Appointments

Due to the extremely high number of non-emergent telephone calls we receive before and after office hours, Town & Country Pediatrics has begun charging $25 to patients for the physician's time and advice. The physician is on call for emergencies only. The answering service personnel will remind you of the charge before paging the on-call physician. If you feel your call is not an emergency, please leave a message with the answering service. Your call will be returned when the office opens.

When our physicians are on-call, they are out of the office, therefore your child's chart is unavailable. If you are seeking information found in your child's chart, you will need to call the office when it opens.

Here are some examples of non-emergent calls that can wait until the office opens:

• Warts*
  
• Constipation*
  
• Feeding questions*
  
• Sleep questions
  
• Behavior issues
  
• Dosages*
  
• Lab or test results
• Prescription refills
  
• Health forms, insurance referrals, or other paperwork
  
• Basic child care questions (bathing, cord care, car seats, clothing)*
  
• Travel questions*
  
• Diaper rash*
• Head lice*
  
• Pink Eye*
  

*These topics are discussed in detail on our web site at TownandCountryPeds.com under "General Health" and "Tips For Parents".

Patients must give Town & Country Pediatrics at least 24 hours notice for cancellations or they will be charged $45. This charge will not be billed to the patient's insurance company, but will be directly billed to the patient.

Town and Country Pediatrics utilizes a computerized scheduling system which is interfaced between the practice sites. You can make or cancel appointments at any site.

We offer urgent appointment slots almost daily in all locations. These slots are reserved for sick patients and are open for booking ahead of time. To get an urgent appointment, you must call the same day. The best time to be assured of an urgent appointment opening is to call in during the morning call-in times. Please check the section, "Morning Call-In Times" for the listings. Any appointments which fall before our normal working hours or after our normal working hours will be assessed an after hour fee of $25, seven days a week.. A large percentage of insurance companies cover this fee. If yours does not cover it, you will be responsible for the fee.

More information about Appointments and Call-in Times can be found in the All About Us section of this site.

Arrival Time
The Halsted office is located in high traffic area. You are encouraged to allow enough time to arrive on or slightly before scheduled appointment. If you are the first patient of the session (appointment times at 10:00a.m., 2:00p.m., or 5:30p.m.), we ask that you plan to arrive about 10 minutes early. Unless there is a medical emergency with one of our patients, our doctors will make every effort to run on time. If you are late for your appointment, as a courtesy to our patients who are on time, we reserve the right to reschedule your appointment.

If you have an insurance copay, it will be collected before your child is seen.