only
surface that the doctor, patient, and parent touched throughout
the entire visit was the table paper, simply changing it would
suffice. However, changing the paper does not disinfect the rest
of the potentially contaminated examine room surfaces. After every
patient visit, either my staff or I will use a antimicrobial wipe
to disinfect the entire examining room, including the part of
the examining table not covered by the paper as well as the doorknobs,
drawer handles, computer keyboards, and exam room chairs. The
room is only ready for the next patient after all of these surfaces
have been disinfected.
- Hand Disinfection: Throughout the office you
will notice what looks like small upside down canisters of whipped
cream attached to the walls. This is not for spontaneous ice cream
socials; rather it is the most effective way of keeping my hands
disinfected in between patient appointments. The canisters contain
an alcohol based disinfectant foam that has been shown to be substantially
more effective at disinfecting hands then the conventional soap
and water system (Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Health-Care,
MMWR. 2002; 51:1-44). Additionally, proper hand washing techniques
are very time consuming and are rarely ever used in traditional
doctor offices. While in my office, I encourage you to use the
foam for yourself and your children as needed. Remember, just
a small dab is plenty and it dispenses like a whipped cream container.
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