For all the families of ACHP-Beachwood (formerly Advanced Pediatrics), we have some important updates that we think will bring very welcome news as we all work together during our recent transition, and the explosive demands the surge in Omicron has imposed on us all.

First of all, our sincere apologies for any inconvenience anyone has experienced calling our office or getting a response.  We are very pleased with the rather amazing efforts Akron Children’s has gone to to take these issues very, very seriously, and solve them.

With this in mind, here are our updates which we are very pleased to share with you.

Extra Resources to Improve Phone Call Flow

Our office, ACHP-Beachwood, is working very closely with Akron Children’s Hospital, to expand staffing for phone management, and this has resulted already in personnel expanding the number of people answering calls coming in.  We have tried out calling the office ourselves and experienced calls answered rapidly.  Our average wait time for incoming calls has continued to dramatically drop reaching very, very short, if any, wait times.  We recognize that is not yet everyone’s experience, so we continue to work hard in this time of transition to help everyone have a good experience calling in.

Many thanks to our colleagues of Akron Children’s for this extra commitment and support, particularly as the number of calls surges with the massive rise of COVID here in our community!

On COVID Testing

Our ACHP-Beachwood office continues to offer outstanding COVID PCR testing.  But as many have experienced, the demand is often outpacing our capacity, so we have these steps to help make sure anyone needing a test can get one.

1. Feel free to call us at our same number, 216-591-1515 to schedule a COVID PCR test as you need one.  Keep in mind that if you test less than 5 days after your feared exposure or contact, the test result will not be reliable.  So to help make sure your child’s COVID PCR test result is correct, we will be having our nurse, Michael, or one of his nurse colleagues call you back to review your details and make sure we pick the right day for your COVID PCR test.
2. Should all our COVID PCR test appointments be booked on the day you need one, please consider the testing center being set up by area hospitals at the WO Walker building at 10524 Euclid Avenue, 9-5 Tues-Sunday from Dec 21-26, closed Christmas.
3. In Parma, there is the SCT Medical Clinic at 4503 Brookpark Road, 216-398-0349.  8:30-4:00 Tues-Friday Dec 21-24

And, here is a very helpful COVID testing locator link to anywhere in the US- https://mako.exchange/scheduler/selector/?state=OH

And, attached are some papers that offer many extra resources during this crunch period of the Omicron surge.

Now if your child is ill, then the plan should be to call our same number of 216-591-1515 for an appointment to be seen, we can do a COVID test as part of that visit.

On COVID Vaccine

Our ACHP-Beachwood office is very pleased to make available COVID vaccination to all children and youth in our practice, ages 5 and up, including 1st and 2nd doses for all these ages, and the third dose for those 16 years old and older.  Simply call our same number of 216-591-1515 to schedule your COVID vaccination, an urgently important step to save lives and prevent COVID!  We are organizing shot only visits for COVID vaccination on Thursdays and Fridays with our nurse.

On General Sick Visit Needs During the Surge

Should our ACHP-Beachwood office be filled, a possibility some days during this extraordinary surge on COVID cases, we have the whole ACHP system available to help out, including the ACHP Urgent Care center in Boston Heights, near Hudson.

MY CHART- YOUR BEST PATH TO COMMUNICATING WITH DR. LAVIN AND DR. HERTZER FOR NON-URGENT MATTERS

Now that we have joined Akron Children’s a new path to communicating, long familiar to those who have been seen by Cleveland Clinic specialists, is available to reach us.

It’s My Chart.  My Chart actually belongs to a company that runs over 66% of all electronic medical record systems in US hospitals, Epic.  The Clinic uses Epic, and so does Akron Children’s, as do so many hospitals here and around the nation.

Dr. Hertzer and I are relatively new to My Chart as doctors, but it is a true WOW.

We urge all the families in our practice to enroll each of your children in our ACHP My Chart system.  You cannot enroll until your child is actually first seen in our office, at which point you will be offered the chance to do just that.

Once enrolled:

• Any lab test we order that reports a result to our office that is cleared to be shared on My Chart will notify you the moment the result comes back.
• You canmake appointments online, no more need to call to set one up!
• You can access your child’s immunizations and growth curves anytime- for family use, for schools, for camps, for sports.
• You can communicate with Dr. Hertzer and Dr. Lavin.  The message goes first to our nurse to see if they can help you and then to us.  Keep in mind that My Chart is not recommended for urgent communications.  For example, messages are not delivered via My Chart over the weekend, as they all go to our nurse first.

Really, we are moving from relying on phones to relying on My Chart to offer you the best level of communication of information and non-urgent advice from Dr. Hertzer and Dr. Lavin.  We really think everyone will find the use of My Chart will dramatically enhance your sense of connection to the office, ease of access to lab results, appointments, information, and conversation with us.  Welcome to My Chart!

A SMALL DETAIL- Lunch Hour in our office is now 12:30-1:30.  It used to be 12-1, a small change, but we think this will help knowing it shifted a bit.

ANOTHER SMALL DETAIL- On invoices from Advanced Pediatrics.  For any questions on invoices from Advanced Pediatrics, please simply leave a message for Tina to call you back, she is managing this work with Sam after hours.  Thanks!

BOTTOM LINES

1. Dr. Hertzer and I are quite thrilled in joining forces with Akron Children’s Hospital.  You should see all the improvements in services now available to all of us!  The resources of ACH are 100% devoted to the care of children, and we have seen improvements already, including dramatically expanded in office testing, a much improved eye screening technology for young children, and a much enhanced ease of accessing top pediatric specialists.  The people of Akron Children’s have been extraordinary in their level of commitment to helping our office in this transition, support that continues.
2. We are aware of delays in phone response times and are working very hard to sharply reduce them.  Already the increased resources being committed to this goal have sharply reduced waiting times, and that work continues.  We are deeply appreciative to everyone’s patience with us as we achieve these goals, and apologize for the inconvenience experienced in the transition.
3. COVID testing and vaccination is available at our ACHP-Beachwood office.  Approaches to obtaining these services are discussed above.  Given the rather explosive rise of Omicron in our neighborhoods, keep in mind that should a day here fill, there are other sites that are offering testing too.
4. For anyone seen in our office, let’s enroll your child(ren) in My Chart.  The ability to get your lab results the moment they are reported to us, to make appointments online, to get information, and to communicate non-urgently with Dr. Hertzer or Dr. Lavin without having to call the office, is a major step forward and will nearly eliminate any of the frustrations of phone use even under the best of circumstances.  It eliminates hold times, it eliminates telephone tag, and it gets what you need very, very rapidly.  Welcome to this new service here in our pediatric office!

As we complete our transition in becoming ACHP-Beachwood, we are very confident you will join us in our excitement about what our new office offers, as the same people, Dr. Hertzer, Dr. Lavin, Sue, Sam, and Tina, and now our nurse Michael and supervisor Allison, continue to offer the help your family needs.

To your health,
Dr. Arthur Lavin