Hyde Park Pediatrics will remain neutral in all divorce/separation disputes. Our primary responsibility is to provide quality pediatric care to our patients. We assume that children are in the joint custody of their parents and that both parents have rights to view their child’s medical records and make medical decisions, unless we have been provided with court documents that clearly stipulate otherwise. The parent accompanying a child to a visit will be assumed to have medical decision making rights. We will not be responsible for informing the non-accompanying parents of the details of the visit. Parents are expected to work out a system of communication that does not require us to act as mediator. All of our communications will be with parents; we will not have any communication with lawyers involved in custody disputes, unless required to do so by court order.
We are contractually obligated to collect a copay at the time of service. Whomever accompanies the child to the office is expected to pay the copay at the time of the visit. Occasionally a child’s health insurance is provided by a non-custodial parent. Because our provider-patient relationship exists with the care-taking parent in these circumstances, the ultimate responsibility for payment rests with the adult who accompanies the child to the office.
We reserve the right to ask families to leave our practice if a custody disputes interferes with our ability to care for a child or conduct our daily business.