1. How can I speak to a doctor after office hours or on weekends?

If you are concerned for your child’s safety or if immediate urgent care is required, you should always call 911 or proceed to the closest emergency room, whichever is appropriate.

For physician advice, evening and weekend coverage rotates among Dr. Trover and several other pediatric staff members at Newton Medical Center. You can reach the “on-call” physician after hours by dialing our main number, 770-787-4122. Your call routes to our answering service, where you can leave a message and callback number. They will forward your request to the covering physician or the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Nurseline, who will call you back. Please make sure that the number you provide for callback is available.

PLEASE NOTE: The physician on call does not always know your child and does not have access to his/her medical history. For this reason, the physician on call will not phone in a prescription for your child. Requests for routine prescription refills and for appointments should be handled with the office staff during normal business hours.


2. Do you see walk-in patients? (Patients without appointments.)

Walk-in patients are seen for sick visits only from 8:30-9:15 AM. In the winter “sick” season, there are occasionally too many walk-in patients to be seen on a given morning. If this happens, the front desk will make every effort to provide you a scheduled appointment later in the same day. On very rare occasions, if Dr. Trover is going to be out of the office, no walk in care will be available. If that happens, you will be directed to another facility that can provide walk-in care.


3. How can I get my child’s prescription refilled?

Call the office during business hours. We request 24 hour notice for medication refills. Prescriptions not picked up within 7 days of request are destroyed.

Prescriptions for controlled substance medications cannot be called in to your pharmacy. An original prescription, signed by the doctor, must be presented to the pharmacy. Pickup of these prescriptions is also controlled, requiring that parents or guardians pick up and sign for the prescription. You will be requested to show ID for pickup of these prescriptions.


4. How often should my child be brought in for a check up?

Infants and young children are scheduled for checkups at ages 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 and 24 months. The recommendation for well child checkups over age 2 is once per year. We suggest routinely scheduling your child’s annual checkup shortly after his/her birthday to ensure that vaccines are kept up to date and that current physical exam information is available for prompt completion of school sports and camp health check forms.


5. How can I get a record of my child’s immunizations for daycare or school?

The state approved immunization record form (GA form 3231) is updated each time your child receives vaccines in our office. The updated form is printed and given to you during your immunization visit at no charge. Other requests for immunization records require 24 hour notice and there is a $5.00 fee for each form provided.


4. How old does my child need to be to attend appointments alone?

Your child must be at least 18 years of age to attend appointments without a parent or authorized adult present. Parents are expected to be in the exam room with children until they are 18.

Once your child begins attending appointments alone, you, as a parent, no longer have an automatic right to information about their care. Even though you still support and insure them, their health information is protected under federal HIPAA regulation. If you still need or want to have access to your child’s appointment attendance, billing information, and care details, your child will need to complete a written authorization giving you access to this information.


5. Can someone else bring my child to his/her appointment?

Federal Privacy laws protect every aspect of your child’s relationship with our office, and prohibit us from discussing your child or his/her care with any one but parents or legal guardians. If you wish anyone else, including grandparents or other family members to bring your child for care, pick up prescriptions, or discuss billing, you must authorize them in advance, and in writing, with specific granted privileges. We have an authorization form that you can complete for your child’s medical chart that will give these permissions. Persons other than parents that bring children for care under this authorization are asked to provide acceptable identification at the check-in desk.

We strongly recommend that parents attend appointment whenever possible. You know your child better than anyone, and your observations, as well as your knowledge of your child’s and your family’s history is important to providing the best possible care.


6. What is the doctor’s policy on excusing my child from school?

As a parent, you can keep your child home from school if he/she is not feeling well. Your school system publishes their absence policy and you should familiarize yourself with this policy. You are permitted to write your child out of school for a certain number of days per year. Dr. Trover does not provide school absence excuses for children he has not treated in the office for their illness. When your child is treated, Dr. Trover will order a school note with a return date based on your child’s condition and diagnosis. If you feel that your child cannot return to school in the time frame he has authorized, please contact the office to see if Dr. Trover will extend the absence, or if your child needs to return for reassessment of continuing symptoms. We will provide you an updated school note, when authorized.

We do not fax school notes to schools or parents. Please request a school or work note as you check out from your child’s visit. If you forget, or if the absence has been extended, a note will be prepared for you to pick up at our front desk.