Telephone Calls

The phones are answered by the Medical Assistant on duty, who can only answer non-medical-related questions. All the medical care questions are answered after consultation with the doctor/provider. Due to the high volume of calls, please text your question or request to 281-484-7619 with the patient’s name, patient’s date of birth, and reason.

After-hour calls are handled by the answering service and are transferred to on-call. The on-call provider or doctor will return the call within 30-minutes. Do not make multiple calls to the answering service as this will generate a cost, and the bill will be parent responsibility— insurance will not pay for after-hour calls.

We believe that any medical care-related questions need to be handled by the doctor. Hence, we take them seriously. Please note that after-hour calls are only for emergency medical advice. They are not to be abused for prescription refills or common questions that can wait till the next day.

The Office Staff or assigned medical assistants monitor and respond to your email or text questions. Our doctors or providers are busy taking care of patients in our clinic. They do not monitor or respond to emails/texts (in very rare circumstances, they respond to texts on a case by case or by complexity) from patients. We firmly believe that direct communication between patient/parent and the doctor/provider is needed to provide proper medical care and eliminate any confusion about care. Hence, we do not risk email/text communications to answer medical care questions. All questions need a visit, and the patient has to be there for the visit. Otherwise, your insurance will not pay the claim, and the parent is responsible for the payment due for the claim.

Emergencies: In the event of an emergency, dial 911. If you suspect your child has swallowed medicine or poison, dial Poison Control at +1-800-222-1222.

Urgent Questions or After hours: Please refer to the medical advice link on our website. If you need further assistance, please call our office. Leave your name, your child’s name, Date of Birth of your child, telephone number, and question, and we will return your call.

Unless there is truly a life-threatening emergency (e.g. your child is not breathing, is severely choking, has been knocked unconscious, or is having a seizure for the first time), please call the number at the back of your insurance card or doctor on call prior to going to the emergency room. In many cases, we may be able to provide advice that will save your family the inconveniences and expense of an emergency room visit.

Examples of problems that do NOT usually require an emergency room visit and can safely wait to be handled during regular office hours are: cold and other respiratory illnesses (unless accompanied by respiratory distress or fever over 102 degrees); rashes that blanch with pressure; constipation; diaper rash; and head lice.

Non Urgent Questions: For calls during our scheduled phone times, please inform the receptionist if you are calling with an emergency. Otherwise, it may be necessary to leave a message until our clinical staff is available to return your call. In general, the best time to reach our staff for advice or routine questions is either late morning or early afternoon.