Urgent Care FAQs

PM Pediatric Care offers a full spectrum of after-hours urgent care and has the ability to diagnose and treat all but the most critical cases, including:

• Wounds that require stitches
• Broken bones, sprains, and other minor trauma
• Fever
• Specific and nonspecific complaints of pain
• Ear infections
• Asthma and other respiratory illnesses
• Vomiting and diarrhea
• Chronic health issues with acute exacerbations
• Dehydration that requires intravenous fluids
• Procedures requiring anxiety-reducing methods
• COVID-19, Flu, and Strep Throat testing

We accept most insurances. If your insurance carrier is listed in our updated list of plans we accept, you will be responsible for your copayment, coinsurance, and any deductible required by your carrier.

PM Pediatric Care is committed to making payment as convenient as possible for our patients. Our policy is to collect payments via credit card, flexible spending card, cash, or check at the time of service. If you have insurance, our verification system will indicate whether you have an unmet deductible and determine your expected payment.

At the time of your visit, you will be asked to review and sign our Card on File form. Afterwards, we keep your payment method on file with our HIPAA-compliant, secure credit card processor in the event there is additional patient responsibility. For your protection, only a portion of your card will be visible in our computer system.

Once your insurance company has processed your claims, they will send an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) to both you and our office, showing your total patient responsibility. Upon receipt of the EOB, our billing department will determine if there is a remaining balance based on your insurance company’s adjustment/payment. If there is an additional balance, you will receive an email with the amount due. We will charge the card on file 5 days after this initial email. If you disagree with the patient amount owed, please contact your insurance carrier immediately.

Our detailed financial policy and FAQs can be accessed here.

Our priority is to get every patient seen as quickly as possible. While wait times do vary, our average wait time is approximately 20 minutes.

The length of your visit will depend on whether tests, X-rays or procedures are being performed. Most patients are in our office for less than an hour.

We view our relationship with primary care physicians as a partnership, working to provide the best care possible. To that end, PM Pediatric Care:

• Sends an electronic copy of the patient’s medical records, discharge instructions and any other pertinent information to the primary care physician.
• Instructs the patient to follow up with their primary care physician.

Pain is one of the most common reasons patients come to PM Pediatric Care. We have multiple treatment options to reduce pain and anxiety, whether it’s an injury from falling off the monkey bars, a sore throat that is preventing your child from eating or drinking, or a nervous toddler in need of stitches. All of our providers are trained pediatric specialists and advocates for children who recognize how important it is to offer pain relief as soon as possible.

We also specialize in treating common mild to moderate behavioral and mental health conditions in children and young adults such as depression, anxiety, ADHD, and grief. Learn more on our Behavioral Health page.

Every patient who comes to PM Pediatric Care with a pain-related complaint is offered relief, as soon as possible. Some pain can be relieved without medication, like ice/cool packs, splinting of an injured arm or leg, and distraction techniques. The most common pain reliever that we provide is Ibuprofen (i.e. Advil/Motrin), which is very effective for many painful conditions.

However, there are times when Ibuprofen is not enough and in those instances, we have stronger medicines available for severe pain. We make sure to have medications on hand in forms that young children can easily take, including liquids or nasal sprays. Pain-relieving nasal sprays can deliver strong medications for severe pain, without the painful process of receiving an IV or a shot. These pain-relieving sprays are great for patients who need fast-acting pain medication and are also excellent options for uncomfortable procedures.

PM Pediatric Care is different from “traditional” urgent care practices in the following ways:

• We focus solely on the care and treatment of children and young adults, from birth through college age.
• We believe children and young adults should have a medical home and provide pediatric after-hours urgent care during convenient hours when their primary physician is unavailable or for services that their pediatrician may not provide.

In general, both parents will be permitted to schedule visits, consent to treatment, attend the office visit, and have access to their minor child’s medical records, unless there is a valid Court Order, Restraining Order, Custody Agreement, or other legally binding order (hereinafter, “Documentation”) which provides a restriction, as outlined below. PM Pediatric Care cannot honor any verbal requests for restrictions on the rights of one parent without the appropriate Documentation evidencing the restriction. PM Pediatric Care will use our best efforts to honor restrictions set forth in the Documentation. Click here to read the full policy.

A top priority at PM Pediatric Care is antibiotic stewardship, which means we are careful about using antibiotics only when necessary. Bacterial infections (not viral) are treated with antibiotics, and we choose antibiotics wisely to reduce the risk of creating more drug resistance and optimize safety for our patients. More information can be found here.