ABOUT US

We work hard to not overuse antibiotics.

We educate families on appropriate use of antibiotics, but follow evidence-based guidelines and don’t automatically treat ear pain or a green snotty nose with antibiotics.

We do not routinely prescribe antibiotics over the phone as we do not believe that is good medicine. We will prescribe an antibiotic when we believe it is an appropriate treatment.

Our practice makes every effort to run on time with appointments, as we believe everyone’s time is equally valuable. As a courtesy, we will remind you of your upcoming appointments via phone/text message/email.

We ask that you arrive 5 minutes before your scheduled appointment time. We understand sometimes things happen beyond your control that may cause you to be late. However, we reserve the right to ask you to reschedule if you arrive late for your appointment.

Missed appointments represent a cost to us, to you, and to other patients who could have been seen in the time set aside for you. Patients who miss or cancel their scheduled appointment without notifying our office more than 24 hours in advance will have a $40.00 fee applied to their account, depending on the health plan. It is your responsibility to arrive on time to your appointment or cancel the appointment at least 24 hours in advance.  After 3 family no-shows, Children’s Clinic of Pueblo reserves the right to discharge you from the practice.

For new patients, if you no-show to your first appointment, you will be discharged from the practice and will not be seen in the clinic.

Thank you for choosing Children’s Clinic of Pueblo as your child’s medical home.  We are committed to providing and maintaining the best possible care for our patients and your family.  Our doctors and staff provide equal access to all active patients regardless of source of payment.  When coming to your appointment, please always bring your insurance card and copay, as well as provide your current telephone number and address.

Your Insurance

We participate with numerous insurance companies and health plans including most local insurance plans and many national plans.  

It is your responsibility to provide current or updated insurance information at each appointment, and to ensure that your child’s coverage is active.

For newborns, please make sure to back-date your baby’s coverage to their date of birth.  You will be responsible for any dates of service not covered by your insurance.

If your insurance carrier requires a designated primary care physician (PCP), it is your responsibility to contact your insurance or health plan prior to your visit.

Please be aware that some insurance companies do not pay the entire doctor’s bill, therefore you may be responsible to pay for some of or all the balance.

Payments

At your appointment check-in, we will collect your office co-payment and any current balances.  We accept cash, checks, debit cards, Visa, and MasterCard.

Children’s Clinic of Pueblo reserves the right to reschedule your appointment if you arrive unprepared to settle your outstanding financial obligation or are unprepared to pay your co-payment.

Payment can be made over the phone, through the mail, in the office or on the patient portal.

If your scheduled visit is for a “Well Visit”, and additional time is spent by your doctor to address acute care or “sick” issues, there may be additional charges for those services.

Payment Arrangements

If you are unable to make a full payment of the account balance when due, arrangements for a payment plan can be made.  Please call our office Monday through Friday 8:00 am through 4:30 pm and speak to the Billing Department.

Insufficient Funds

We charge $40.00 for all checks returned by the bank for insufficient funds.

Credit Card on File

The Children’s Clinic of Pueblo will retain a credit card on file for all family balances. 

Missed Appointments

A missed appointment prevents our office from providing care to other patients. Patients who miss or cancel their scheduled appointment without notifying our office more than 24 hours in advance will have a $40.00 fee applied to their account, depending on the health plan. It is your responsibility to arrive on time to your appointment or cancel the appointment at least 24 hours in advance.  After 3 family no-shows, Children’s Clinic of Pueblo reserves the right to discharge you from the practice due to frequent missed appointments.

Financial Obligations

We reserve the right to discharge you from the practice in the event you are non-compliant with your financial obligations.

Minor Patients

Patients under the age of 18 require parental consent for any treatment or immunization except as permitted by Colorado law. The parent/guardian accompanying the minor patient will be responsible for payment of all services rendered, at the time of service, whether the account is considered self-pay or participating insurance.

Efficiency through the use of technology

You will be encouraged to consult our website, register for and use our patient portal, and effectively use automated reminders for appointments and for routine care/immunizations that are due.

As medical professionals, we feel very strongly that vaccinating children on schedule with currently available vaccines is absolutely the right thing to do for all children and young adults. We are making you aware of these facts not to scare you or coerce you, but to emphasize the importance of vaccinating your child. We are more than willing to discuss any questions you may have about vaccines, but do require all new patients to our practice to adhere to the vaccination schedule endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

• We firmly believe in the effectiveness of vaccines to prevent serious illness and to save lives.
• We firmly believe in the safety of our vaccines.
• We firmly believe that all children and young adults should receive all of the recommended vaccines according to the schedule published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
• We firmly believe, based on all available literature, evidence, and current studies, that vaccines do not cause autism or other developmental disabilities.
• We firmly believe that thimerosal, a preservative that has been in vaccines for decades and remains in some vaccines, does not cause autism or other developmental disabilities.
• We firmly believe that vaccinating children and young adults may be the single most important health promoting intervention we perform as health care providers, and that you can support as parents/caregivers.

The recommended vaccines and the schedule of administration are the results of years and years of scientific study and data-gathering on millions of children by thousands of our brightest scientists and physicians.

The vaccine campaign is truly a victim of its own success. It is precisely because vaccines are so effective at preventing illness that we are even discussing whether or not they should be given. Because of vaccines, many of you have never seen a child with polio, tetanus, whooping cough, bacterial meningitis, or even chickenpox, or known a friend or family member whose child died of one of these diseases. Such success can make us complacent or even lazy about vaccinating. But such an attitude, if it becomes widespread, can only lead to tragic results.

Over the past several years, many people in Europe have chosen not to vaccinate their children with the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine after publication of an unfounded suspicion (later retracted) that the vaccine caused autism. As a result of under-immunization, there have been small outbreaks of measles and several deaths from complications of measles in Europe over the past several years. The United States experienced a record number of measles cases during 2019, with 1282 cases from 31 states reported to CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). This is the greatest number of cases since measles elimination was documented in the U.S. in 2000.

Furthermore, we firmly believe that by not vaccinating your child, you are taking selfish advantage of thousands of others who do vaccinate their children, which decreases the likelihood that a child will contract one of these diseases. We feel such an attitude to be self-centered and unacceptable. Even delaying or “breaking up the vaccines” to give one or two at a time over additional visits goes against expert recommendations, is not supported by any scientific data, can lead to unnecessary delays and errors, and can put your child, other children, and adults at risk for serious illness (or even death). It is therefore against our medical advice as professionals at Children's Clinic of Pueblo.