Schedule Today, Call 781-322-5101
Look to Pediatric Associates of Malden to provide care you can trust. Since 2000 we have provided compassionate healthcare for children in Malden, MA and the adjacent cities. We have four experienced pediatricians and 12 supporting staff members who are sensitive to the needs of families with diverse economic and ethnic backgrounds. We regularly review our patient satisfaction surveys conducted in the office to find out what needs to be done to further improve our service, as we strive to be the “Medical Home” for our patients. Our physicians are members of the Pediatric Physicians’ Organization at Children’s.
We are open 365 days a year unless there is a true snow emergency. If calling after hours, our friendly answering service will forward your message to the physician-on-call.
Please use the Symptom Checker to help you learn about some of the common pediatric problems that you can manage without necessarily going to the Emergency Department. You can always contact us to schedule for sick visits.
Seeing children and parents at regular intervals is important in maintaining your child’s health. Evaluating growth and development, discussing safety, nutrition, behavior and answering age related questions are the functions of well child/adolescent visits.
Other health management services include:
Asthma — Proper Nutrition — Obesity — Attention Deficit
All 3 doctors have a working affiliation with the Children’s Hospital, Boston and with the Melrose-Wakefield Hospital.
Dr. Tien-Lan Chang has practiced as a specialist in pediatric gastroenterology since 1987 and in general pediatrics since 2000. In 2008 he gave up the part-time practice of pediatric gastroenterology at Mass. General Hospital to devote fully to general pediatrics in Malden. He is fluent in English and Chinese (Mandarin).
Dr. Austin Liu grew up in the Greater Boston area and was trained in pediatrics in Memphis, Tennessee. He practiced in Georgia for 4 years and joined P.A.M. in 2006.
Dr. Maura K. Shea had pediatric training in Cincinnati, OH and Providence, R.I. She worked at neighborhood health centers in Boston, MA from 2001 to 2008 before joining P.A.M.
Many insurances require a co-pay at the time of service. If you do not pay your co-pay at the time of service, your account will be charged an additional $10.00.
We will submit a claim to all primary and secondary insurances. Please remember to bring your current insurance cards to your appointment. Once your insurance company has processed your claim, we will bill you for the remaining balance that you are responsible for, as determined by your insurance plan, such as deductables and co-insurances. Payments are expected upon receipt of your statement. We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, Cash, Checks, Debit Cards and Money Orders.
We assign all unpaid accounts to an outside collection agency that reports to a national credit bureau. They will add additional penalties and interest to the unpaid amount.
If you are uninsured, or if we are unable to verify coverage, we require a $100.00 payment at your first visit which will be applied to your charges. If charges exceed the $100.00 we will send you a statement.
Physicians must follow accepted national guidelines when determining what your charges (level of service) will be. They must code your visit based upon what services were provided and cannot take into account particular health plan benefit designs. Consequently we are unable to switch the visit reason and diagnosis in order for a claim to be covered by your insurance. If you think there is an error on your account, please contact the billing office immediately. We will review your concern with the physician and let you know the outcome.
You should contact your insurance company as soon as possible after your child has been born. Most health plans allow 30 days to add your newborn to your insurance plan. If you have coverage through OMAP, you MUST contact your caseworker immediately. Your caseworker will provide you with a temporary identification card. If you are unable to provide proof of insurance after your baby’s two-week appointment, we will charge you in full for services rendered.
· If you are unable to keep your appointment, please call at least 24 hours in advance to cancel.
· Patient visits at Pediatric Associates of Malden are by appointment only. Every sibling will need to have an appointment in order to be seen by the doctor.
· Please bring your current insurance card to every appointment, and alert the receptionist of any changes when checking in for your appointment.
· Insurance co-payments are due at the time of the visit.
September, 2020
By now most schools have resumed classes. Some schools offer only remote learning due to city ordinance, while other schools offer a choice of remote, on-site, or a hybrid of the two learning modes. Parents have to decide which mode of learning is best for their children, trying to balance safety concerns because of SARS-COV2 with advantages of learning and socialization in a school setting. As mentioned in our last newsletter, the best scenario that we can hope for is that everyone follows the guidelines of wearing mask at all times in public, keeping physically distant, and washing/disinfecting hands often. Then we may expect to see very few sick patients from SARS-COV2 and other respiratory illnesses.
In the month of August and first half of September, we have seen a “near normal” number of well visits, while the number of sick visits remained low. Because of the reduced sick visits, we have decided to cut back on the evening hours. Starting the week of 9/14, the office will close at 7 PM, Monday through Friday. Saturday hours are 9 AM-1PM. Sunday hours are 9AM-1PM for sick visits by appointment only. We may close early (e.g. 11 AM or12 PM) on Sundays if there are no calls by then for sick visits. Therefore, we encourage parents/patients to call early and schedule for an appointment if a child has a fever, rather than waiting till 12PM and call for an appointment at that time.
As many of our patients already know, we have decided to keep our front door locked so that any visitor is first screened negative by phone for any history of contact with COVID19 and any symptoms of COVID19, before the visitor is allowed entry. A door bell with camera has been installed at the entrance. Any patient who has a positive screen and needs to be seen will be led by a staff member to come in by the back entrance to the second floor, which our landlord has allowed us to use for sick visits.
Our first shipment of flu vaccine has arrived. We are vaccinating all children 6 months and older against influenza. We encourage patients to call and schedule an appointment for the flu vaccine. Because of our locked-door policy, patients who come for the flu clinic will need to wait in the parking lot until our nursing staff let them in.
For patients who come without a car, whether for a sick visit, a well visit, or flu clinic, please inform our staff and we will make sure that they are not left outdoors for long.
We continue to encourage patients and parents to sign up for access to MyChart, the patient portal to our electronic medical record system. Parents of children between 13-17 years can have a limited access to the record based on our adolescent confidentiality policy. However, having access to MyChart also means you can communicate with us by email, including sending photos of any skin conditions of concern, and setting up virtual visits via Zoom application. We can also send notifications to you, such as this newsletter. Therefore, please inform your friends who are also patients of this practice and who have not yet signed up for MyChart. Simply call us at (781) 322-5101 and provide us with your email address, and we will send instructions and an activation code to you.
Sincerely,
Pediatric Associates of Malden
Pediatric Assosiates of Malden
105 Commercial St.
Malden, MA 02148
Phone: 781-322-5101
Hours Of Operation:
Monday - Friday
9am - 8pm
Saturday, Sunday & Holidays
9am - 1pm
