Office Hours and Scheduling

Our office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 A.M. to Noon, and 1:30 P.M. to 5:00 P.M.  On Thursdays, we are open half day.  The Office is closed on weekends and all major holidays unless we are on call. Patients or referring physicians may schedule appointment by calling our main number 806-353-7900. The time allotted for each appointment depends on the nature of the problem. In the event that you need to change, or cannot keep your appointment, please advise the office ASAP by calling our main number 806-353-7900

Office Appointments

It is Our Policy that any child who needs to be seen for an acute illness or injury will be offered an appointment for that day.  In the event that you need to change, or cannot keep your appointment, please notify us as early as possible (preferably at least 24 hours prior to the appointment time) so that we can offer your appointment to another patient. Appointments that are canceled with less than one-hour notice will be counted as a missed appointment. We reserve the right to dismiss a patient (and the family) from the practice if there have been three or more missed appointment.

New patients and children scheduled for well visit or physicals are asked to arrive 15 minutes prior to their appointment time to fill out patient information and/or medical forms.  Please bring your insurance cards and/or information with you, as we will need to make copies for your file. Also, note that we need to update this information yearly (as well whenever your address, phone number, or insurance information changes) in order to have a valid authorization to bill your insurance.

If you have a question, we encourage you to call during our regular office hours. Our experienced nurses are train to help you. If you need to speak with your doctor, your call will be returned between patients, during lunch or after 5:00 p.m. Our policy is to have our patients speak to our triage nurse when calling for an appointment for an illness.  This is so that we can provide you with timely advice and care.

Except for emergencies (asthma attacks, lacerations, etc.), please do not bring your child to the office to be examined if he or she does not have an appointment. We can improve diagnostic accuracy and minimize waiting room delays for both you and other patients if you’ll be courteous enough to call ahead for appointments.

Well Child Visits: appointments are scheduled up to 3 months in advance.

Acute Visits: Time daily is set aside for acute problems. Please call the office as early in the day as possible if you’d like an appointment when your child is ill.

Rescheduled Appointments: We recommend and greatly appreciate that you call the office 48 hours in advance to make or change an appointment. This will give another child the opportunity to use your original appointment time. If you are running late or are unable to make an appointment, please let us know as soon as possible

Family Appointments:  Please do not ask the doctor to “just take a quick look” at another child “as long as we are here.” “Quick peeks” lead to diagnostic inaccuracies and an additional fee, which your insurance will not cover.

Walk-ins: Our office policy is that we do not accept walk-ins in order to minimize the waiting time, and not inconvenience patients with previously scheduled appointments. Please call us first t schedule an appointment in the event that you child needs to be seen. We do our best to schedule appointments all children who really need to be seen in the same day.

Cancelations: If you need to cancel or reschedule an appointment, particularly a well visit or consultation, please do so at least 24 hours in advance. A significant amount of time is allotted for these appointments and we would like to offer this time to other patients if you are unable to keep your appointment. Repeated routine appointments missed or cancelled with less than 24 hours notice will cause a dismissal form.

We welcome your questions and are here to help you in your important task of raising a happy healthy child. During regular clinic hours there is a nurse available by phone to help you with your questions and concerns. Our nurses have your child’s medical record available for documentation as well as accurate information on his/her medical history. They are best able to make recommendations in keeping with the medical advice of your child’s physician. They have been instructed in specific information to give about common pediatric illnesses and will consult with a physician prior to giving advice if there is an unusual problem. We have found it difficult for physicians to receive telephone calls and maintain an appointment schedule without creating long waits for patients in the office. Some problems cannot be evaluated over the telephone and you will be instructed to schedule an appointment. A nurse will return your call within 1 or 2 hours–usually much sooner. PLEASE LET THE RECEPTIONIST KNOW RIGHT AWAY IF YOUR CALL IS AN EMERGENCY.

If your child needs emergency attention at any time, dial 911 immediately to reach Emergency Medical Services. If possible, we urge that you phone 806-3537900 before coming to the office to ensure immediate attention upon your arrival.

You may call our office after normal working hours by calling our main number 806-353-7900. The call will be answered by our answering service.  TLC Pediatric of Amarillo shares medical coverage with Panhandle Pediatrics.  TLC is on call every forth night and one weekend a month. Panhandle Pediatrics charges callers a fee of $15.00 for each call placed after hours and/or on weekend.  TLC Pediatric of Amarillo dose not charge any fees for calls after hours and/or weekends. While we have no control over Panhandle Pediatrics office policies, we strongly suggest that you limit your call to urgent problems, serious concerns and emergencies. To avoid such a cost, we recommend that calls requesting medical advice be made when our office is open.

For existing illnesses that require a periodic medication refill, please call during office hours to refill your child’s medication, and have your prescription and pharmacy telephone numbers ready. Please do not call for routine medication refills after hours.

For new prescriptions, we ask that you make an appointment to see one of our doctors. It is difficult to make an accurate diagnosis over the phone. An examination can help ensure that your child receives the proper treatment.

Prescriptions for ADD/ADHD require a 24-hour notice. By Texas state law, the prescription must be in writing and filled within 7 days. ADD/ADHD prescriptions cannot be phoned in to a pharmacy. These prescriptions must be picked up at the office; they cannot be mailed. Please call during regular office hours to request a refill.

We will file and accept assignment of insurance benefits from insurance companies for who we are contracted providers. We will bill your insurance company after each visit. It is your responsibility to keep your insurance and personal information current in our files. However, co-payment and non-covered charges are the responsibility of the parent and/or the guardian who present and/or authorize the patient to our office, and are payable at the time of service. We cannot bill your insurance company unless you provide us with your updated and correct insurance information. Your insurance policy is a contract between you and your insurance company. We are not a party a party to that contract. Please be aware that some, and perhaps all, of the services provided may be non-covered services, and not considered reasonable and necessary under your insurance plan. You will be responsible for contacting your insurance company prior to your scheduled appointment to obtain benefits information. Our practice is committed to providing you the best treatment for our patient. We charge what is usual and customary for our area. Any balance remaining on your account for services not covered by your insurance company will be your responsibility. We send bills out on the 1^st and the 15^th day of each month and payments are due on receipt of these bills. We do not verify insurance coverage. You will need to call your insurance company and verify participation your network coverage.

TLC Pediatrics of Amarillo has agreed to file insurance for patients who participate in these plans. In order to do this as accurately as possible, we MUST see your child’s insurance card at each visit and if you participate with a managed care program, one of our physicians’ names must appear on the card.

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE YOUR CHILD’S INSURANCE CARD AT EACH VISIT OR ANOTHER PHYSICIAN NAME APPEARS ON THE CARD, YOU MAY BE ASKED TO SIGN A WAIVER AND LEAVE PAYMENT AT THE TIME OF VISIT. Continued non-compliance with presenting insurance verification at each visit may result in termination of care.

• We will, in some cases, accept a paper copy of online eligibility at Check-In as long as it includes: patient’s name, proof of eligibility for medical services on the date of service and online address of contracted insurer. We will NOT verify coverage by telephone or internet when you present for a visit. It is the parent’s responsibility to have this information available to whoever is presenting the child for a visit (spouse, grandparent, nanny, etc.).
• We collect all co-payments at the time services are rendered and file insurance on a daily basis.
• Any services that are deemed to be family responsibility (additional copays, coinsurance, deductible, etc.) or that are considered non-covered by your insurance will be put to patient balance and are due immediately.
• Any services that we file with your insurance that are not responded to any time after 90 days from the date of service may be transferred to patient balance. This balance will remain the responsibility of the family until payment is received or written correspondence is received by the insurance company verifying that payment is forthcoming from them.
• A monthly statement will be sent to you detailing unpaid charges. If you have questions regarding items which have not been paid by your insurance, we ask that you contact your insurance company or employer as benefit packages vary by employer.

There is an additional charge for visits after 5:00 pm Monday-Friday and for Saturday and Sunday visits.

If we do not participate with your insurance plan, we ask that you pay in full at the time services are rendered. We will provide you with a form suitable for filing with your insurance company. You need only to fill out your portion of the insurance claim form, attach our encounter form and mail to your insurance company.

TLC Pediatrics of Amarillo believes that such matters should not enter into a child’s medical treatment. “Joint Custody” means that each parent has equal access to the child’s medical records. Unless we have a court order that states the contrary, our office is legally obligated to disclose medical information to both parents/legal guardians.  For those families where parents are separated or divorced, the parent authorizing treatment and bringing the child to be seen is responsible to us for payment. All payments are due when services are rendered.

Please be advised of our office policy concerning this sensitive matter:

• We will NOT prevent either parent from reviewing their child’s chart, obtaining their child’s test results, or from scheduling an appointment to be seen.
• We will NOT call the other parent for consent prior to treatment.
• We will NOT fax, email or call any health information to either parent.
• We will discuss with the attending parent information pertinent to the child’s history and/or present exam. It is the responsibility of the parents to communicate with each other about the patient’s care, office dates/visits and any other pertinent information relevant to the care of the child.
• If there is a dispute between the parents regarding custody and a custody agreement has been reached, we will need to obtain a copy of the agreement for the child/children’s file. The individual who is requesting the medical treatment is responsible for the payment of the medical bills. We will collect co-pays and deductibles from the attending parent or legal guardian. It is our policy that co-pays and account balances are due at the time of service from the parent, guardian, or caretaker who brings the child in for the appointment. The parent or legal guardian who COMPLETES and SIGNS our Financial Policy Form will be considered the GUARANTOR REGARDLESS OF INSURANCE COVERAGE.
• If at any time legal matters become too intrusive for our staff, we reserve the right to dismiss the patient from our office.
• In the case of contracted insurance only, co-payment is due at the time services are rendered. Subsequently all charges deemed parent responsibility by the contracted insurer are due TLC Pediatrics of Amarillo by the parent who authorized treatment.
• If the divorce decree requires the other parent to pay all or part of the treatment costs, it is the authorizing parent’s responsibility to collect from the other parent. TLC Pediatric of Amarillo will not act as a mediator in collecting our payments. A copy of the bill with appropriate insurance coding will be given to the authorizing parent at each visit.
• If the account is not resolved in a timely manner, the authorizing parent’s information will be submitted to our collection agency. Non-compliance with this policy may result in transfer of care to another practice.

If you are transferring to TLC Pediatrics of Amarillo (Dr. Maaytah) from another practice, we appreciate your entrusting us with your child’s health care.  To help you request a transfer of your records from your previous physician, you need to sign the Records Release Form and send it to your previous physician’s office.

We are always sorry to have patients transfer out of our practice, but we understand that there are valid reasons for doing so.  To help you request a transfer of your records to another office or clinic, we have provided below a Records Release Form.  The blank form may be printed and then filled out by hand, or you may fill out the form electronically while online, then print the completed form.  Be sure to sign the form, and we would appreciate knowing the reason for your transfer.  The signed form may be brought or mailed to our office to request your records to be transferred.  Please allow two weeks for your records transfer request to be processed.