Dr Raley's Blog

SFH Urgent Care

On July 21st, the Children's Urgent Care Clinic will be closing and moving to the ER at SFH.  The new name will be Pediatric Emergency  Center.  The good news is that the director will be  the only board certified Pediatric Emergeny Physician in Tulsa, CeCe Guthrie.  The hours will be from 11am to 11pm daily.

The bad news is that clinic will require you to go through the ER at SFH and be triaged first.  Parking will be difficult and you will not be able to make an appt.  So for pediatric trauma and true emergencies this is a great thing, however for most of the visits to CHUCC-this is going to be very time consuming and inconvienent. 

So what are you going to do?  First, please do not go to the local adult urgent care unless you absolutely have to.   In addition, do not go to the "Urgi Clinics" that are available at Wal Mart and soon at Walgreens.   

I will try and make myself available as possible on the weekend.  As in a previous entry,  Dr O'Sullivan will be helping me some on Mondays/Friday.  I am also in the planning stages of Pediatric Urgent Care-separate from my office-located around 91st Memorial.  However this is still a few months away. 

Jennifer and I have been working on updating the web site to include more information that will helpful after hours.  We are going back and looking at every question that has been left on the nurse line over the past year and will add this to the website.  This obviously will not replace me or an urgent care visit if it is truly needed, but may give you some valuable information to get you "through the night."

I will keep you updated as things progress

I am going to  see the Foo Fighters in OKC on Thursday.  Cannot wait. 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CszYl9GH8Jg&feature=related

Phone Calls/ E Mails

Beginning this weekend, there may  be a charge ($15) for all emails and phone calls received after hours.  I understand that this will upset some of you, however my availability has made it too convienent for alot of questions that are certainly not an emergency and could wait to be handled by the nurses the following morning-as I often tell you, Brooke and Jennifer are experienced pediatric RN's (BSN),-and I have hired them to help give you the best care possible. 

You all have to remember that with each message from you I have a professional liability and must document each encounter into your chart.  Not only must I document this information but I have to remember certain things about your child that may influence my treatment plan.  I have over 4000 active charts so you can imagine the number of calls and emails that I receive.  It is typical to have 3-5 phone calls/emails each evening and 15-20 each weekend day.  So even though  typical email may say -"just a quck question"-it is far from quick for me, and becomes disruptive for my family. 

If you need me, I am here.  24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.  Most Saturdays available for Sat clinic and also planning on having Dr. Stacy O'Sullivan work in my office for a few hours on Mondays and Fridays beginning in August to help with increasing well check availability and and sick visits in the winter (more on this in a future post) .

If it is after hours and you would like to schedule an appt the following day, feel free to continuing using the email of   drraley@mac.com

Credit Card Policy

We are in the  beginning stages of switching over to a different credit card processing company.  The new system will allow us to store credit card numbers -obviously encrypted-and off  site.  These numbers will not be in our system-but accessible.    By having the credit card number available to us, once your EOB has been received by us and there is a "patient responsibility" balance, we will run the credit card.  

We are doing this to help with our cash flow.  My practice is expensive to operate.  I purchase about 300K of vaccine every year and remember that Brooke and Jennifer are both RN's, (BSN)  something that you rarely see in  most outpatient practices.   

How it typically works, unless you have a deductible, you come in  and pay your copay, then we bill your insurance company.  It can be anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks after the appt. when we receive the check from the insurance company.  Then if there is a patient balance is may be another 30-45 days before we receive that balance.  It is possible for it to be up to 3 months from the time of service before the total office visit is paid for-and this is interest free.  

Medicine is the only profession that gets paid this way.  Every other transaction in your daily life is paid for in its entirety at time of service.  Unfortunately I have seen people over the last 2 years that have outstanding balances who either pay me very slowly or in many cases just refuse to pay me.  

We will  begin the implementation slowly over the next 18 months, with the expectation that by Jan 2010, all families will have a credit card number on file.    For families new to my practice, this will begin Sept 1, 2008.  ie:  for a new family to my practice, they must either have a credit card on file with my office or pay 90% of the visit charge at time of service.  

We do our best to know what your responsibility is at each office visit-however sometimes your insurance company does not give us the correct information and it is different on the EOB.  

I understand that this is may seem intrusive, but while I strive to provide the best care possible, I also have a small business to run.  

Any questions you have about this please either ask me or call and discuss with Lindsey.  

Thursday Afternoons

This is the time of year when Dr Raley starts to take Thursday afternoons off.  Starting today.  So if you need an appointment on Thursday call early.  The nurses line will be open to answer questions until 5:00 pm.  The nurse will get a hold of Dr Raley if necessary on a Thursday afternoon about your child.  There  will be some Thursdays when he will work all day, it will just depend on his schedule and what we are seeing in the office.  The front office will also be open until 5:00pm to answer any questions about billing or insurance or schedule an appointment.

Holiday Hours

The office will be closed on New Years Day.  We will be open regular office hours on Wed.  The Saint Francis Childrens Hospital Urgent Care Clinic will be closed tonight and tomorrow. 

You can make appts via the email for Wed if you would like.

Any medicine that I need to call in after hours for your child, either new RX or refill, there will be a $25 charge. 

12/31

Hours on Monday 7:30 to about 3, closed Tues, reg. hours on Wed. 

Holiday Hours

Sat:  10-11am, by appt only, $25 administrative fee plus regular copay

Monday:  8-2

Tues: closed

Wed:  regular office hours

If you need to be seen on Sunday-page me before going to CHUCC. 

CHUCC hours:  Regular  Sat/Sun,  11-10,   12/24, 11-5,   12/25-closed. 

Etc

Thanks for your patience on letting me get through football season.  Will begin Saturday clinics on a regular basis through the winter starting this week.   

Check out the website   honestbaby.com.   I think most of you will like it and see some similarities from my practice style regarding parenting topics. 

If you are an OSU fan and easily offended-stop reading now.  But all is well in the universe when OU pounds OSU in football.  Most of the OSU fans  had left by the 4th quarter-is Gundy still the man?  Well I mean he is a man and he is 40 (see youtube.com for this reference-search Mike Gundy-very funny tirade.)

I guess there is always basketball but I am not sure if Sean Sutton has what his dad had.  But OU basketball has its own issues-so I will just worry about my team for the present.  At least the cheater Sampson is gone-up to his same old ways at Indiana. 

Begin to send me your Holiday pics. 

We are getting closer to having a new website that will be more interactive.  I am also ready to start doing some short video clips about the office-any ideas?  Raley's Anatomy?  Something about how that sounds seems just a little weird. 

Enjoy decorating for the holiday.  We have started at home-but you know my baby will be here in 19 days. 

Urgent Care for Thanksgiving

SFH Peds Urgent Care clinic will be open on Wed from 6p to 10p.  The number is 494-2553.  They (like my office will be closed on Thanksgiving)  I will be open on Friday at 8am. 

For any medication that needs to be refilled or called in on Thanksgiving there will be a $25 administrative fee charged to your account. 

Have a nice holiday.  Try a Fullers ESB if you are looking for a new beer to try. 

Office Hours Thanksgiving Weekend

Open Wed at 8.  Will work until the phones stop ringing.  Closed on Thursday.  Friday will open at 8 and work until about 3.  No Sat clinic this weekend.