New patient guide

Prior to your child’s scheduled appointment, you will receive a text message with the appointment details and a pre check-in registration to complete before you arrive. This registration reviews demographic and insurance information and also includes an age-appropriate questionnaire for parents to complete.

Arbor Pediatrics confirms all appointments on our schedule 2-3 days ahead of time, so you can expect to hear from us. We will also reach out if there are any insurance issues.

It’s time for your child’s appointment! When you arrive at Arbor Pediatrics, our medical receptionists will ask for any information updates, collect forms and co-pays, and scan your driver’s license and insurance card to add you to our computer system. We verify your contact information at every visit so we can always get in touch with you, just in case your phone number or email address changes.

During this time, our medical assistants (MAs) and providers are seeing other patients and preparing your exam room. Because we have multiple providers working at one time, you may not get called back into an exam room in the order you arrived or were checked in. If someone goes ahead of you, they are probably seeing a different provider who’s running on a different schedule. It will be your turn soon!

At Arbor Pediatrics, we always try to be as fast and efficient as we can. However, we must also give each patient ample time to make the most accurate assessment, answer questions, and provide the best possible care. We can’t predict when issues or even emergencies will arise, but we will notify you if your provider is running behind. You can always ask us for an update as well.

One of our MAs will take your child’s vital signs (including their height, weight, temperature, and blood pressure) and ask some essential medical history questions. This information gives your provider a quick preview of what’s going on before they enter the exam room, especially if your child is sick. If you completed the pre-visit questionnaire before your appointment, we have the rest of the medical history information we need. However, your provider may ask similar questions during your child’s exam to help assess their symptoms.

All Arbor Pediatrics MAs have medical training and know how to look for “red flags” when they are taking your child’s vital signs and reviewing their medical history. If they notice any concerning issues — such as a child who came in with cold symptoms but is now wheezing and breathing rapidly — the MA will get an available provider into the exam room right away. Emergency situations like these are often the reason behind longer-than-usual wait times, but the health and safety of our patients is our highest priority.

Once we have all of the necessary information, the MA will leave the exam room and let your provider know that you are ready to be seen.

Ready, set, go! Once your provider reviews your child’s medical history and asks about your specific concerns, it’s time to begin the exam. After your provider has completed the well visit (or made a diagnosis and recommended treatment for a sick visit), your child may need further testing, treatment, and/or immunizations. If so, your provider will alert the MA, who prepares and performs these services to complete the appointment.

After your child’s exam and treatment are complete, it’s time to go up to the front office to check out. You can also make your next appointment, get any forms you need to complete, and pick up any prescriptions or referrals that were printed for you. If you have a balance for the visit and/or plan to pay out of pocket, you will also make your payment here.

You’re already gone, but we still have more work to do. First, your provider completes an “office encounter” online, which adds all notes and documentation to your child’s medical chart. Once this information is entered, you should be able to see a visit summary in your patient portal account (usually by the end of the day, but it can take up to 2-3 days to appear).

Next, the office notes are reviewed by our posters — Arbor Pediatrics staff members who attach charges to bills and ensure they are correct — before our billers submit them to your insurance company.
After the bill is submitted, our billers follow the charges and update your account when payment is received. We will likely not know until then if there are certain parts of your bill that your insurance plan did not cover. If you have a remaining balance, our billers will automatically charge your account (if you signed up for AutoPay) or prepare and send you a bill.