How do I choose a primary care doctor for my child? The American Academy of Pediatrics ( www.aap.org ) recommends that you choose a pediatrician as your child's primary care doctor. A pediatrician has years of training and experience in children's health care. If you don't have a pediatrician, you might ask friends or family members for the names of doctors they've worked with and liked. Many pediatric practices maintain websites, and many pediatricians are happy to speak with families on the phone or in person prior to an office visit, so you can get a sense of their personality and practice philosophy. If the pediatrician you choose is not in your helath insurance plan, you can ask the plan to include him or her. What does a pediatrician do? A pediatrician provides primary care for newborns, infants, children, adolescents and young adults through age 18. As a primary care doctor, he or she provides preventive care, takes care of illnesses and injuries, and diagnoses and treats acute and chronic disorders. A pediatrician makes referrals to pediatric medial suspecialists and/or pediatric surgical specialists when needed and coordinates other services for the total care of you child. Your plan may require that your pediatrician authorize or approve certain services. Without these approvals, you may have to pay for part or all of these services yourself. Care Philosophy Central Oregon Pediatric Associates is a ten doctor medical group serving Bend and its surrounding communities. As the only pediatric practice in our region, we provide care -- from preventive through intensive medicine -- to newborns through teenagers, in Central Oregon Specialties General Pediatrics Pediatric and Adult Infectious Disease Pediatric Allergy Neonatology Central Oregon Pediatric Associates, LLP 2200 NE Professional Court Bend, Oregon 97701 541-389-6313 541-389-8760 (FAX) West Bend Clinic 1820 NW Monterey Pines Bend, Oregon 97701 (541) 389-6313 (541) 389-8760 (FAX) Redmond Office 333 NW Larch Avenue Redmond, Oregon 97756 541-548-1154 541-548-1023 (FAX) We want you to be well aware of the dangers that face your children. Read through the topics below to keep yourself up to date on important issues facing your child's welfare. CHICKEN POX (Also known as Varicella) is a common child hood disease. It is usually mild, but it can be serious...Read More FEVERS High temperatures are the most common reason people call us after hours...Read More HIB Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) disease is a serious disease caused by a bacteria...Read More INJURY PREVENTION PROGRAM Did you know that every month nearly 400 children under 4 years old die because of...Read More MEASLES, MUMPS, and RUBELLA Why get vaccinated? Measles, Mumps and Rubella are serious diseases...Read More PNEMONIA Infection with streptococcus pneumoniae can cause serious illness or death...Read More POLIO Polio is a disease caused by a virus. Sometimes it does not cause serious illness but sometimes it can cause...Read More HEALTHY SNACKS Being active makes you really hungry! Give your kids snacks that replace the nutrients their bodies need...Read More DOG BITE PREVENTION The vast majority of dogs are safe, reliable companions. But even a friendly dog may bite...Read More SUN PROTECTION For all children, choose a broad-spectrum, waterproof sunscreen, made for children with an SPF of at least 15...Read More FEEDING YOUR BABY Every baby is special. Don't worry if your baby eats a little more or less than this guide suggests ...Read More TETANUS AND DIPTHERIA Tetanus (Lockjaw) and Diphtheria are serious diseases. Tetanus is a disease that enters the body through ...Read More HEPATITIS It is usually spread by close personal contact and sometimes by eating or drinking water containing ...Read More Treatment and Resources Food allergy, especially peanut allergy, is far more common today than in the past. Here is some information to make management of allergic reactions and prevention easier and safer. You can expect about a 1/5 chance of allergic exposure each year. Usually treatment is inadequate and exposes patients to the risk of severe life-threatening reactions. Be ready for the worst, suspicious of the possibility of allergic food exposure. Serious food reactions usually involve the same parts of our immune system which allow us to be allergic to pollens and animal dander. Reactions are usually mild but can be severe enough to cause death. The best treatment for a food allergy reaction is not known yet, but the following approach seems to work well. Preparation: * Learn how to read labels and be very suspicious of foods packaged outside the US. * Have liquid or rapid dissolving Benedryl and an epinephrine injector with you or your child all the time. * Gather resources and regularly visit the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) web site. # http://www.foodallergy.org/ Practice with the demonstration injector until you are comfortable with using injected epinephrine. # Practice teaching others to use the injector and to make decisions around severe food allergy reactions. # Discuss your child’s food allergy with neighbors and relatives, using information you’ve learned from FAAN. # Be sure your daycare, preschool, regular school knows the information below about mild through severe reactions and knows what to do for each. # Become an advocate for nut free schools. Encourage hand washing at school and discourage food sharing between children. Classification of reactions: * Mild: itching, coughing, hives, flushing, and/or itchy, runny nose or eyes. * Moderate: puffiness, change in voice, coughing, nausea and/or vomiting, and/or abdominal pain. * Severe: wheezing, harsh sound on breathing in similar to croup, blue face, fainting, severe dizziness or shock. Treatment: * Mild: no treatment or Benedryl, 12.5 mg per 22 pounds of body weight to 100 mg maximum. Your child’s dose is: ___________________ * Moderate: epinephrine injected in muscle. Go to doctor office or ER after injection. * Severe: epinephrine injected in muscle. Call 911; ambulance transportation to ER is safer than driving yourself. * “Normal” reaction to epinephrine: paleness, vomiting, pain during injection. * Real EpiPens take more force than the demonstration ones. Hold your child firmly when you give the injection. New Patients We require new patients to pay in full at the time of the visit unless our office is contracted with your insurance company. To help us better serve you please fill out the following forms and bring them to your appointment. NEW PATIENT FORM (ENGLISH) NEW PATIENT FORM (SPANISH) HIPAA FORM "No Show Fees" We encourage all patients to keep their appointment whenever possible. With the overwhelming demand for pediatric services in our community, this allows us to help as may children as possible everyday. For this reason we charge a $20.00 "no show" fee if your appointment is not cancelled or rescheduled with at least 1 hour notification. Continued "no shows" may result in your family being discharged from our practice. Billing Co-payments and deductibles are due a the time of service. You may receive a balance due statement from COPA after we have received payment from your insurance company or if you have no insurance. It is our expectation that you will pay the balance due within 30 days. We accept cash, local checks, debit cards and credit cards; including VISA, MasterCard, and Discover. If payment in full is not possible, please contact our billing office at: 541-389-3905. Appointment Times The physicians make every effort to see you at your appointment time. Occasionally, unforeseen circumstances may cause them to be delayed or called away from the office. We hope that you will understand and realize that if your child has an emergency, the physicians will drop everything to attend to them. Please make every effort to arrive for your appointment at the scheduled time. This allows us the best opportunity to see everyone at the correct time and avoids the possibility of us having to reschedule your appointment Private Insurance As a courtesy COPA will submit claims to all insurance carriers if we have reeived proper verification of insurance coverage at the time of each visit. We bill insurance as a courtesy. However, you are ultimately responsible for all charges. Within 60 days of of the visit, a payment(by you or your insurance company) must be made on your account to remain in good standing with our office. Please remember that insurance companies often deny claims based on the coverage your policy provides or deductibles that have not been met. If you have any concerns regading your coverage or insurance payment, please contact your insurance carrier. Oregon Health Plan OHP patients are expected to provide a current medical card at each visit. Failure to provide a current medical card may require you to pay for the visit at the time of the service. You should be aware that there is a time limit for filing claims with OHP. If a valid card is not provided within the time limit, you will be responsible for the entire bill. We are contracted with the following insurance carriers: MONACARE LIFEWISE CLEAR CHOICE PACIFICARE OF OREGON(ONLY) PROVIDENCE GOOD HEALTH ANYTHING THAT STATES PROVIDENCE PREFERRED PACIFIC SOURCE BLUE CROSS / BLUE SHIELD AETNA(PROVIDENCE PREFERRED ONLY) CIGNA(PROVIDENCE PREFERRED ONLY) ASSURANT HEALTH(PROVIDENCE PREFERRED ONLY) ODS HEALTH NET HEALTHCARE DIRECT NO FIRST HEALTH NO PROVATE HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS NO CCN PLANS AT ALL NO HMO OR ANYTHING THAT REQUIRES A REFERRAL
  Date: 9/8/2010    Time: 5:39 PM
H1N1 and Flu Update: Wednesday, December 16th H1N1 and Flu Frequently Asked Questions
H1N1 Vaccine Recall

Please visit this website for more information on the H1N1 vaccine recall. www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/syringes_qa.htm 

H1N1 Influenza Vaccine: All H1N1 restrictions have been lifted in our office. We will be offering the H1N1 vaccine to all of our pediatric patients during regularly scheduled appointments. We also have appointments available with a nurse for those children who only require an immunization appointment.

Please call our office to schedule your appointment or if you have any other questions.

Seasonal Influenza Vaccine: We have seasonal Flumist vaccine available for healthy children 2 years and up. We have a limited amount of seasonal injectable influenza vaccine for children with chronic health conditions.

Please call our office to schedule your appointment.

H1N1 and Flu Update: Monday, December 14th H1N1 and Flu Frequently Asked Questions

H1N1 Influenza Vaccine:

All H1N1 restrictions have been lifted in our office. We will be offering the H1N1 vaccine to all of our pediatric patients during regularly scheduled appointments. We also have appointments available with a nurse for those children who only require an immunization appointment.

Please call our office to schedule your appointment or if you have any other questions.

Seasonal Influenza Vaccine: We have seasonal Flumist vaccine available for healthy children 2 years and up. We have a limited amount of seasonal injectable influenza vaccine for children with chronic health conditions.

Please call our office to schedule your appointment.

H1N1 and Flu Update: Monday, December 7th H1N1 and Flu Frequently Asked Questions

H1N1 Influenza Vaccine:

We will now begin scheduling appointments for second doses of the H1N1 vaccine (injectable) for those children who are in the high priority groups. The high priority groups at COPA are as follows:

  1. All children 6 months through 18 years of age with chronic medical conditions.
  2. Children 6 months through 4 years of age.

Please call our office to schedule your appointment.

Seasonal Influenza Vaccine:

We have seasonal Flumist vaccine available for healthy children 2 years and up. We have received a limited amount of seasonal injectable influenza vaccine for children with chronic health conditions.

Please call our office to schedule your appointment.

H1N1 and Flu Update: Wednesday, November 18th H1N1 and Flu Frequently Asked Questions

 We have begun receiving small batches of the H1N1 vaccine and our understanding is that we will continue to receive small shipments each week. Our goal is to get the vaccine out to our highest risk patients immediately. At COPA these high priority patients are defined as:

  • Children 6 months through 18 years of age who have underlying medical conditions
  • Children 6 months through 4 years of age

If your child is qualified as high risk per the above definitions and you are not already on our H1N1 list, please contact us at 389-6313. Once we have covered the highest risk patients with the supplies we have, our intent is to return to the patient list from the canceled flu clinics and set up appointments for those patients.

We will give second doses of seasonal influenza as long as the vaccine is available.

We will not be giving second doses of H1N1 vaccine until the supply opens up. (We currently have 1000 people on our high priority list that have not been vaccinated with one dose).

If a patient has a positive rapid influenza A test in our office then they do not need to be immunized with the H1N1 vaccine.

Influenza Update: October 26, 2009 H1N1 and Flu Frequently Asked Questions

We are going forward with our previously scheduled (FULL) October 31st Seasonal Flu Clinic. However, we have NOT received our allotment of H1N1 vaccine and so the H1N1 vaccine will NOT be available at this flu clinic. The vaccines that will be available at this flu clinic are as follows:

1. Seasonal Injectable Influenza vaccine for children aged 6 months to 35 months
2. Seasonal Intranasal Flumist for healthy children aged 2-18 years.

Please be aware that if your child has received either the H1N1 intranasal mist or the Seasonal intranasal Flumist within 2 weeks of October 31st, they are NOT able to receive another intranasal mist per the CDC recommendations. (CDC recommends that Seasonal Intranasal Mist and the 2009 H1N1 Intranasal Mist be separated by at least 14 days and ideally by at least 28 days.) This week we will be contacting our patients already scheduled in this clinic to confirm their appointments.

-COPA Staff and Physicians

Influenza Update: October 22, 2009 H1N1 and Flu Frequently Asked Questions

The county health department is providing updates on the supply of flu vaccine and other important information related to the flu at the following link: http://www.co.deschutes.or.us/go/government/departments/health-department/h1n1-flu/index.cfm

The site also includes additional informational links such as www.flu.oregon.gov and www.flu.gov for further education. We continue to be in close contact with the county health department and other agencies as we monitor the supply of flu vaccine and will update this site once we have received shipments.

-COPA Physicians and staff

Influenza Update: October 19, 2009 H1N1 and Flu Frequently Asked Questions

As with all healthcare facilities, we are at the mercy of the Nation-wide shortage of flu vaccine. As many of you know, we have had to cancel the October 10th and 17th flu clinics due to not receiving our allotment of vaccine. We have called every patient that was scheduled for those flu clinic and asked them to continue to watch this web site for updates.

The October 31st flu clinic (FULL) has not been canceled in hopes that supplies arrive in time and of sufficient quantities. Should they not arrive, we will call each appointment to cancel until further notice

Please read the frequently asked questions material available here on this site and of course the CDC web site provides reliable information. Thank you again for your patience and understanding as we too are waiting to hear when supplies will be available and we can get back to keeping the families we serve healthy. Respectfully, -COPA physicians and staff

Influenza Update: October 12, 2009 H1N1 and Flu Frequently Asked Questions

Due to the National shortage of seasonal influenza injectable vaccine and the H1N1 vaccine, COPA, like nearly all medical facilities has had to reschedule flu clinic appointments. As of this posting, COPA is calling parents to either confirm your appointment at one of the scheduled flu clinics where vaccine is available or calling to reschedule (or keep your name and call you when shipments arrive).

All new appointments should continue to check the web site or if unable, call at the end of each week to verify arrival of shipments.

Thank you for your patience as we work closely with suppliers and the Health Department in support of you, the families we serve.

COPA Pediatricians and staff 

Influenza Update: October 8, 2009 H1N1 and Flu Frequently Asked Questions

There has been a National shortage of seasonal influenza injectable vaccine and Central Oregon Pediatric Associates, as with all medical facilities, has not received our anticipated supply of the H1N1 vaccine. At this point there are two options for you. First, the Bend LaPine school district will be administering the H1N1 vaccine in the schools at the end of October. Or, if you would prefer, we would be happy to schedule an appointment for your child at our next available flu clinic in November.

If you have a scheduled influenza appointment at our October 10th or October 17th flu clinic you will be contacted to reschedule your appointment. H1N1 and Flu Frequently Asked Questions.

Our next available flu clinics are as follows:

  • Saturday November 14
  • Saturday November 21.

Influenza Update: October 5, 2009

The influenza season is upon us and immunizations are on everyones mind. This year there are two separate influenza vaccines - one vaccine for the seasonal flu and one vaccine for the new H1N1 flu, also known as swine flu. The seasonal and H1N1 vaccines are each produced as a nasal spray and an injectable.

Central Oregon Pediatrics currently has in stock both injectable and nasal spray for seasonal influenza. We have in stock a small supply of H1N1 nasal spray and we anticipate small shipments to follow each week. The H1N1 nasal spray can only be given to children 2 years of age and older who do not have a chronic medical condition.

We do not yet have H1N1 injectable influenza available, but expect shipments soon. We will be glad to schedule your child for an appointment at one of our Influenza Immunization Clinics at our East Bend Office, so that your child can be protected this influenza season.

Please call for an appointment in one of our Influenza Immunization Clinics at our East Bend Office. We will post the most current information on our web site. H1N1 and Flu Frequently Asked Questions
 

Current Recommendations for H1N1 Vaccine administration  as of  September 15

Dear Parents:

The flu season will be with us again this winter. Influenza (the flu) will be caused by the usual influenza viruses (seasonal influenza) and also a new influenza virus called novel H1N1 (swine flu).

So far, illness with the new H1N1 virus has ranged from mild to severe with some hospitalizations and deaths from infection with this virus. But most people who have been sick have recovered without needing any medical treatment. The overall severity of H1N1 seems about the same as seasonal influenza.

We at Central Oregon Pediatric Associates are ready to help your child through the flu season by providing influenza vaccines to help avoid the flu. Both seasonal and H1N1 vaccines will be available this season.

Call 318-3548 to schedule your child for influenza immunization at one of our Flu Clinics.

If your child becomes ill, COPA health care providers are available seven days a week to care for your child and answer your questions. Our free 24/7 Nurse Advice line is also available to answer your questions by calling 541-389-7837.

Knowing more about influenza will give you confidence to navigate this winter. The best place to get accurate information online about influenza is from the experts at Center for Disease Control: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/

Stacy C. Berube, M.D.
Medical Director
Central Oregon Pediatric Associates

H1N1 and Flu Frequently Asked Questions