Traditionally, we have offered walk-in visits for acute illnesses as an alternative to going to an urgent care or emergency department. Unfortunately, because of the policy change, we anticipate that we will not be able to continue to accept walk-in visits. We have allotted several same-day appointment slots for acute conditions only. These times will not be scheduled until the morning. Additionally, we also anticipate that there will be more availability for schedule appointments due to the decrease in re-scheduled appointments.
First a word of thanks to our families who are consistently on time or early for their appointments. You are the majority. We very much appreciate your punctuality and this policy change is directly aimed at addressing your concerns regarding access to appointments and long wait times.
Unfortunately, there are a small number of families who are habitually late for their appointment or miss their appointments completely. This causes disruption in the schedule and unfairly causes delays for the families who are on time. In addition, when families repeatedly schedule appointments then fail to show up for them, it unfairly prevents others from accessing our services.
As parents ourselves, we are sympathetic to the difficulties of staying on schedule. We have tried to show flexibility regarding late and missed appointment and by accepting walk-in visits. However, it is apparent that that flexibility has had the result of effectively penalizing those who are punctual and rewarding those who are not.
We have changed our policy (effective January 1, 2020) regarding missed and late appointments.
We offer in-office circumcisions for newborns that were not circumcised in the hospital prior to discharge or were born at home. We only do circumcisions in the newborn period. Babies older than a few of weeks old will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. In general, we will not do circumcisions on infants older than a month.
Things to bring to your circumcision:
Please allow at least 2 hours for the appointment. You will ask to wait an hour before going home to make sure the circumcision is not bleeding. If you are being referred to our office by another pediatrician, please make sure that your baby has been evaluated by your pediatrician within a few days prior to making the appointment. If High Desert Pediatrics is your provider, please make a newborn follow up appointment first (within 1-3 days of discharge) and we will then schedule the circumcision separately. This ensures that your baby is well and it is safe to perform the procedure.
Choose personalized Albuquerque pediatric care for your child with a pediatrician at High Desert Pediatrics today! Contact us to make an appointment. We look forward to seeing you and your child.