Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is your physician board certified?

2. What are your office hours?

3. Do you accept walk-ins?

4. Is there anyone to answer my questions during the day?

5. Who do I talk to at night or on weekends?

6. What happens if my child needs to be seen after hours?

7. Who will see my newborn baby in the hospital?

8. To which hospital do you admit patients?

9. What labs or other tests do you do in the office?

10. What is your philosophy on breast-feeding vs. bottle feeding?

11. What is your opinion on circumcision?

12. How long is the waiting room time?

13. Do you call in prescriptions?

14. What insurance plans do you accept?

15. Do you accept Medicaid ?

16. Are you accepting new patients?

17. Which hospitals are you affiliated with?

18. What is your Immunization schedule ?

19. What are your thoughts on immunization?

20. What is your policy on antibiotics?

21. What do I do after my baby is born? When is our first visit?

22. How long do I have to wait to get an appointment?

23. What happens if I need a referral?

24. How do I transfer my child's medical and immunization records to your office?

25. What age group of patients do you see?

1. Is your physician board certified?
Yes, Dr. Tega is a board certified pediatrician. He is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. In addition, he is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

2. What are your office hours?
We are open for WELL and SICK appointments from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM Monday through Friday. We also have Saturday morning appointments from 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon for sick children only.  Saturday hours are not available during some summer months (generally from June to September) if the need arises. The office is closed on weekdays from 12:30 to 1:30 PM for lunch.

3. Do you accept walk-ins?
We do accept walk-ins at this time. However, to minimize your wait time, we encourage you to make an appointment for your visit. This allows us to serve you and all of our patients better because it allows us to keep wait times to a minimum. You should have no problem getting an appointment the same day you call if your child needs to be seen.

4. Is there anyone to answer my questions during the day?
Our nurses are always available to answer your call during the day and our goal is to return your non-emergent calls during business hours Monday through Friday. For all calls requiring the attention of the Provider, such calls will usually be returned within 24 hours. Our nurses can also provide you with triage services. This means that they can help you to decide whether or not you need to bring your child into the office. Our receptionist can connect you to the Triage nurse voice mail. Please leave your child’s full name (and spelling if necessary), DOB, phone number, and chief symptoms. Calls received prior to 3:00 PM will receive a call back that same day.

5. Who do I talk to at night or on weekends?
Your child’s pediatrician is on call every day for you and can generally be reached all evenings from 5:00 PM to 11:00 PM and weekends. If you have an urgent concern that cannot wait until regular business hours, you can reach us by calling our regular business line and you will be automatically transferred to the Answering Service. You may also call the Answering Service directly at 678-289-2978. Just call and give them some basic information (your child’s name, DOB, phone number), and they will page Dr. Tega or one of our providers, who will call you back, usually in less than twenty minutes. After 11:00 PM, our answering service sends calls to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Triage Phone Nurse.  In a non-life threatening emergency situation, tell the answering service, ”This is not an emergency, please page  the “doctor-on-call”, and Dr. Tega will be contacted, who will call you back as soon as possible.

6. What happens if my child needs to be seen after hours?
First, contact Dr. Tega through the Answering Service. He will discuss your child’s symptoms with you,along with home management options that might save you a trip to the emergency room. In the event that things cannot be managed at home, he will direct you to one of the local emergency rooms.

7. Who will see my newborn baby in the hospital?
Dr. Tega is on staff to see newborns at Piedmont Fayette Hospital, Fayetteville, and Southern Regional Medical Center, Riverdale. When you arrive at any of these hospitals to deliver your baby, remember to tell the labor and delivery personnel that you have chosen PrimeCare Pediatrics and Dr. Tega as your child’s pediatrician. They will notify us when your baby is born. Dr. Tega will generally see your baby within 24 hours. Babies born at other hospitals are usually seen by a staff pediatrician there.

8. To which hospital do you admit patients?
Dr. Tega has admitting privileges at Piedmont Fayette Hospital, Fayetteville, and Southern Regional Medical Center, Riverdale. If your child’s medical condition requires more care than available at these facilities, Dr. Tega has associate privileges and will refer your child to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where your child would be cared for by the staff pediatricians there. Dr. Tega also has privileges at Piedmont Newnan Hospital, Newnan.

9. What labs or other tests do you do in the office?
We do all basic laboratory tests in our office like urine analysis, strep, mono, flu, and RSV tests. We also do hemoglobin assay (screen for anemia) and Blood glucose levels. In addition, we are able to collect and send out cultures on blood, urine, stool, throat swabs and other body fluids, as well as collecting blood for the State-mandated Newborn Metabolic Diseases Tests (MDT) and lead screens. Our office also has the ability to do vision screens and advanced hearing screens to detect hearing problems in children of all ages from newborns. For more involved blood tests, we typically use the outpatient labs at the local hospitals (Piedmont Newnan Hospital, Newnan, Piedmont Fayette Hospital, Fayetteville, and Southern Regional Medical Center, Riverdale). Some insurance companies are specific and require that your child's specimen be sent to only Quest or Lab Corp. Outpatient Laboratories, and we also do that. We recommend that each parent be familiar with the requirements of their individual insurance plan. If in doubt, you may contact our office.

10. What is your philosophy on breast-feeding vs. bottle feeding?
Breast feeding has numerous advantages. We believe that it is the best source of nutrition for your baby. It is natural and does not require the complex preparations associated with formula feeds. We therefore encourage all mothers to breast feed. Even if you only breast feed one day, your baby will derive some benefit from it. There are many reasons why breast feeding is not an option for some families. There are some very good baby formulas available, and we will work with you to determine which is best for your baby.

11. What is your opinion on circumcision?
The decision whether or not to have this procedure done is usually a religious, cultural or cosmetic one. There is some evidence that circumcision helps avoid some diseases in adulthood, but this is not universally supported. Circumcision may be performed in the hospital prior to discharge by the obstetrician or in our office up to four weeks of age. Dr. Tega prefers to do his circumcisions at the baby’s first visit to the office. However, he can circumcise your male newborn in the hospital if you prefer to have it done there.

12. How long is the waiting room time?

Our waiting room time is typically about 5 to 10 minutes. Computers that are readily accessible from anywhere in our facility alert us exactly as to how many minutes anyone has been sitting in the lobby. This helps us to track your waiting time and to keep it within our goal of 5 to 10 minutes.

13. Do you call in prescriptions?
Yes. We do call in prescription refills. We can also send them electronically to the pharmacy of your choice. Our nursing staff can generally do this for certain medications such as those for allergies or asthma. This makes it easier and quicker for medications that you need to be refilled pretty quickly. New prescriptions have to be authorized by the doctor. Refills may be requested in three ways: having your pharmacy send us a refill request, by completing an online prescription request form from this web site, or by calling our office and or leaving a voice mail on our prescription refill line which has a turnaround time of approximately one business day.

14. What insurance plans do you accept?
At PrimeCare Pediatrics we accept most insurance plans. Please click here to see a list of the health insurance plans that we currently accept. If your insurance plan is not listed, you may call our office for verification. The health insurance market is very fluid and changes occur all the time.

15. Do you accept Medicaid?
YES. We are accepting new Medicaid patients. We are also accepting new patients on all the managed plans under Medicaid such as Amerigroup, Peach State and WellCare.

16. Are you accepting new patients?
Yes! We are accepting new patients on all insurance plans.

17. Which hospitals are you affiliated with?
Dr. Tega is actively on staff at Piedmont Fayette Hospital, and Southern Regional Medical Center. In addition, he is an affiliate staff member of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Piedmont Newnan Hospital, Newnan.

18. What is your Immunization schedule?
At PrimeCare Pediatrics, we follow the immunization schedule recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics for children and adolescents which can easily be found by following the links provided above. You do not have to memorize this complicated schedule because it is revised semi-annually. We keep track of these changes and at each check-up visit, we will let you know which immunizations your child need then and which vaccines will be due at the next visit.

19. What are your thoughts on immunization?
We believe that immunizations are beneficial to your child’s health. The United States Food and Drug Administration has a very meticulous regimen for approving vaccines, and we feel that they have approved and constantly recommend only vaccines which are safe, effective, and protect our children and others in our community from many serious diseases. Vaccines, like any medicine, have potential side effects; however, it is our belief at PrimeCare Pediatrics that the huge benefits of disease prevention far outweigh the risks of side effects posed by these vaccines. We encourage parents to be informed by reading reliable information about vaccines. Here are some links with up to date and useful materials:

www.cdc.gov
www.aap.org
www.immunizationinfo.org

20. What is your policy on antibiotics?
Antibiotics can be helpful to eradicate certain bacterial infections, such as streptococcal pharyngitis (strep throat) and pneumonia, for example. Because of inappropriate use of antibiotics through the years, there is growing resistance to antibiotics among certain types of bacteria. After appropriate examination and laboratory evaluation, if we feel your child needs an antibiotic, we will work with you to find one that is both appropriate and effective (and hopefully tastes good). We follow the recommended dosing and administration guidelines. There are many symptoms which may prompt you to inquire about the need for an antibiotic: earache, burning with urination, green nasal discharge, red sore throat, deep cough. Remember, these symptoms may reflect either a viral or bacterial disease process. If your child has any of these or other symptoms, we recommend an office visit and examination. They may also often need laboratory or x-ray tests to determine if an antibiotic treatment is appropriately required.  We do not call or send in antibiotics without seeing a patient.

21. What do I do after my baby is born? When is our first visit?
It is the practice nowadays to discharge healthy newborns from the hospital after 24 hours of delivery. Dr. Tega will usually see your newborn child in the hospital before discharge. However, we recommend that you bring your baby for an office visit within the first week, usually about 2-3 days after discharge from the hospital. Dr. Tega will let you know when he sees your baby in the hospital when you need to come in to the office. All babies receive a Newborn Metabolic Disease Test (called MDT or PKU) prior to hospital discharge. If this test is performed before your baby is 24 hours old, we will repeat this test at that first visit. Please remember that even if you have a scheduled normal newborn visit, schedule a sick appointment as soon as possible if your baby shows signs of jaundice, poor feeding, or illness immediately.

22. How long do I have to wait to get an appointment?
We are here to serve you. Our goal is to see every child that is sick on the same day if parents so desire. For sick visits, we do our best to see your child the same day you call. Well appointments (Routine Physicals, Camp or Sports physicals), may be scheduled at any time, and the wait times are also usually very short. A typical Well or Routine Physical, Camp or Sports Physical examination can be scheduled with Dr. Tega in our office within a matter of days.

23. What happens if I need a referral?
Most insurance plans do not need you to have a formal referral to a specialist depending on the circumstance. However, if you need a referral for special services or if in our opinion, we think your child needs, and will benefit from, a referral to a specialist, we will work with you and your insurance provider to find the best available approach.

24. How do I transfer my child's medical and immunization records to your office?
We encourage parents to obtain the medical records of their children, including records of all immunizations received from their child's previous physician, and make them available to our office for review before their first visit, if possible. Parents may obtain forms from our office for transfer of medical records to our office. This form can also be obtained from our web site. Completed forms may be dropped at our office and we will fax them to the relevant facility for processing. Medical records may be dropped at, faxed, or mailed to our office.

25. What age group of patients do you see?
We see all children between the ages of 0-18 years of age.