Location:
We are located at #17 Care Circle. This is the Legacy Square Professional Park on Amarillo Blvd, between Soncy and Coulter.
Office Hours:
Our normal business hours are from 8:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. and from 1:15 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. We are open during the lunch hour if you need to pick-up prescriptions or other forms and paperwork. On days we are not on call we will forward our phones to the answering service at 3:45 p.m. When our phones are forwarded we have an answering service that will take your calls and forward them to the appropriate party. We always have a triage nurse on call who can answer your questions in case of an emergency and who can access the physician on call if necessary. The triage nurse will return your call as soon as possible Our call group consists of two pediatrician offices: Amarillo Children's Clinic and Dr. Meganne Walsh. On most weekends and holidays one of us will have an open clinic to see sick children.
Phone System:
When you call you will be given several options to choose from. Please select the prompt that addresses the reason you have called and leave a message. One of our front desk personnel or a nurse will return your call and help you. Our return call system is usually very prompt so please be available at the number you leave. If you aren't available for the return call your child's chart may be refilled. During extra busy times, such as the first thing in the morning and during the winter months, it may take us a bit longer to return your call. Please be patient, we will get back to you as soon as possible. Please do not call repeatedly as this will further delay someone getting back to you.
Medical and Demographic Information:
Please have copies of your child's records from previous physicians with you on your first appointment with us. It is especially important for us to have the child's shot record before we can continue the immunization schedule. We request updated personal information each month. We make new copies of your insurance card monthly. We ask that you look over the previously gathered data and make any changes necessary such as, new insurance coverage, as well as address and phone number changes. Patients with Medicaid coverage need to make sure the name Amarillo Children's Clinic is the assigned PCCM on your Medicaid paper. If it is not then it is your responsibility to call the Medicaid customer service number and change this. This number is 1.888.302.6688.
Financial Policy
Please bring your child's insurance card wth you to EVERY appointment. It is your responsibility to know your policy limitations and co-payment amounts. If you do not have your insurance card or Medicaid card with you, we ask that you sign a private pay agreement stating that you will be responsible for that day of service and we will collect a $50.00 charge to be placed toward that days services. We will collect your insurance companies co-pay at the time of your visit (as required by the insurance company) and BEFORE the scheduled appointment. If you have a secondary insurance we will still collect the co-pay of your primary insurance company. If your secondary insurance does cover the primary insurance's co-pay we will refund your money. You will be responsible for any deductible that has not been met and/or any co-insurance remaining. We try to verify coverage before each child's visit in order to help determine these benefits, but this is not always possible. Statements showing a balance will be mailed monthly to the address you give us. Unpaid balances will be turned over to a collection agency after repeated requests for reimbursement. If you have any discrepancies or questions concerning your statement, please call our billing office @ 806.468.8723.
Patient Appointments
We schedule well child checks as far in advance as possible. Well child checks for certain ages are scheduled with our nurse practitioner. This frees the doctors up to do more sick visits each day. The nurse practitioner will usually see well checks for children ages 4 months, 9mths,18 months, some two year checks and every odd year after that. Sick appointments are only scheduled on a same day basis. The reason for this is that often a parent will book a sick visit for he following day and then the child gets well or feels better and the parent does not want or need the sick appointment but forgets to cancel it. It is then wasted time for the doctor. During busy winter months, please do not ask the doctor to see sick siblings unless an appointment has been made ahead if time. This is inconsiderate to patients who have scheduled appointments already and it puts the doctors behind. If a sibling needs to be seen you might be asked to reschedule both children's appointments to a more convenient time.
Cancellations/No Shows
Please call to cancel appointments as soon as possible in order for us to put other sick patients in that appointment time. We request a 24 hour cancellation notice for well-child checks and a two hour cancellation notice before a sick appointment. You may be billed for these appointments if adequate amount of notice is not given. If you miss an appointment, a letter will be sent to you reminding you of this. Consistently missing appointments could result in dismissal of the patient from the practice.
If you have any questions regarding the above policies, or if we can be of any help, please do not hesitate to call our office 806.468.6277.
