Membership Overview
Membership is simple — think like a gym, or your phone subscription - but in this case, it is a true investment in your child’s health. Membership fees are charged to your bank account, credit or debit card. You can pay as a recurring monthly payment, or annually with a 5% discount offered. Please check with your accountant to see if you can use FSA or HSA funds to pay for the membership.
In most cases, monthly membership for your child works out to be less than the cost of buying a cup of coffee every day for a month. If you have high deductible insurance, a year’s subscription is likely less than a single trip to the emergency room. Seriously. And there are no hidden fees, no extra charges per visit. My goal is to keep your child out of the emergency room, and urgent clinics and to avoid all those “extra charges”.
Discounts are offered for multiple children within a family — for both Clinic Membership and Home Membership packages.
This is a whole new type of medicine and it can be hard to wrap your head around! Confused? Curious? Schedule a free phone consult!
There are four levels of membership available:
The Clinic Membership
In the Clinic Membership — all services occur at the clinic, with one exception: home visits are included in the clinic membership for any child less than two months of age. Otherwise, home visits are available for an additional charge of $100/visit. There is a monthly subscription charge. This is the ideal way to create a medical home, with 24 hour access to your child’s doctor. There are no hidden fees — any additional costs such as send-out labs, will be discussed prior to being obtained. Many prescription medications are available, at cost, at the time of appointment: for example, a course of amoxicillin is less than $6. Clinic Membership for newborns includes all Fourth Trimester Package services.
Lactation Package
Lactation Packages are available as a stand-alone service at a one time cost. These can be purchased by families — or as gifts from others.
The Fourth Trimester Package
The Fourth Trimester Package is a “cocoon package” — intended to provide full in-home support of the new baby without the family ever having to leave the comfort of their home. All medical care, from a prenatal consult, to newborn and monthly well child checks is included. Normal insurance covers only a one week, one month, and two month well child check. This package includes all newborn visits, from the time of birth through a three month well child check. There is an emphasis on providing emotional support for the whole family unit.
Fee for Service
In the Fee for Service — individual visits are purchased at the time of the appointment by non-Clinic members. If you decide to sign up for a membership, the cost of the visit will be rolled into the membership fee. Because good medical care is based around having a medical home, this service is meant to help families who need one time visits prior to returning to their own provider. Fee for Service visits do not include any services outside of that one time visit and is not intended as inclusive care.
Membership fees begin at the time of enrollment, not at the time of first appointment. Why is this? Because once you enroll, Personalized Pediatrics of Maine becomes your child(ren)’s Medical Home! I am now available to you, with all the benefits that come with enrollment - easy access, 24 hour availability, etc!
There is a minimum 6 month membership required. After that, membership can be cancelled at any time, provided a 30-day notice is given. Shorter cancellation notices will be considered on a case-by-case basis. If you decide to leave, there are no fees or penalties. If you have prepaid your membership fee for the year, you will be reimbursed for the unused months. I do ask, out of respect, that you don’t start and stop memberships, so as to use my care, knowledge and expertise sporadically.
There is an initial $100 enrollment fee per child (maximum fee $300/family). If you were to stop membership, but then rejoin, there will be reactivation fee of $150 per child.