Summer/Autumn 2007

Many of you might have noticed the new signs and the new announcements about our new service—ReadyCare—which provides walk-in care for simple illness or injury.

Some of you have seen Partners in Pediatrics’ staff wearing ReadyCare buttons. Maybe you’ve heard the on-hold message on the phone. And we know that many of you have already used it.

So what’s this all about? ReadyCare is PIP’s new clinic within a clinic. It’s an exciting new way to think about health care for your child. Nobody wants health care to become more complicated, more confusing or more time consuming.

Ready Care is the answer.

All we have done is make the process simpler for parents. We eliminated the need to call for an appointment time. We made it easier for you to come into the clinic when you want to come in. We made it effortless to get quality care for your children when there is a simple illness or injury.

What happens when the day care calls and says your child has pink-eye? What happens when your child wakes up and complains of an earache? What if your toddler falls off the couch and won’t stop crying? What do you do?

You do ReadyCare.

Here’s how it works: Your child has an acute illness or injury. You show up at any of our clinics during regular hours or at our Maple Grove clinic after hours. A chart is made, your name is called and you are seen by a ReadyCare provider. Simple.

On June 1, 2007, we began to offer ReadyCare at all sites, all day. Within days many families were just coming in, having their chart pulled and being seen as a ReadyCare patient. Their wait was reasonable, their
chart was available, they saved time by not having to call ahead and they were seen by a pediatric provider in a familiar setting.

We surveyed about 400 families in the first week of June and 99 percent of them were very pleased with the new service. Some comments included: "I’ll give you an A+, I was expecting it to be a really long wait, but I was seen very quickly"....."I truly like the ability to still be able to come in and be seen, even though there might not be any opening with my provider. It has been an overall great experience because you are so close to our home"....."I like to walk in whenever a child is sick. I don’t want to schedule an appointment, I just want to be able to walk in and solve the problem."

This new clinic within a clinic is not meant to eliminate your option to see the provider you usually see, or your choice to have a scheduled appointment. We still encourage you to try to see your usual provider
for simple problems with a scheduled appointment. If you have a complicated or ongoing health problem, you should call ahead and arrange an appointment as you always have. Appointments for chronic illnesses
and well child exams will continue to be scheduled with your primary care provider since this is not typically what we will see in ReadyCare.

So try us out. We’re ready.

READY CARE HOURS
Monday- Friday 8 am-5 pm at all clinics
Monday- Thursday 5 pm-8:30 pm at Maple Grove
Saturday-Sunday 8:30 am-1:30 pm at Maple Grove
No need to call, just come in!