Policies

We strive to minimize antibiotic overuse by educating families on proper use and adhering to evidence-based guidelines for responsible prescribing. Since many illnesses are viral and don't require antibiotics, our pediatricians explain alternative treatments and emphasize the importance of natural healing when appropriate.

Furthermore, we avoid prescribing antibiotics over the phone, as we believe in conducting proper assessments before doing so. Antibiotics are prescribed only when necessary and appropriate, ensuring patient well-being while mitigating the risks of antibiotic resistance and unnecessary side effects.

We respect everyone's time and kindly ask that you arrive 15 minutes early for your appointment. While we understand delays happen, late arrivals may need to reschedule to keep us on schedule. 

Missed or canceled appointments without 24-hour notice may incur a fee, as they impact our clinicians, staff, and other patients.

• Legal Documentation & Custody Changes
• Divorced/Separated Parents Policy

Our practice values efficiency by utilizing technology. We encourage you to visit our website, register for our patient portal, and use automated reminders for appointments and routine care or immunizations when available.

If your family chooses a vaccine schedule that is different from the one that our practice recommends (the AAP Vaccine Schedule), please know that we have clear deadlines. These deadlines help protect all children, families, and staff in our offices from illnesses that vaccines can help to prevent. We will work with families that have children who are behind on vaccines and help them get back on the recommended schedule.

By 6 months of age, babies need to start the vaccines given in the first year of life:

● DTaP (Diptheria, Tetanus & acellular Pertussis)

● IPV (inactivated Poliovirus

● Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type B

● Pneumococcal conjugate

By 12 months of age, your child must have had three doses of each vaccines listed above

By 2 years of age, children need vaccines given in the second year of life:

● MMR (Measles, Mumps & Rubella)

● Varicella (Chicken Pox)

● final doses of Hib and Pneumococcal conjugate

● DTaP

By 6 years of age, your child must have the booster doses of MMR, Varicella, DTaP, and IPV

By 13 years of age, teens need their adolescent vaccines:

● Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria & acellular Pertussis)

● Meningococcal ACYW vaccine

By 18 years of age, your teen must have the second dose of Meningococcal ACYW.

If these vaccine deadlines are not met, your child or teen will not be able to remain as a patient in the practice. Typically siblings will need to find a new provider in a different practice as well.

If you choose a different vaccine schedule, there may be extra shot-only visits needed. These visits may require additional payment for which the parent, guardian, or guarantor is responsible.

Our doctors do not sign vaccine exemption forms for daycares, schools, or employers except in the case of true medical contraindications.

The providers and staff at Pediatric Associates of Mt. Carmel are dedicated to providing the highest quality of care we can for our patients. We feel that in order to achieve this goal, we want to form a partnership with the parents and guardians of our patients based on mutual trust.

Fundamental to this is our belief that immunizations are one of the most important aspects of preventative health care we have available to protect children and adolescents from serious illness, chronic disease, and even death.

Therefore, we recommend that all patients follow the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) immunization schedule. At Pediatric Associates of Mt. Carmel, we respect the important role parents and guardians play in making healthcare decisions for their children, and we are committed to providing care that is both safe and evidence-based.

We are unable to provide care to families who do not plan to vaccinate at all. A complete refusal of vaccines represents a fundamental difference in medical philosophy and prevents us from maintaining a safe and effective partnership.

We want to work collaboratively with families experiencing delays to help them return to the recommended schedule. Our goal is always to work with families. We want to help them feel informed, supported, and confident in vaccinating their children so they can grow up healthy and protected from serious vaccine-preventable diseases. We welcome the opportunity to discuss and answer any questions you may have.