Our Practice Philosophy

When you are looking for the best pediatric office to care for your precious children, it is important to find someone you can trust, someone who shares the same values and philosophies regarding medical care as you do. We view our role as a partnership with parents, helping you raise healthy, happy, and successful children. We value shared decision making, helping you make informed decisions regarding the care of your child based on medical research, guidelines, experience, and your own values. We feel that it is important for you to know our perspective on pediatric care so that you can feel comfortable and confident in your partnership with us. More detail is available in our specific office policies or other areas of our website.

Topic Our Philosophy
Evidence-based medicine We believe that the best care for kids is based on the latest scientific research and guidelines, tempered with years of experience and common sense. We strive to stay up-to-date with current research in all areas of child health and base our decisions and recommendations on scientific evidence whenever available.
Comprehensive, Whole-child Care We strive to provide the most comprehensive care available, and to care for the whole child — body, mind, and spirit. We want to have a long-term relationship with your family and partner with you in raising healthy, happy, successful children.
Medical Home We are a patient and family-centered medical home for children. That means that our team takes a comprehensive approach to your child’s health and coordinates care with other specialists, therapists, hospitals, urgent cares, and other sources of care. We are the central hub for all of your child’s health needs!
Well Child Visits Well-child visits are at the core of pediatric practice and the way we ensure the health and well-being of children. It is the only time we screen for conditions that are often undetectable and can cause lifelong disease and disability if not treated in time because children are still growing and developing. We require patients in our practice to stay as up to date as possible according to the well visit schedule. We do not accept patients who only want to come when their child is sick; we encourage those patients to find a practice better suited to their philosophy.
After Hours Care As your child’s medical home, we ask that you seek our advice first before going to an emergency department or urgent care, except in cases of true emergency. We offer same day and next day appointments for sick children. We always have a pediatrician or nurse practitioner on call for urgent medical needs such as how to manage your child’s condition that night and whether you can wait to be seen when the office is open or need to seek care that night. Calls are usually handled first by a pediatric nurse at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta who do an amazing job. Our pediatric nurse line can often save you a trip to the ER, so call us first! After hours calls are not for general medical advice or a problem that has been going on for days; it is only to manage your child’s care until the office is open again. Many questions can be answered on our website; you may wish to check here before calling the nurse advice line.
Specialist Care & Referrals As your child’s medical home, we ask that you contact us before seeking care from a specialist. We want to be involved in providing the care your child needs or referring you to the best and most appropriate specialist. Most specialists will want a referral from us, and we cannot give it without discussing the situation with you first. We cannot make retroactive referrals for insurance purposes; we have to know in advance to approve specialist care. We work carefully with specialists to coordinate your child’s care, sending them your information and going over their recommendations. We ask that you let us know when your child has seen a specialist, and ask your specialists to send us a copy of their visit report.
Technology We use technologies such as patient portals, online developmental surveys, websites, and social media to help manage and improve our patients’ health and to enhance the overall patient experience. Technology makes it easier for you to have access to your child’s records and access to our practice, improves communication, and provides patient education. We use email and text messages to remind you of appointments, confirm your appointment, follow-up, and reminders.
Antibiotics Antibiotics are a wonderful gift and absolutely essential when a child has a bacterial infection that requires them. They are not safe or effective for viral infections and should only be used when necessary for bacterial infections. Proper antibiotic use is just good medicine, is evidence-based, and is safer care. The correct use of antibiotics is also being a good steward of the gift that they are; overuse leads to them becoming ineffective both in your child and in our community. We work hard not to overuse antibiotics and to use them when needed. We do not prescribe antibiotics over the phone (it is not safe or good medical practice), and do not prescribe them “just in case” there might be a bacterial infection or to prevent one.
Newborn care The journey to health begins immediately after birth. To ensure your baby is safe from preventable—and potentially catastrophic—conditions, we require all newborns entering our practice to have received standard newborn medical care. This includes Vitamin K (to prevent serious bleeding and death) and the State Newborn Screen (to test for treatable genetic diseases which cause serious illness and death). We believe these interventions are non-negotiable standards of safety.
Vaccines We believe that vaccines are safe and effective, a public health miracle and a gift from God based on the body’s own natural defense mechanisms. We encourage our patients to be fully vaccinated according to current recommendations. Parents who choose not to vaccinate or who choose a partial or alternate schedule will be considered on a case-by-case basis and must agree to our vaccine policies.
Natural & Alternative Treatments We believe that children often get better on their own, and many natural remedies can help them feel better faster. However, “natural” does not mean safe or helpful, and most medications, such as antibiotics, are actually natural compounds made by some other organism. Most poisons are also “natural” and plant-based. “Natural” remedies need to proven to be safe and effective, as with all treatments. We do not recommend or approve of unsafe or unproven therapies such as homeopathic therapies.
Office Hours & Appointments In order to keep everyone’s wait time to a minimum, we see patients by appointment only, except for specially designated fast-track or express times. We constantly monitor access to our appointments as a medical home and work to see all patients when they need to be seen, including same-day appointments for most concerns. Pediatric nurses are available during office hours to give you advice on home-care and whether an appointment with us or a visit to the pediatric urgent care or emergency department is needed.
Insurance It is your responsibility to know the details of your health plan, to provide us your insurance card at every visit, and be prepared to pay your co-pay, patient portions, or balances due at your visit. Health insurance is a contract between you and the insurance company and often an employer. We do not have access to many of those details. We expect you to know the details of your health coverage; we will help you as much as we can. You must provide us with up-to-date insurance information at each visit; we don’t have another source of information, and if we have the wrong information, you may be responsible for paying for the visit. Health insurance is too expensive for you to get stuck paying for something that could have been covered! We expect co-pays, deductible amounts, co-insurance, and other patient responsibility portions to be paid at the time of your visit. We require patients to keep a credit card on file for other patient responsible amounts.
Services, Coding, and Billing We perform only recommended and necessary services and strictly and ethically follow coding and billing requirements. We fairly and justly bill for the services we provide, including screenings and services that are recommended and often even required by insurance companies. However, those same insurance companies often make patients pay out-of-pocket for services they require us to perform. We expect patients in most cases to have the recommended screenings and services that we feel are essential to your child’s health, and encourage patients to complain to their insurance company and employer sponsor regarding services that are not covered or paid.
Timeliness We believe that everyone’s time is valuable and we strive to keep wait times to a minimum and same-day appointments available to anyone who needs one. We understand that life happens! Communication is the key! Please call our office or use our online forms if you are running late or need to cancel your appointment. In most cases, if you are running late, we will be able to fit you into the schedule. If you miss your appointment time, we may need to reschedule your visit. Patients with multiple, unexcused missed appointments may need to find a practice that can better meet their appointment needs, such as different hours, walk-in visits, or easier access closer to home.
Respect We believe that all people are made in the image of God and deserve kindness and respect, even when we disagree. Patients and families should expect that from us, and we expect respectful and calm behavior from them as well. Disruptive, disrespectful, abusive, or inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated.

Ready to Join Us?

If our philosophy resonates with you, we would love to welcome you. To ensure a seamless transition for your child, our registration process is as follows:

  1. If you have a newborn, congratulations! Call us!

  2. If you have an older child. request your records: Please ask your previous pediatrician to fax your child’s complete medical records (including immunization history) to us.

  3. Clinical review: Our team will review these records before scheduling. This essential step ensures we are the best setting for your child’s needs and that we are fully prepared for your first visit.

  4. Schedule your visit: Once the review is complete (usually within 48–72 hours), our team will call you to schedule your first appointment.