We are offering a Free Child ID and Safety Session

Wednesday October 18th 3pm: Lt. Gunter from the Chapel Hill Police Community Services Department will be coming to Chapel Hill Children's Clinic with Child ID kits and to offer general safety tips to interested parents. This will be a great opportunity for parents to have their safety questions answered by a professional and also a great opportunity to ensure the safety of your child with the ID kits. Lt. Gunter will be guiding parents on how to complete the ID kits. These kits can either be completed at our office or at home, so bringing your child is optional. The informational session is expected to last for approximately 1 hour. Space is limited so please R.S.V.P to our office at: (919)967-0771 by Wednesday October 11th.

State Health Plan Members

With the new insurance plan options now available for NC State Employees come new insurance cards. There are new claims addresses for the new plans so we will not be able to file your visit for you without a card copy. Please be sure to provide us with your most current insurance card at every visit.

For questions regarding the "old" (indemnity) State Health Plan and benefits, please call: 800-422-4658. For questions regarding the PPO State Health Plan and benefits, please call: 888-234-2416.

You can also get information regarding the plans at: http://www.statehealthplan.state.nc.us

To keep track of your insurance claims & deductible amounts, you can sign up for “My Member Services” on the BCBS website at: http://www.bcbsnc.com.

Check-in Procedure

In order to provide you and your family with the best service possible we are changing our Check-in/out procedure. Effective September 18th, 2006 we will begin collecting copayments and verifying insurance coverage at the beginning of your visit. It is very important to remember to bring your current insurance card to every visit to our office. It is also important to be prepared to pay your copayment/coinsurance amount at every visit. You will still need to stop by the front desk on your way out if you need to schedule any future or follow up visits.

Walk-in Hours have been extended

In order to better serve you and your family, we have extended our weekday evening walk-in hours. We are now available for evening walk-in Monday through Friday from 4:30 to 6:30. Our other walk-in hours will remain the same. Our walk-in hours are now: Monday – Friday: 7:30am to 9:00am AND 4:30pm to 6:30pm; Saturday: 9:00am to 11:30am; and Sunday: 1:00pm to 3:00pm.

Flu Clinics

How do flu clinics work?

We will be setting up specific dates and times for flu clinics. There will be limited spaces available for each flu clinic, so you will need to call ahead to get your child(ren) on the schedule. 
                                     
Please visit our website for a complete listing of our flu clinic dates: http://www.chapelhillchildrensclinic.com.

Please call our office at: 919-967-0771 to schedule your child(ren) for their flu shots.

For more information on the seasonal flu, the Center for Disease Control has in-depth information. The web address is: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/

Flu shots: what they can and can’t do for you

While just about anyone will benefit from a flu shot, those at highest risk—children less than 5 years old, the elderly, and those with many common chronic health conditions (for example, asthma, heart problems, diabetes)—should definitely be immunized.

The very best way to protect yourself from the flu is to get a Flu Shot.

Like most immunizations, flu shots work on the principle that if your body meets a part of a disease organism—a piece of a virus or bacteria that is itself altered so that it can’t cause disease—then your body can get started on the process of responding, by making antibodies, the little biochemical agents that are an important part of our immune response. Then when the real thing comes along, your body already has custom-made warriors to combat that disease. The process of making antibodies is a long and complicated one that takes weeks to accomplish.

But flu shots cannot guarantee that you won’t get the flu.

Seeing the Future
Creating the right flu shot, the right mix of virus pieces for any year’s flu shot, requires a crystal ball. We need to figure out which types of flu are going to come to our country in the next year. But since we can’t see into the future, we turn to epidemiologists and experts in infectious diseases to tell us what strains of influenza are most likely to affect us each year. Sometimes their predictions are good, but sometimes they are not. Sometimes an unanticipated strain makes it to our shores, and then we have more widespread flu outbreaks.
                                           
Individual response to the vaccine
And no immunization is 100 % effective. If you give 100 normal people one flu shot in a given year, between 10 and 40 of them will not respond and they will not be protected.
People who have a suboptimal response to the flu shot might get a milder case than they would have had they not gotten a flu shot at all. Children under age two still have immature immune systems, and may not be able to make as good an immune response as older people. And elderly people may lose their immunity faster than younger ones.

Immune response takes time
Even if you are going to respond to the flu shot in the desired way, it takes about 2 weeks to achieve immunity. But every additional day your body is able to work on its immune response to the virus pieces in the shot probably gives some benefits when you are exposed to the flu itself.

Herd immunity
Children under 6 months of age cannot receive flu shots, some people do not have an adequate immune response to the flu shot, and some people don’t get the flu shot. But all may not be lost. If enough people around them get flu shots, the unvaccinated or under-vaccinated are less likely to be exposed to the flu, and so are less likely to get infected. And for a disease to spread, it has to find another person to spread to before it has been recovered from by the initial victim. If there are only a few or only widely scattered people who can get the flu, the flu will have a hard time finding new hosts, and may die out. These factors contribute to “herd immunity.” This concept explains why we vaccinate those who live with or work with babies. And it reminds us why diseases spread better in crowded conditions.
                
Other ways to protect yourself
Many times in recent years there have been problems getting enough flu shots for the people who need or want them. And many people chose not to get them or can’t afford to get them. Of course, there are other ways to protect yourself, the most obvious (and most effective) being hand washing and the avoidance of crowds. Certain medications can be taken during periods of exposure to prevent getting the flu.

How do you know if you’ve gotten the flu?
The flu is a very significant illness. It usually comes on suddenly—over hours—and you feel like you’ve been hit by a truck. Classic symptoms are fever, headache, red eyes, runny nose, sore throat, cough, and muscle aches.

Ways to treat flu
And if you do get the flu, unless you have some serious underlying health problems, you will probably do fine if you use common sense, take it easy, and remember not to expose others. For children, aspirin-containing products should be avoided, because they can cause severe complications. It’s OK to use acetaminophen or ibuprofen for fever control and comfort.  There are quick and easy tests to diagnosis flu, and there are medications that can treat it. These medications have to be started in the 1st two or three days to be effective, so if you are really suffering, see your doctor quickly.

Margaret Morris, MD
September 25, 2006

Welcome New Faces to the Staff at Chapel Hill Children’s Clinic and Best Wishes for a Good Friend!

We are very happy to welcome more new faces to CHCC. We welcome Diana Watson to our nursing department as our Head Nurse. She has two young children and many years of pediatric nursing experience. We are very excited to have her at Chapel Hill Children’s Clinic. We have also had some new additions to our Front Desk staff. Welcome Christine Johnson and Courtney Lewis. They are very talented additions to our staff and are pleased to help serve you and your family.

Goodbye to Sue Paradis, our Office Manager. After 8 years at Chapel Hill Children’s Clinic, Sue is leaving us to stay at home with her two young children. We are very sad to see her go but wish her all the best for her future. Dr. Chrys Timmons will be joining our staff as our Business Manager and Christine Norman will be moving into the Office Manager position.

Reminders:

Well Child Checks: Don’t forget to schedule your child’s Well Child Checks in advance. Most school sports and camps require that your child have a physical within 12 months of the start date.

Walk-in Clinics: Please remember, walk-in clinics are for acute, sick office visits and rechecks only. If your child has multiple problems, a long-standing problem, or if you cannot wait during walk-in hours, please schedule an appointment. Walk-in hours are: Monday – Friday 7:30 to 9:00am, and 4:30 to 6:30pm; Saturday 9:00 to 11:30am; and Sunday 1:00 to 3:00pm. 

Insurance/Billing Questions: It is important for us to see your insurance card with every visit to our office. With the many changes in insurances, verification of your current insurance at each visit will help us prevent any future problems and frustration. Please feel free to call our office with any billing questions you may have regarding a bill from our office. If you have a questions specific to your insurance or are wondering if your insurance will cover any particular visits or tests, please contact your insurance company at the number listed on your card, or your Human Resources Department.

BillPay Customers: Don’t forget to change our address with your bank to ensure your payments are getting to our new location!

Clinic Hours:

Monday - Friday 9:00am to 4:30pm

Walk-in hours:

Monday - Friday: 7:30am to 9:00am AND 4:30pm to 6:30pm
Saturday: 9:00am to 11:30am
Sunday: 1:00pm to 3:00pm

After Hours Phone:

919-966-3820 OR 888-267-3675

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