Office Policies

Well Checks

Well checks are usually scheduled a few weeks in advance. If you must cancel a well-
check, please call our office 24 hours or more before the appointment during business
hours to avoid cancellation charges.

Late Arrivals

If you arrive 15 minutes late for your appointment, you will be given the next available
appointment time if one is available that day. If no appointments are available, you will
need to reschedule. You may be charged a cancellation fee.

No-Shows and Cancellations

If you are unable to make your scheduled appointment, please call to either cancel or
reschedule. There is a $50 charge for well checks canceled with less than 24 hours’ notice during business hours. There is also a $50 charge for same day sick visit appointments that are canceled with less than 3 hours’ notice. Please review our financial policy for more information.

Siblings

If siblings of the scheduled patient need to be seen as well, a separate appointment is
required for them so that we may allocate sufficient time for each child. This is also
courteous to the other patients who are waiting.

We charge a $25 fee for calls after hours.

A few guidelines will help us serve you more efficiently:

• Medication refills need to be requested during office hours only.  Requesting the refill through your pharmacy is the most efficient method.  They will fax us a request or send an electronic request through our EMR.  You can also request a refill on the patient portal.
• Keep a list of questions to bring with you to your appointments. This helps to prevent forgotten questions.
• Bring any forms that you need completed with you to your child’s appointment.

A few guidelines will help us serve you more efficiently:

• Medication refills need to be requested during office hours only. Requesting the refill through your pharmacy is the most efficient method, except for ADHD stimulant medications. The pharmacy will fax us a request or send an electronic request through our EMR. You may also request a refill on the patient portal for current medications that we have previously prescribed. See below for ADHD medication refill instructions.

*Note: All refill requests will be answered within 2-3 business days.

• All medication refills for ADHD medications require a phone call to the front desk. Please give the name, dosage, quantity and pharmacy desired. If you require a generic or name-brand version of the medication, please convey that information to the front desk.
• Currently, there is a shortage of ADHD medications. Please call your pharmacist to ensure that your medication is in stock prior to requesting a refill.
• Your physician will make every effort to refill your medication in a timely fashion, but realize that 3 business days is considered standard.

The front desk will check to ensure that your child’s follow-up visits are up to date. All patients prescribed medication for ADHD are required to have a minimum of 2 ADHD follow up visits per year.

Please note:

Antibiotics will not be refilled (unless spilled or lost), nor will they be called out over the phone. Due to the increasing incidence of antibiotic resistance, it is important that your child be examined to determine if an antibiotic is indicated and to ensure that the proper one is selected. This will decrease the likelihood that your child could develop antibiotic resistance. Remember, antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections; viral infections do not respond to antibiotics.

Our goal is to provide and maintain a good physician – patient relationship. In order to reduce confusion and misunderstanding between our patients and practice, we have adopted certain financial policies. If you have any questions regarding these policies, please discuss them with our office manager. We are dedicated to providing the best possible care and service to you and regard your complete understanding of our financial responsibilities as an essential element of your care and treatment.

It is the policy of our practice that all physicians and staff preserve the integrity and the confidentiality of protected health information (“PHI”) pertaining to our patients. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that our practice and its physicians and staff have the necessary medical and PHI to provide the highest quality medical care possible while protecting the confidentiality of the PHI of our patients to the highest degree possible. For more information, click the following link: Privacy Policies

If you email patient photos to us, you will receive a phone call to schedule an office appointment for your child.

We do not routinely accept patient photos by email to evaluate and treat over the phone.  This is not best practice and does not serve our patients well. We prefer that patients make an appointment to be seen in the office to improve the quality of care we can provide.  

However, if you are out of town or are unable to come into the office for an appointment, you have the option to pay $25, and one of our doctors will review your photograph.

Our office manager will take the payment before downloading your photo and having it assessed by one of our doctors.  You will receive a call back that same day to discuss the next steps in your child’s care.

We understand that children do not always become sick during routine business hours.

If your child is having an emergency, call 911 for help.

We have a triage nurse available through Pedi Call Care at 512-402-3745 after business hours for your urgent yet non-emergent concerns. There is a $25 charge for after-hours phone calls that is billed directly to the patient and is not billed to insurance.

Some childhood illnesses may be managed at home until the office is open.
Please use the links below to guide your home management:
AAP Symptom Checker website- HealthyChildren.org
Nemours Children’s Health information website- kidshealth.org
We also have some informational resources posted on our website. CMG Resources 

We share Saturday morning office hours with two other small, independent practices- GROW and Austex Pediatrics.
There is a $40 after-hours fee for Saturday clinic that is due at the time of the visit and is not billed to insurance. Your insurance will be billed for the office visit.
Please note: CMG does not participate in Medicaid and is not available during Saturday clinics for Medicaid patients.

Click to see our Saturday rotation schedule.

Please note that GROW phones open at 8am and CMG phones open at 8:30 am on our respective call Saturdays. Our first appointment time is 9:00am.
Our call partners’ phone numbers and addresses are listed on the tabs below.

Urgent Care Centers and Emergency Rooms:

The following is a list of Urgent Care Centers and Emergency Rooms that we recommend in the area.

Austin Regional Clinic (ARC) After Hours clinic
512-272-4636 or book online
Various locations
Opens M-F 5pm
Saturdays and Sundays 8am-5pm

After Hours Kids
512-499-2452
Opens at 5:30pm

Brave Care Urgent Care for Kids
512-967-6778
Open from 10:00am to 8:00pm

Texas Children’s Urgent Care (Westgate)
512-892-9231
Opens at 4:00pm

PM Pediatrics Urgent Care
512-893-7676
Opens at 12:00pm

Urgent Care for Kids
512-996-9899 Cedar Park
512-813-6850 Round Rock

Dell Children’s Medical Center- both north and central/east locations
DCMC/Main campus is the only Pediatric Level 1 Trauma center in Austin.

Central/Main Campus
4900 Mueller Blvd
Austin, TX 78723
512-324-0000

North Campus
9010 N. Lake Creek Parkway
Austin, TX 78717
737-707-6000

St. David’s North Austin Medical Center Children’s Emergency Room/Hospital
12221 N. Mopac Expressway
Austin, TX 78758
512-901-5437

Texas Children’s Hospital Austin
Coming February 2024

Our call partners
Austex Pediatrics
Drs. Melody Cassels, Wesley Glazener and Taylor Beall
512-454-0406
5100 W. US Highway 290 Service Road
Building 2, Suite 110
Austin, TX 78735

GROW Pediatrics
Drs. Laura Wise, Juliette Owens, Natalie Rusk, Gina Duong, Kaitlyn Lloyd, and Nisreen Ali.
512-467-7334
1401 Philomena Street
Suite 120
Austin, TX 78723

If the office is closed due to inclement weather, please check our Children’s Medical Group Facebook page for up-to-date information.