Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Are you taking new patients?
A: Yes! To make the new patient process easier and more convenient, please pre-register your child FIRST BEFORE making your appointment. To pre-register please click on the patient portal on our home page. After you pre-register, call our office to schedule your appointment. Most of your child’s information will already be in our system.
Our staff will then send you a text message with the link to complete the remaining new patient paperwork and then a link for the new patient history. These need to be completed PRIOR to your first visit.
It is often helpful to bring your child’s most recent immunization record with you to your first visit so we can scan that into our charts. We will ask you to request records from your previous provider but keep in mind this often takes at least a week to obtain records. Of course, you may also call our office or stop by to set up your appointment. Please be aware if we do not have a complete immunization record at the time of your well child visit this will delay our practice in preparing Florida documentation that you may need for school or daycare.
Q: What are your office hours?
A: Normal office hours for all locations are 8a-5p. The Hodges location offers early morning hours from 7a-8a. All locations are open 5p-6p for those late afternoon emergencies. Our Hodges location is also open every Saturday from 8a-12pm only for our established patients with acute sick visits. We are also open on all holidays from 8am-12pm for same day sick appointments as long as the holiday does not fall on a Sunday.
Q: How do I make an appointment?
A: At Rainbow Pediatric Center, we want to ensure the highest quality care for your child as well as be accommodating when it’s most convenient for your child and your family. For non-urgent issues like wellness exams and chronic problems, we ask that you call in advance to schedule an appointment with the provider of your choice. Well check visits can usually be arranged within a 1-3 week window. Please note in July, August and September our well check appointments book in advance from 4-5 weeks in preparation for school.
When your child is ill, please first visit our homepage and click on schedule appointment button to schedule an appointment online – without calling our office. Of course, if you would rather call us, please call as early as possible in the day so we can find an appointment time that works best for you.
To ensure the provider has time to fully address any concerns you may have, please let us know in advance if more than one sibling needs to be seen so we can make each child his or her own appointment. Please understand that our providers work very hard to stay on schedule and if you ask to add a sibling to the schedule it disrupts other appointments. We are happy to see siblings as long as you schedule them together prior to arriving at our office.
We also like to know if you have multiple concerns or complex problems (behavior issues, significant developmental delays, chronic medical conditions, etc) so we can be sure we give you the time you need.
We may ask patients who arrive more than fifteen minutes late to their scheduled appointment to reschedule for a later time that same day or a different day entirely.
We are committed to seeing all sick children the same day. Existing patients may schedule Same Day sick appointments online! See the button at the top of our Home Page.
Q: How can I contact your office?
A: The BEST way to contact our office is by using the Healow Kids app and send us a message. Our staff responds quickly to these message during working hours. Please feel free to call our office at 904-223-9100 between 7a and 6pm Monday-Friday with any questions or appointment requests. We have dedicated staff answering phones during those hours. If you call the office during office hours, then your routine or general message will be returned by the end of the business day. If the call is urgent, you should receive a call back within 30-60 minutes. If you have a life-threatening emergency please call 911. The patient portal or Healow Kids App is not a means of urgent communication. If you leave a message via the patient portal or the app then it may not be returned until the end of the next business day.
Q: How do I pay for services?
A: Our office participates with most major insurance plans as well as Medicaid. Please call the billing office if you change insurance policies or have questions about whether we are participating with your insurance providers. Also, please bring your current insurance card to each office visit. Co-pays are collected at check-in. If there is an outstanding balance due to coinsurance, deductible or other factors we ask that you pay your bill on the day that your child is seen. Whoever brings the child in that day is responsible to pay the balance or co-pay at that visit. We accept cash, checks, Visa, MasterCard and Discover. If you should have any concerns or questions regarding your bill, we will be happy to review it with you in the office.
Q: How do I transfer care from my previous pediatrician?
A: Complete the Records Release Form in our New Patient Registration Packet 2020 and we will fax this to your current/previous pediatrician. Please keep in mind, although we will do our best to obtain these records as promptly as possible, there is often a delay in obtaining vital information for Well Child Exams such as immunization records.
If your child has not received immunizations in the state of Florida, and/or has not been entered into the Florida SHOTS system, please anticipate requesting your child’s immunization records prior to your appointment or bringing them into the office yourself the day of the appointment to make sure that we can verify your child is up to date with all immunizations so we can complete any forms that may require that information.
Q: How can I get medication refills and school forms completed?
A: The best way for you to have your prescription refilled is to use our Healow Kids app and submit a refill request ANYTIME of day or night. You may also have your pharmacy fax a request to our office. Lastly, you can still call our office at 904-223-9100 ext. 7 and leave a message for one of our nursing staff.
School physical forms (Yellow) DH 680 Forms/Immunization (Blue)are routinely issued on the date of your child’s yearly physical at no charge to you. If you should need the Physical or Immunization forms at any other time, 48 hour notice is required to create these forms. There will be a charge of $5 per form as our providers must to take the time to review your child’s chart and complete the requested form. Any additional forms including disability, camp, sports, daycare registration etc. typically require a provider’s extended personal attention, so there is a charge of $10 for these and we ask that you allow 7-10 business days to have them completed. FMLA paperwork is $20 to complete and requires 7-10 business days to complete.
Q: Will you refer us to a specialist if we feel it is appropriate?
A: Yes, your child should have the best treatment available and we stand ready to refer you to the best specialists in the area. Our referral coordinators will work hard to ensure your child is matched with the best provider in your insurance network and obtain any necessary prior authorizations for care. Our referral coordinator will contact you and coordinate an appointment. Referral update status is shown on our Patient Portal. In order to make specialty care more convenient our office has in house the following specialties: asthma certified physician with asthma clinic, allergy skin testing
Q: How are you using technology to improve patient care and safety?
A: Rainbow Pediatrics is committed to making sure our patients receive the very best, most up-to-date care available. Our office uses an EMR (Electronic Medical Record) system to ensure accurate information about our patients in real time wherever it’s needed. Our electronic prescribing program tracks all our patients’ prescriptions, can send your prescription directly to the pharmacy of your choice and automatically checks for drug allergies and interactions. Our internal messaging tracks appointments, labs, X-rays and referrals. All information is kept strictly confidential and adheres with patient privacy policies.
We also now utilize a partner app to our patient portal which is called Healow Kids. Please read more information or watch a quick video from the At Home page. As of December 5, 2016 our office will check patient’s in via our kiosks. From this kiosk you will be able to check-in, verify insurance information, change pharmacy information, take a picture of your child for our chart and pay your co-pay.
Q: Will I always see the same provider?
A: All of our providers and staff treasures our ongoing relationships with our patients. In fact, we love watching the children we care for grow up before our eyes. We always try to schedule you with the provider of your choice, but we also feel one of the greatest assets we have as a practice is our teamwork. We encourage our patients to develop relationships with multiple providers on our team in order to take advantage of each provider’s individual strengths and talents.
Q: Will my child catch something from being around sick children in your office?
A: It is frequently seen that pediatric offices have separated waiting rooms. Few know that Dr. Reddy herself designed all our offices. We steered away from the separate waiting room concept and instead focused our attention on infection control, wait time and office cleanliness. At Rainbow Pediatrics, we try very hard to keep all our patients as healthy as possible. Although two separate waiting rooms sound like a good idea, germs don’t have a border they can’t cross. We have specific protocols for children with fever, rash and cough to minimize exposure to other children.
We do, however, have a dedicated nursery for newborns and nursing mothers and will ensure that infants are taken back to an exam room promptly on arrival. You may also notice our waiting area has no loose toys. We only have wall mounts or freestanding stations which are easy to disinfect and done on a regular basis, several times a day. We do keep books in the waiting room as well as exam rooms where we can clean them between patients. You will see alcohol hand sanitizer throughout the office and in all patient care areas. We encourage our patients to use this along with our providers and staff who are required. We also are continually striving to minimize wait times throughout your office visit.
Q: Who is allowed to bring my child to the office?
A: With your written permission, any person is allowed to bring your child to our office. The exception to this rule is in the case of children of divorced or separating parents, which custody cannot or has not been established. In these cases, each parent will need to provide proof of custody to bring child in for care. Please see our forms section for the consent for Authorization to Bring Child Form. We strongly recommend a parent/legal guardian accompany your child to the office for any Well Child checkups, vaccinations or procedures so that you are available to answer any questions that may come up in the course of that visit. Your signature is also needed for any vaccines your child receives so a parent or guardian must be present for the exam.
Q: What is a Patient-Centered Medical Home?
A: We would like to partner with you to make sure that all of your child’s needs are taken care of. We strive to be the home base for your child’s medical care.