Category: News

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There’s no doubt about it – raising kids during the pandemic has been challenging. COVID-19 has interrupted and changed our way of life. From managing your child’s healthcare and education to working remote, parents are challenged to get it all done. During this time, missed doctor appointments and vaccinations were common and they have left children and their families at risk.

Now with safety measures in place, returning to your child’s pediatrician for catch-up care is easier and more important than ever before. This is the time to return to your child’s physician to catch-up on past-due vaccinations and well-child visits. Our practice continues to provide you with the best care and service during this challenging time. Call 847-295-1220 for an appointment.

Your Child’s Medical Home

Lake Forest Pediatrics is your child’s Medical Home. We are here to serve your family at every stage of your child’s development with comprehensive care. Our board-certified pediatricians and nurse practitioners know your child’s medical history, we provide developmental and mental health screenings, and we consult with you on specialized issues such as depression, ADHD, weight management and adolescent services.

In contrast, pharmacists are not aware of your child’s medical history, do not have a long-term trusting relationship with your family, and do not provide comprehensive health services to children. Read the American Academy of Pediatricians’ response to the recent move allowing pharmacists to administer vaccines to children ages 3-18 years: HHS action on pharmacy vaccination ‘misguided’.

Catch-Up on Vaccines and Well-Child Visits

Now’s the time to catch-up on your child’s immunizations and well-child visits. Our three convenient offices are open to serve you, with a full range of medical services for all children, ages newborn to 21-years. We’re here when you need us, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. Call 847-295-1220 for an appointment. We look forward to seeing you!

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UPDATE 10-13-2020

We have received a shipment of our flu vaccine and have resumed booking flu shot appointments. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Please call 847-295-1220 for an appointment.

UPDATE: 10-7-2020

The good news is that people are getting their influenza (flu) shots this year. The bad news is that flu vaccine supplies have run short and the vaccine manufacturer Sanofi is behind on vaccine deliveries to health care providers, including Lake Forest Pediatric Associates.

We ordered over 10,000 flu shots for this fall, but due to the manufacturer’s distribution issues, we’ve received a limited number of flu vaccine doses. Because of this, flu vaccine appointments are NOT currently available at our offices. When additional vaccines have been received (hopefully soon) and we can resume scheduling flu vaccine appointments, we will post about it on our website and social media profiles.

9-8-2020

With Flu Season coming on the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s more important than ever to do what we can to reduce the spread of these respiratory illnesses. Flu (Influenza) Season typically occurs in the Fall and Winter, sometimes extending into the Summer months. Influenza is a contagious respiratory illness that can cause mild to severe illness, sometimes resulting in hospitalization and even death. Learn more about the flu here.

Flu vaccines protect against the three or four flu viruses that are expected to be most common that season. Because of their beneficial effects, flu vaccines are recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and CDC for everyone 6 months of age and older. For more information about flu vaccines, read this recent article from CDC: Frequently Asked Influenza (Flu) Questions: 2020-2021 Season.

Get the Flu Vaccine at your Child’s Medical Home

Lake Forest Pediatrics offers the flu vaccine to our patients through our Annual Fall Flu Clinics. Please call us at 847-295-1220 to make your child’s appointment. Read about the importance of visiting your regular physician for vaccinations and well-child visits here.

The health and safety of our patients, their parents, and our staff is our primary concern. For the sake of everyone’s safety, we’re modifying the flow of patients in our offices to accommodate the flu clinics. Read about the safety measures in place at all Lake Forest Pediatrics’ offices, including social distancing and mask wearing, and view our screening processes on our website home page.

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Lake Forest Pediatrics is pleased to announce that we will now be offering telemedicine visits!

We can provide telemedicine services for your child for issues such as rash, conjunctivitis (pinkeye), allergies, styes, ear pain, vomiting/diarrhea, lacerations (to figure out if your child needs stitches!), or if your child has a cough and you’d like us to assess his/her breathing or have questions.

When contacting our office, our staff will ask you some follow-up questions in order to determine if a telemedicine visit is an appropriate option for your child.

If your child is scheduled with a specific provider, you will be sent an email with the website to go to at the time of your child’s appointment. If your appointment is during our telehealth “sick call” in the afternoon, you will be called by the provider with their website when they are ready to see your child. Please use a computer or device (such as a smartphone) with a good internet connection and webcam, and use an up to date version of Chrome or Firefox. Here is a video that demonstrates how to check in to your provider’s virtual waiting room: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJf9N9sjDLI#action=share. If you run into issues connecting, restart your computer/device or check out http://help.doxy.me.

In consenting to a telemedicine visit, you agree to:

•Login when instructed by your provider with your child nearby. We can better assess your child if you are in a well-lit area. If possible, please have a flashlight on hand (you can also use the one on your phone).

•Check and record your child’s temperature and weight prior to the appointment. If your child has respiratory symptoms and you have access to a pulse oximeter, please also check this vital sign.

•You understand that a telemedicine cannot fully replace an in-office visit. You understand and accept the limitations associated with a telemedicine visit.

•You consent to treatment via the telemedicine platform.

•Please note that if the visit goes toward patient responsibility (deductible/coinsurance), our regular financial policies will apply regarding payments.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to call the office.

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We’re pleased to announce the launch of our new text patient appointment reminder and communication system. The new system offers many convenient benefits to our families, including the following:

• text appointment reminders
• text pre-appointment screening questions (regarding COVID symptom checking)
• on-demand texts with patients who are in waiting in the parking lot

We’re excited to offer this new, convenient way of communicating with our patients!

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The safety of our patients, their parents and our staff is our primary concern at Lake Forest Pediatric Associates. In this new era, we have undertaken numerous measures to continue to provide safe and effective care to your children.

All of our staff have their temperatures taken twice daily per current CDC and IDPH guidelines and we are enforcing a strict “do not come to work sick” policy. We are employing universal masking for every staff member and enforcing social distancing.

We have discontinued walk-in sick call hours and now only see sick children in the late afternoon by appointment. We have implemented telemedicine visits to provide virtual care when possible.

We are currently seeing healthy children for checkups (primarily at ages that require vaccines) and appropriate medical follow up visits all morning and the first half of the afternoon. For the protection of other patients and staff, before your appointment, you will receive a screening phone call to make sure all members of the family are currently healthy.

We request that only one adult accompany the child into the office. We will ask you and, when possible, your child to wear masks and will provide them if necessary. We will minimize waiting room times and may ask you to wait in your vehicle until an exam room is available. At the front desk, you will notice tape markings on the floor to ensure a safe distance between you and our staff members. At the conclusion of every visit, we thoroughly clean the exam rooms.

Our COVID health and safety team constantly reviews and updates our policies based on the most current recommendations from the CDC and IDPH. Our goal is to continue to provide you with the best care and service during this challenging time. Thank you for your continued support.

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Lake Forest Pediatric Associates is proud to announce our NEW Virtual Prenatal Visits for expectant parents!

Are you expecting a baby and wondering about your child’s care? We’re here for you! In addition to offering Virtual Telemedicine appointments for many childhood health issues, we now offer Virtual Prenatal Visits.

Join us for a Virtual Visit! Learn about our pediatricians, nurse practitioners, services, and parent education. This is the perfect virtual opportunity to meet our staff, tour our offices, and ask important questions before your baby arrives.

Please call 847-295-1220, Ext. 5380 to schedule your visit. You may also schedule your visit by email at info@lakeforestpediatrics.com – please be sure to include your phone number so we can call you. Our staff will work with our providers to coordinate a convenient date and time to meet you. Looking forward to seeing you soon!

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Happy Thanksgiving! All of us at Lake Forest Pediatric Associates are GRATEFUL for you and the trust you place in us with your precious kids. Enjoy your family time together over the Thanksgiving Holidays.

Please make a note of our special holiday hours this month:

Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, 11-26-20:

Lake Bluff Office – Open only for Urgent Care, Open in AM only, no Walk-In Sick Call, Phones will be Open 8am – 12pm

Lindenhurst Office – Closed

Vernon Hills Office – Closed

Friday, 11-27-20:

Lake Bluff and Lindenhurst Offices will be open normal business hours. Phones will be Open 8:00am – 5:00pm

Vernon Hills Office – Closed

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We’re proud to be caring for your family! Lake Forest Pediatric Associates is happy to announce that our Lindenhurst and Lake Bluff offices are now open for Well Visits for All Ages. Call 847-295-1220 for an appointment.

AAP Recommends Well Child Visits

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents continue to bring their children for well child visits and to continue to follow their child’s vaccination schedule. Read more about it here: Pediatricians Want Parents to Keep Children’s Vaccination Appointments amid Coronavirus. 

Call for an Appointment

Please call 847-295-1220 to make an appointment for well child visits and vaccines at all offices.

Continued Safety

Caring for our patients, their parents, and our staff and keeping them safe continues to be our primary concern. During this stay-at-home time, it’s important to visit your provider for your child’s preventative care. We offer separate times dedicated solely to well visits and we’re taking extra precautions to keep our patients and staff safe.

-We continue to separate well visit and sick visit times for the day. Well visit appointment slots account for the vast majority of the day (morning through early afternoon) with sick visit times in the late afternoon (and not coinciding with well visits).

-Our front desk and nurse educators continue to apply screening questions for appointments.

-We continue to adhere to universal PPE protocols, having our staff in masks and using gloves, face shields, and gowns where necessary, and issuing masks to patients who need them.

-We continue to advocate that patients wait in their car until called back for their appointment. In addition, we limit the number of people in the waiting room and we adhere to social distancing recommendations.

Read our blog article here: Lake Forest Pediatrics Providing Safe & Effective Care.

Insurance Changes

If your health insurance coverage may be changing, it’s a good idea to utilize your family’s current insurance plan for your child’s covered visits. Schedule your child’s checkups and vaccinations by calling 847-295-1220.

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We’re excited to announce a significant upgrade to our Patient Portal!

In addition to the key features you’ve come to expect, the new portal will offer additional benefits. The new portal will enable enhanced engagement opportunities between families and Lake Forest Pediatric Associates. In addition, all features will be accessible from any digital device, including your desktop computer, laptop, or mobile device (tablet or smartphone).

The portal upgrade begins May 19th and the portal will not be available to patients for one week.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Login to the portal NOW to verify that we have your correct email address.

2. Save and Print any messages you’d like to keep. The messages will not be available on the new portal.

3. If desired, download any health information you’ll need to have on hand during the portal upgrade process. The portal will not be available for one week. After the upgrade, your health information will be available again.

4. When the new portal is up (approximately May 26th), please contact our office to request access to our new portal. We then will verify the information necessary for us to send an invite to the parent/parents granting you access to our new portal. Once we do that, you will receive an email from us with instructions on registering for our new portal. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Questions? We’re happy to help! Please call our office: 847-295-1220.