Annapolis Pediatrics

At Annapolis Pediatrics, we strive to provide the best medical care for your child. This also includes care that we provide outside of the walls of the office. During office hours, our providers are focusing on the patients that they are seeing in the office, but there are many issues that still may need attention. Our triage nurses are an integral part of our commitment to the quality care for your child. Triage nurses are Registered Nurses who are specifically trained in providing medical advice over the phone. While our office is open, if you call about your child's health, you may first have the opportunity to speak to one of these experts. They will likely ask you a series of questions that are specifically designed, and approved by our providers, to help them assess the urgency of your concern. If your child has a problem that we determine is in need of urgent attention, we will see him or her as soon as necessary, or refer you to the Emergency Room if we feel the symptoms warrant this. If the issue is less urgent, your child may be scheduled for an appointment with a provider. Our triage nurses may also give advice that may help avoid an appointment all together. We have available for purchase a book entitled "Your Child's Health", which is one of our favorite reference volumes. The advice is easy to understand and can often help avoid calls altogether. If necessary, the triage nurse will consult with a provider, or perhaps have a provider call you back directly after office hours. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that all phone messages will be answered immediately - our triage staff also triages messages in an effort to answer urgent questions promptly. For example, if you have a question about a lab value, it may not be returned until the next day. After our regular office hours, we have a separate nurse triage service that answers your phone call, and will help direct you in the best course of action to take. There may be a charge associated with these afterhours' calls. We utilize triage nurses in an effort to address all of our patients needs in a timely manner - providers are not able to come to the phone immediately, yet patients often need expert advice to help decide if an appointment is needed. We feel our triage nurses are a valuable asset to the care we provide to our patients.