Office Policies

Routine appointments should be made through our Boston and Braintree offices between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays. Please try to give 2 or more months’ notice for routine physical examinations. If there is a particular problem that needs evaluation, let us know in advance, so that an appropriate amount of time is allotted.

Please be patient. We try to run on schedule, but it is impossible to predict urgent interruptions and the number of sick children we must see on a given day, and we often run behind. If you call in advance, our office will let you know if there is a wait.

Please refer to our After Hours page.

The quickest way to get your health forms is from Patient Gateway directly.

In order to meet the need to supply medical history and exam forms for various organizations, we developed a standardized form which we generate in our electronic medical record system. Generally, institutions will accept forms that have information current within one year.

In order to provide flexibility for our families, we accept all commercial insurances and participate in many managed-care plans (most require co-payments at the time of a visit).

We prefer to bill for services directly to insurance companies and settle balances with families after insurance considerations are made. Our staff can help you with insurance questions or problems.

In rare situations, usually in the case of newer vaccines, a managed-care plan may not pay or only partially pay for a submission. In this situation we will bill you directly for the difference between the insurance allowment and our wholesale cost to purchase the medication.

Since insurance programs are in constant flux, insurance plan rosters of member physicians and hospitals are often inaccurate. Please check with us if you are considering changing insurance programs to find out of we participate in that plan. Chances are, we do.

Most patients choose one doctor from our group to be their “primary care doctor,” however, patients may see any physician from our group, regardless of their insurance plan. Your insurance plan, however, may require that you receive pre-approval from our office before seeing a specialist or obtaining emergency or other medical services outside of our offices. When in doubt, give us a call.

The American Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a set of rules to be followed by health plans, doctors, hospitals and other health care providers. HIPAA took effect on April 14, 2003. In the health care and medical profession, the great challenge that HIPAA has created is the assurance that all patient account handling, billing, and medical records are HIPAA compliant.

Milton Pediatrics is HIPAA-compliant.

For a summary of your rights under HIPAA, please click here to download a PDF from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights.

Milton Pediatrics provides care to patients through adolescence and through the college years. We encourage our adolescents and young adults to take more responsibility for themselves and their health care as they get older. We encourage them to speak directly to us regarding their health concerns. We give them the opportunity to decide whether and when they would like to be alone or have a parent be with them in the exam room.

In some circumstances, there will be issues that patients wish to discuss that will be confidential in nature. It is our policy when dealing with young adult and adolescent patients to keep confidential any issues that our patients request of us, with the exception of issues that might be serious enough to be life threatening.

Due to the HIPPA regulations of 1996, patients who are older than 18 are considered adults and their privacy needs to be protected. In accordance with these regulations, the nurses will request to speak directly with patients that are over 18 to discuss issues regarding their medical care. Although some young adults (and parents) find this policy challenging at first, it is great preparation for when they are off on their own and need to manage their own health issues. Thank you for your cooperation.