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BRIEF PHILOSOPHY Our primary goal is to help children and parents maintain a healthy, good quality of life for themselves and their families. We encourage this through healthful lifestyles and attitudes, preventive medicine and patient/parent education. We handle acute situations when they arise. We suggest regular well baby exams and periodic checkups and health reviews for older children and adults. If you have questions or need information about health care or growth and development, we're here to help. We have many handouts, available also at our web site, for common areas of concern . We'd be happy to talk about problems or make appropriate referrals when indicated.
OFFICE HOURS AND APPOINTMENTS Our office is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. By arrangement, visits can be made at other times. Patients are seen by appointment only, and time is allowed each day for urgent problems. Walk-ins without appointments are discouraged. Always call before dropping by. We charge an additional $5.00 fee for people who are seen without an appointment. Well Child and periodic check ups are usually scheduled several weeks or months in advance. If you call before 3 pm with an urgent problem, the child will be seen the same day if need be. Calls after 3 PM are accommodated as we are able.
TELEPHONE Calls regarding health questions or problems are welcome. The office staff can help with many questions. If your call pertains to an illness or problem, try to have as many of the specifics about the situation as you can such as: temperature, duration of illness, symptoms, names of medication, etc. Remember, over the phone we can't see the patient. What we suggest depends on your description. Have a paper handy to jot down our suggestions. If you're not completely satisfied with the phone advice you receive and you would like to have your child seen, please, let us know. If you wish to speak to the Nurse Practitioner or Doctor, the receptionist will usually take your name, number and a brief description of the problem. Every effort will be made to return your call promptly, especially if you tell us you have an urgent concern. If you have an involved problem, the Doctor will likely return your call at noon or after office hours. Occasionally the Nurse Practitioner, nurse or Doctor will be able to come to the phone when you call, but this is the exception not the rule, as they are often busy with patients.
Prescription refills can best be handled by a phone call to the pharmacy.
E-MAIL E-mail messages are welcome and are answered every few days. If you have a problem that is at all urgent, don't use e-mail, call 822-2441.
FAX MESSAGES Faxed documents are often not seen for several hours. If you have a problem that is at all urgent, don't use a fax, call 822-2441.
NURSE PRACTITIONERS & PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANTS - We have two Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (PNP) and a Physician's Assistant (PA) who work part-time in our office doing some well baby exams, school physicals and handling minor acute illnesses. A PNP is a Registered Nurse with additional training, a special interest in babies, children and adolescents, and experience in doing exams and handling the more common urgent problems children may have. A Physician's Assistant has similar training to a Nurse Practitioner, however their health background is usually in a field other than nursing. Our PNPs, Sue Parks and Rosie Weston and our PA, Celine Pele, work under the supervision of Dr. Humphry, and he, or another physician, is always available for consultation when a PNP or PA is working. Client satisfaction with our PNPs and PA is very high and we urge people to see PNPs on alternate well child visits and for common urgent problems.
OTHER PHYSICIANS IN THE OFFICE On Wednesdays, occasional weekends, and when out of town, Dr. Humphry checks out to Dr. John Sullivan. Hospitalized patients and children with particularly complicated or frequent care in the office are reviewed with Dr. Sullivan when Dr. Humphry is not on call and vice versa. If Dr. Humphry is out of town for an extended period of time, every few years, a temporary duty pediatrician is selected and hired to fill in.
AFTER HOURS Doctor Humphry, or other doctor on call, usually Dr. Sullivan, can be reached after hours by calling the office number. Minor emergencies can frequently be handled on the phone. Dr. Humphry may suggest the patient be taken immediately to the Emergency Room at one of the area hospitals. Urgent Care at the General Hospital campus of St Joseph Hospital, or Express Care at Mad River Community Hospital can usually handle minor pediatric urgent peoblems. If necessary the Emergency Room Physician will call Dr. Humphry. If you have a true emergency, call 911 or take the patient directly to the closest Emergency Room and have someone else call the Emergency Room and Dr. Humphry. If there are questions you have had for some time, please phone during the regular work day to talk to the Doctor or staff.
CHARGES, BILLING AND INSURANCE We feel our charges are fair. We are making every effort to make our health care not only high quality, but affordable. Periodically we review the rate of inflation, our costs, etc., and alter our charges accordingly. A list of common current charges is posted in the waiting room and copies are available upon request.
Private Patients: We operate on a cash basis. We offer a discount for payment by cash, check or credit card at the time of service. If you have questions or need special arrangements for paying your bill, please call and ask to speak to Teresa or Melissa before your appointment.
Insurance: These are unsettled times with regard to health care costs, insurance, third party payers and various schemes to control, manipulate and modify the behavior of doctors and patients. Frequently people change insurances on an annual basis. It is important that you know what your insurance covers, your copays, and deductibles, etc. You also need to know what your insurance requires regarding prior authorization for referrals. We spend increasing amounts of time and money doing paperwork and making phone calls for patients and their insurance carriers. We are members of about thirty health delivery plans. This list is posted near the front desk and in the exam rooms. If your insurance plan has a copay, that copay is expected at the time of service. If you have paid your bill and your insurance company pays us, we will promptly refund your money. If your deductible has been met for the calendar year, we can bill your insurance without having you pay at the time.
If you have an insurance that we do not bill, you should collect any insurance money due. To do this, use the computer billing form we can give you before you leave the office and submit it to your insurance company. Please remember to keep a copy of the form for future reference. Again, if the insurance company pays us, we will refund your money.
Healthy Families is a low cost insurance program run by the State of California. We have brochures and information in our office.
For Well Baby and Well Child care including immunizations, free CHDP exams are available for families who meet income guidelines. We also offer a pay-in-advance Well Baby Package including immunizations and care in the first two years of life. Ask our staff for details of these programs.
Medi-Cal Patients: With rare exception, effective June 2002, Medi-Cal patients are not seen at this office. Dr. Humphry works at the Humboldt Open Door Clinic in Arcata two mornings a week where he sees patients using Medi-Cal. Call 826-8610 to make an appointment.
ON COMING TO SEE THE DOCTOR Children in the doctor's office sometimes have a contagious infection and the fewer the people exposed the better. For this reason, it is best not to bring extra children when a patient comes for an appointment. If it is very difficult to arrange for someone to watch the rest of your family, bring them along.
Frequently there are questions you think of the night before, but can't call to mind when you're at the doctor's office. Please write down your questions and bring them with you to the appointment. Dr. Humphry and the staff welcome questions and will take a reasonable amount of time to answer them.
ON STUDENTS In our office, especially during the school year, we frequently have students in various health fields working as part of their training. The students work under supervision of Dr. Humphry and the office nurses as well as their own instructor. Students should identify themselves as such. If you do not wish to be seen by a student, please let us know early in your appointment. Occasionally involvement with a student takes longer than it would with the regular staff. But often times students are extra conscientious and careful, too. Because of our commitment to education we hope you will support the students sometimes working in our office.
MORE HEALTH INFORMATION The Kris Kelly Health Information Center at the Humboldt County Library and the Library at Humboldt State University have fairly extensive medical references. At our office Web Site we have many of the handouts available at our office, information on people at our office, information about researching medical questions, and a few links to other web sites. If you have a computer and the time, our Web Site can be a source of information. The same information is also available in our office. Caution should always be used in evaluating medical information, especially from an unknown source. Call us if you have questions.
WHERE TO FIND US We're in the Sunny Brae area of Arcata on the same street at Murphy's Market.
From the north, take 101 South to the third Arcata exit for Sunny Brae/Samoa Blvd. On the off ramp, go past the Samoa exit and take the Sunny Brae exit back over the freeway past the CHP office. On Samoa Blvd./ Old Arcata Road, go straight through the traffic circle, and turn at the next left on to Crescent Way. At the 4-way stop sign turn left again onto Bayside Road. Our office is the second on the left, a light brown building, parking lot in front, at 827 Bayside Road.
From the south, take 101 North to the first Arcata exit for Sunny Brae/Highway Patrol Office/Samoa Blvd. going east. On Samoa Blvd./ Old Arcata Road, go straight through the traffic circle, and turn at the next left on to Crescent Way. At the 4-way stop sign turn left again onto Bayside Road. Our office is the second on the left, a light brown building, parking lot in front, at 827 Bayside Road.
Ted Humphry, M.D. this information last updated 7/2006
822-2441