Patriot Pediatrics

Visit our new Website: https://www.patriotpediatrics.com/

Patriot Pediatrics Celebrates 25th Anniversary!

We founded Patriot Pediatrics in 1995. Francine was the mother of two boys under the age of five, and Mitch was the father of a one year old with another on the way. Francine completed her residency in pediatrics at Tufts Medical Center and a fellowship in adolescent medicine at Children’s Hospital. Mitch had completed his pediatric residency at the New York Hospital - Cornell Medical Center and a fellowship in medical informatics at Mass General. We met while working at another practice in Lexington. We were both attracted to the Lexington-Bedford area for our practice and our families because of the strong community values, superlative schools, and world class hospitals. Read more.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information

During this pandemic, we are keeping sick patients separated from well patients. The east corridor (rooms 6-9) are for sick patients and the west corridor (rooms 1-5 and room 10) are for well patients. Our providers will use personal protective equipment when seeing any patient with potential Covid-19. All rooms with sick patients are sanitized with SARS-CoV-2 virucidal cleaning solution after the visits.

Further information about Coronavirus (COVID-19) (PDF) >

 

In the News

Patriot Pediatrics: A Model for Epic Virtual Support

 

Overview

Patriot Pediatrics is a group practice of three board-certified pediatricians and four certified pediatric and family nurse practitioners providing comprehensive primary care to infants, children, adolescents and young adults. Drs. Mitchell Feldman, Francine Hennessey, and Jacquelyn Chambers are on staff at Massachusetts General Hospital and Children's Hospital. Christine Larsen, RN, CPNP, joined in October, 2017, Sheilajane Lewis, RN, CPNP, in October, 2018 and Jesse Zaitchik, RN, CPNP, in December, 2018.

Get additional information about our newest physician, Dr. Jacquelyn Chambers.

Flu season extends into the spring and we vaccinate through April. If you or your child has not received the flu vaccine yet, please inquire the next time you are in the office.

Download the "Welcome to Our Practice" packet (PDF).

Services

Services offered include well child care, school, camp, sports and work physicals, acute sick visits, lactation consultation, immunizations, adolescent and routine gynecologic care, lab testing, health screening and counseling about health, developmental or behavioral concerns and ear piercing. Patriot Pediatrics is open 365 days a year.

We feature a sick walk-in hour each weekday morning, evening appointments, a spacious facility with separate well, sick and adolescent waiting areas, 24-hour access to nurses with pediatrician back-up, and onsite parking.

Mission Statement

Patriot Pediatrics provides medical care with empathy and expertise. We care for patients from birth to young adulthood in an atmosphere of open discussion and shared responsibility, with an emphasis on prevention. Each member of the healthcare team holds paramount the importance of treating patients and coworkers with fairness and respect. Our office schedule is flexible to accommodate working parents and school calendars.

As physicians belonging to a larger network, we supervise the care of our patients at Boston area hospitals that are recognized internationally for their excellence. As members of the Bedford and Lexington communities, we lend our expertise to local schools and programs. Our greatest satisfaction is derived from working with our patients and their parents to promote optimal health and successful transitions from nursery to young adulthood.

Patient Gateway

We are happy to announce that our patients can now use a robust patient portal called Patient Gateway. Parents for children under age 18 must complete and sign a registration form (click here to print out a copy). Various features that are available through Patient Gateway include:

• The ability to communicate with our nurses and doctors
• Request Prescription refills
• Access Test results
• View upcoming appointments
• Retrieve copies of school forms

New functionality is added frequently, so be sure to sign up!

Our Report Card

Massachusetts Health Quality Mass General Brigham Compass

What Our Families Say

Privacy Information

Policy on Notice of Privacy Practices
Notice of Privacy Practices

Meet the Team

Physicians

• Mitchell J. Feldman, MD, FAAP
• Francine M. Hennessey, MD, FAAP
• Jacquelyn Chambers, MD, FAAP

Nurse Practitioners

• Christine Larsen, RN, CPNP
• Sheilajane Lewis, RN, CPNP
• Jesse Zaitchik, RN, CPNP

Insurance & Referrals

Important Notice About Insurance

Dear Patriot Pediatrics Family,
We are excited to announce that we will be transitioning to the Epic Electronic Medical Record system on September 17, 2020. Among the benefits of this transition are a vastly improved patient portal called Patient Gateway. At your first visit to Patriot Pediatrics after Sept. 17, 2020, please ask us for enrollment information to Patient Gateway. As part of this conversion, we will be changing our billing service to the MassGeneral Professional Billing Office (PBO). You may be receiving a call from MassGeneral asking for your insurance information. We appreciate your cooperation in supplying this information to them, which will allow your insurance to be billed for the care we provide to your children at our office. Alternatively, any time after September 14th, please call the MassGeneral Patient Service Center at 1-866-211-6588 to register. All patients will need to be registered in the new system before we are able to see them starting September 17, 2020 and beyond.”

Insurance and Related Information and Referral Web Form

We accept all commercial insurance plans, CHAMPUS, Medicaid, and participate in many managed care plans and HMO's (including Tufts, HMO Blue/Blue Choice, Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare and Aetna/US Healthcare). Please check with us if you are considering changing insurance programs to find out if we participate in that plan. Chances are, we do.

To insure proper billing please provide us with your insurance card for each dependent child at the time of the visit and report any address or phone number changes to our front desk staff. For newborns, please notify your health insurance company and your employer so that your baby can be added to your policy. This is very important and must be done within 30 days after birth so that your insurance company does not reject any bills for health care provided. Also, managed care patients must select a Primary Care Provider (PCP) prior to the first visit with our practice; if not you will receive a bill.

Some insurances require copayments at the time of the medical visits. Insurance company policy and our office policy is that copayments must be paid at the time of the visit. We accept cash, check, Visa, or Mastercard.

We will bill your commercial insurance company for medical services provided and work diligently to obtain payment. If your insurance company fails to make payment then the balance for medical services will be your responsibility. The balance will be due with the first bill. In addition, any copayments, deductibles and non-covered services are due at the time of the visit. Please notify us immediately if you receive a bill that appears inaccurate, so we can work together to come to a resolution.

Any billing questions should be directed to: 
For dates of service prior to 9/17/20: (781) 698-2580
For dates of service on or after 9/17/20: (617) 726-3884

Please notify us at least 24 hours in advance if you need to cancel or change an appointment. If you fail to notify us, you will be charged for the visit.

Problems associated with financial hardships should be directed to our office manager at the earliest convenience.

Patients choose one doctor from our group to be their "primary care doctor," however, patients may see any provider from our group, regardless of their insurance plan.

Specialist Visits and Insurance Referrals

Your insurance plan may require that you receive pre-approval from our office before seeing an outside specialist or obtaining other medical services. Please read your insurance information or call your insurance patient relations/customer service coordinator to ascertain whether you need such pre-approval.

If  your doctor has recommended seeing a specialist inside of the MassGeneral Brigham (MGB)  system, then any required insurance referral will be processed automatically. If the specialist is outside of the MGB system, then the following steps are necessary before an insurance referral can be processed: 

1. Referrals need to be preauthorized by the primary care physician prior to making the first appointment with the specialist.
2. The appointment with the specialist must then be made. Note that you must have already made the appointment before making the insurance referral request as you will need the date of the appointment, the name of the specialist, and other relevant information to submit this request.
3. Please call (781) 960-1204. Please have the following information available when you call: Patient's Name; Date of Birth; Telephone; Insurance Company; Policy Number; Suffix; Primary Care Doctor's Name, Specialist name; Specialist Address, Telephone; Fax;  NPI Number (Please ask the specialist when you make the appointment); Appointment Date; ​Reason for Visit ​

The referral staff will be happy to assist you.

A Patriot Pediatrics "Certificate of Health," (School/Camp form) will be given out at the time of the annual physical. Please make multiple copies for upcoming requirements such as school, sports and camp. If additional copies are requested there will be a processing fee to be paid when the form is picked up at the office.

A $50 charge will apply for missed appointments (well visits and sick visits) that are not cancelled at least 24 hours in advance. Please be advised that this fee will not be paid by insurance. All accounts must be up to date prior to scheduling a well visit. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Our staff will be happy to assist you.

Newborn Discharge

Congratulations on the birth of your new baby! This page describes some important items about newborns with which we would like you to be familiar. Please feel free to ask us any questions you may have about these items or any other concerns.

Feeding: Newborns tend to feed every one to four hours. It is very difficult to schedule your baby's feedings the first few weeks of life, and so "demand" feeding is the rule. Babies sleeping for more than four hours at a time should be awakened for a feeding since they do not have the ability to store energy for longer periods of time. There is usually no need to do this once an infant is more than two months old.

Elimination: Most newborns urinate at least five times and have one to ten bowel movements in a 24-hour period. If your infant's elimination patterns do not fall within this range in the first few days of life, you should phone our office.

Umbilical Cord Care: The umbilical stump usually falls off at approximately two weeks of age (but a few days or four weeks can be normal). Until the stump has fallen off, it is recommended that you avoid bathing the baby by immersing in a bath; sponge-bathe instead with a gentle washcloth and warm water. Also, each time you change your baby's diaper, clean around the stump with an alcohol-soaked cotton ball or pad. The umbilical area may ooze a small amount of blood when it separates. This is not of concern unless it persists or is excessive.

Jaundice: Jaundice, a yellowish discoloration of the skin, is very common in the newborn period. It will usually begin within the first few days of life but may start in the second week or later. If you notice that your baby's skin appears yellow or orange, please call our office.

Sleep position: In October, 1996, and again in October, 2005, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a recommendation that infants be placed to sleep on their backs as a measure to help prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Since 1992 when prone (on the stomach) sleeping started to decrease, the rate of SIDS in the U.S. has decreased by 50%. The back position has the lowest risk and is preferred. For more information, an excellent resource is https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/sids.

Hepatitis B immunization: The Centers for Disease Control as well as the AAP recommend all newborns receive their first Hepatitis B vaccination in the hospital prior to discharge. You should have received a Hepatitis B immunization information sheet and consent form from the hospital. Please read this, fill out the consent form, and return it to the hospital nurses so that your child can receive this important vaccine. Feel free to discuss any concerns you may have with one of us when we round.

We are unable to space out vaccinations or use specific brands. There are absolutely no data that support any benefit to children of doing this, and this office policy is consistent with the policies of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We will treat your child with no less care than our own children or any of the thousands of children whose parents have entrusted us to help care for them at Patriot Pediatrics. It is also an office policy that if families are not comfortable immunizing their children according to the guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics, that since our office feels so strongly that this is the wrong decision, it would be better for the family to seek pediatric care at a different pediatric office. If this is the case, we would be happy to transfer your child's records to another pediatrician of your choosing.

Circumcision care: For male infants who are circumcised, your obstetrician or Mohel should give you instructions on caring for the circumcision site. These instructions are meant to supplement but not replace them. If you notice bleeding from the site which does not stop with some pressure using the sterile, dry gauze given to you in the hospital, please call our office right away. If you notice a whitish yellow or light green substance which is adherent to the circumcision site, do not remove it; it is part of the healing process. To wash the genital area, simply squeeze warm water from a wash cloth over the area and let it run off. Once the area is fully healed (up to 5-7 days), you may wash this area just as you do the rest of your son's body. During the first 5-7 days, keep the area especially clean and apply some petroleum jelly to the diaper or circumcision site during each diaper change. If you notice any pus, foul odor, expanding redness or swelling of the site, please call our office.

Follow-up appointment: When you get home from the hospital, please call our office to schedule your baby's first check up with the primary care pediatrician.

Fever: Your newborn's temperature was monitored closely while in the hospital. While it is not necessary to routinely check this at home, you should check a rectal temperature if your infant feels warm. Call our office right away if the rectal temperature is over 100.4 when your baby is under 8 weeks of age, since fevers in this age group need careful evaluation. Call us at any time, regardless of the temperature, if the baby is not acting right or if you are worried.

As soon as is possible: please notify your health insurance company and your employer so that your baby can be added to your policy. This is very important and must be done within 30 days after birth so that your insurance company does not reject any bills for health care provided. After you have done this, please call the MassGeneral Patient Service Center at 1-866-211-6588 to register your newborn and link the registration to Patriot Pediatrics.

Recommended Reference list:
What to Expect the First Year, Eisenberg et al, Workman Pub. 1989, rev. 2014

AAP Caring for Your Baby and Young Child, Birth to Age 5, Altmann and Hill, eds., Bantam, 1991, rev. 2019

Useful Links

There is an enormous amount of information accessible through the Internet. Some of it is useful, accurate and helpful; some is none of these. It is advisable to check the source of the information to help you decide if it is unbiased and reliable. If you have any question about some medical information found on the Internet or otherwise, please ask your doctor.

The links below are ones which we feel will be useful.

The following pages (except for the MGH Maxwell & Eleanor Blum Patient and Family Learning Center) are not maintained by Mass General Brigham. We are not responsible for any information found on them.

ePocrates
Authoritative patient literature as well as medication and disease information with free registration

Immunization Action Coalition
Reliable and accurate information about immunizations.

The Parents’ How-to Guide to Children’s Mental Health Services in Massachusetts
A 'How-To' Manual on how to approach and access care for your child's behavioral or mental health problem

Great Web sites for Kids
The Librarian's Guide to Cyberspace for Parents and Kids. Over 700 links!

Kids Play
For families of Bedford & environs, calendar of monthly events, activities and resources for children. This site was designed by a Patriot Pediatrics Parent.

FamilyTLC
FamilyTLC.net- tools to enhance the parent/child relationship. Information to help caring adults find age-appropriate, fun, learning activities to do with children quickly and easily. The activities are segmented by age and type of activity, e.g. Crafts, Cooking, Science, Nature, etc.

Learning Disabilities Worldwide
Resources about learning disabilities for individuals, parents, educators, researchers and clinicians.

HealthyChildren.ORG
The patient education site of the American Academy of Pediatrics

General Pediatrics for Families
Information about hundreds of common pediatric problems

MGH Maxwell & Eleanor Blum Patient and Family Learning Center
MassGeneral Hospital Health Information Portal

Top Ten Medical Sites -- Most Useful Medical Sites on the Web from the Medical Library Association

The Discovery Channel -- Search in history, technology, nature, exploration and science for stories, facts and figures

Disney's Family Fun -- A nice collection of fun craft projects, recipes and printable stuff

Kids on the Net -- Word games, interactive activities and creative writing for kids

Enchanted Learning -- Play in Little Explorers plus tons of educational activities, puzzles, games, drawings and mazes

PBS Kids -- Games, jokes and activities while you see your favorite characters, such as Arthur, Mister Rogers, Thomas the Tank Engine and Big Bird

GoComics -- GoComics.com is the web's largest catalog of syndicated newspaper strips, political cartoons and webcomics, offering free new content every day

Grolier Online -- Grolier's Online Atlas

Books and Videos -- The American Library Association's online review of books and videos for adults, youth and children

Sports Illustrated for Kids -- Check out sports news and stats, take a trivia quiz and play other cyber games

Scholastic Books -- Visit book clubs and book fairs, see Animorphs, Goosebumps, The Baby-Sitters Club, and the incomparable Ms. Frizzle and her Magic School Bus

Thomas the Tank Engine -- See Gordon, Percy, James and ... of course ... Thomas the Tank Engine -- along with all the friends who work on or around the railway

Sesame Street -- From the Children's Television Workshop, play games and read stories with your favorite Sesame Street characters

Nickelodeon -- Play games, read Nick magazine and participate in The Big Help, while you visit your favorite Nickelodeon characters

Warner Brothers -- Learn how to illustrate, visit Gotham City and your favorite Looney Tunes characters, play games, color and solve puzzles

Garfield -- Spend time with everyone's favorite lasagna-eating cat, play games, color and learn about Garfield cartoonist Jim Davis

How Stuff Works– Just what it sounds like! A great site for the curious.  

Payments

Important Notice About Payments

Dear Patriot Pediatrics Family,

We  transitioned to the Epic Electronic Medical Record system on September 17, 2020. For further information about, or to pay balances due (including online payment) for visits on dates of service beyond 9/17/20, please see the following website: https://mgpopbo.partners.org/pbo/billing/bilPay.aspx 

As part of our conversion to Epic, we changed our billing service to the MassGeneral Professional Billing Office (PBO). You may be receiving a call from MassGeneral asking for your insurance information. We appreciate your cooperation in supplying this information to them, which will allow your insurance to be billed for the care we provide to your children at our office. If you have any questions about a bill for a visit with date of service prior to September 17th, 2020, please call 781-674-2900. Balances due from these bills should be sent to Patriot Pediatrics 74 Loomis St., Bedford, MA 01730 Attn: Office Manager.

 

Awards and Recognitions