Services

Direct Access to the Doctor

Once your child is enrolled as a patient of Shining Star Pediatrics, you will be provided with an AtlasMD (our EMR) phone number and email address to use to contact Dr. Abbott directly.  These are secure, and link directly to your child’s chart.  These are monitored 24 /7 by Dr. Abbott.  You will never be redirected to a call center.

Some general guidelines:

• If experiencing a medical emergency, dial 911!
• Dr. Abbott prefers text and email contact for most communication, since they allow her to determine urgency while being less disruptive if she is seeing patients.  And less typing is involved for documentation. 
• Response time is generally within 30 minutes, usually much less. If she is unable to respond in that time period, she will indicate when she expects to be able to do so, or have her nurse contact you directly.
• Non urgent texts and emails sent after 1 am and before 8 am will not usually be returned until after 8 am that same day.
• Scheduling requests will preferentially be handled by the nurse. She has a separate contact number, but it will only be actively monitored by her during regular work hours.  Dr. Abbott will forward appointment requests to her when appropriate. Some scheduling can also be done via the EMR system, but if you can’t find a day or time that works well, we usually can find alternatives if you let us know. (Note: due to Maggie moving out of state, and having to relocate, the self schedule option has been temporarily turned off) 
• Pictures and video can be sent via both methods, and are encouraged.  
• Phone calls should be reserved for very urgent concerns, especially between 12 am and 9 am.
• Unless your child has a laceration that might need repair, or is in significant distress, please contact Dr. Abbott before making a trip to the ICC or ED.  Many conditions that are terrifying for parents can be managed at home with proper and timely advice.  And saving a single ED visit can actually pay for an entire year of services for your child, depending on the condition. 

Flexible Scheduling

• Well visits that involve vaccinations should be scheduled during business hours when a nurse is available. These can be self scheduled, but there are limitations on available days and times.  If you are not able to find an appointment time that works for you and your child, contact us directly using the AtlasMD phone numbers, and alternatives will be offered.
• Sick visits work the same way. You can self schedule (once it is turned back on), but often it is better to contact Dr. Abbott directly to discuss the symptoms and your concerns. She can then determine if the child needs to be seen in the office, and how quickly.
• Visits for behavior concerns, ADHD, Anxiety, and Mild depression are usually longer, and can be scheduled later in the day (or even on weekends) to avoid missing school and work.
• Appointments for acute conditions on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays will be offered if Dr. Abbott determines that it is in the best interest of the patient to be seen.  For non acute visits, let us know if you have scheduling conflicts and we will do our best to accommodate them.

Tests

• In office testing for: Strep Throat, Mono, Flu, Covid, RSV, and UTI’s. Also Hemoglobin A1C and Glucose.
• Send out labs can be billed to insurance, or the family can take advantage of our DPC discounted prices. We have accounts with both Quest and CPA labs. I have hired a new nurse who can do venipuncture, saving you a separate visit to another facility.

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Patient Focused Care

• Patients are encouraged to participate in the visits based on their age and developmental ability. Dr. Abbott believes that teaching children to express their concerns and complaints in regards to their own health is important not only for treatment success, but life long self advocacy.
• Continuity of care with the same MD and nurse in familiar surroundings lessens anxiety and helps the patient develop trust.  We are always happy to provide distraction, extra hand holding, and attention to individual sensitivities.
• If you child would prefer not to have to wear a gown for a well check up, we recommend bringing a t-shirt and shorts (without buttons or zippers) to wear instead.
• The office is small, and rarely would anyone need to be in the waiting area with other people, well or sick.  It is calm and quiet, which helps with the anxiety that many kids feel when going to a larger, busy medical office.
• In the traditional insurance model, physicians are only paid based on documentation of in office visits.  Which means that parents are more likely to be told to “make an appointment to discuss” almost any complaint or concern, even if they are minor.  The Direct Patient Care model eliminates this. The number of visits depends on the patient’s condition and needs, not what insurance will cover. There is no incentive to bring in a child for an “ED follow up” if their condition has resolved. Nor to address minor conditions that can be diagnosed via a picture or video, nor to make dosage changes in certain medications.
• For nervous new parents, or parents with NICU graduates, having access to the doctor for advice and reassurance is invaluable.  It might just mean sending a photo of the ingredients of a baby food before you give it to your child, or a video of a behavior that scares you, but you get an answer quickly, from the doctor, and specific to your child’s situation or condition.

Vaccinations & Immunizations

• We are able to administer all routine vaccinations, but insurance is used for payment, billed via a third party.
• Currently we are dependent on a local pharmacy to be able to give vaccines at the office, so there is some planning involved to make sure that we have what your child needs. We try to confirm the vaccines to be given when we schedule the appointment, but for seasonal vaccines, like Influenza, we plan to also offer “flu clinics” where parents can also get vaccinated.
• Patients of SSP must have basic required immunizations, unless there is a true medical reason to decline. There will be some leeway in regard to Rotavirus, Hep A,  Influenza, Covid, and HPV vaccination, although all are strongly recommended and supported. Extreme alternative schedules are not encouraged, but all reasonable requests can be discussed and will be given consideration.  Examples of such: instead of giving Pentacel, Prevnar, and Rotavirus at a single visit, we are fine with giving them at 3 separate visits, 2 – 4 weeks apart, if the parent is more comfortable with such. We also can accommodate separation of vaccine components, if available, even though there is no proven benefit to doing so.  True medical exemptions and modifications for immunocompromised children will also be available.  However, families with religious and/or personal belief exemption requests for multiple or all vaccines should look elsewhere for care. I respect a parent’s right to choose not to vaccinate, but I request the same in return as to why I cannot support such. I am old enough to have experienced patient damage and even death from vaccine preventable disease, and it is a heavy burden to bear as a physician. My heart just can’t take it. For additional information about this policy, please refer to the enrollment agreement.

On-site Pharmacy

• Skip the lines at the drug store! We keep a supply of basic prescription medications in our office. We also can special order medications based on patient needs.
• Cost of our medication is not covered by the monthly fee. But we usually are cheaper than most insurance copayments, and even GoodRx.  Many families like this service because the child can get their first dose of medication before leaving, and they don’t have to make a separate trip to the pharmacy.
• No issues with insurance on costs and whether a specific medication is covered. No waiting for prior authorization either. Example: if your child does best on a certain inhaler, but insurance won’t cover it without a prior authorization and a higher copay, we often can provide it at a discount, and order it specifically for your child. No “out of stock” excuses that are common when pharmacies have so many people to serve, and limitations on ordering.

Forms

• Completion of school/sports/camp/immunization forms
  – You can find KHSAA athletic forms by following this link. You can find the same forms for IHSAA here.
• Completion of FMLA forms and patient specific letters
• School notes (even without an in person visit, as long as the MD is aware of the illness)
• Ultimately all screening questionnaires (like the MCHAT and developmental questions) will be emailed prior to the visit. This way parents can focus on answering them when they have time, instead of feeling rushed to do so in the exam room while simultaneously monitoring their child.