What is a Pulmonolgist?
What is a typical new patient appointment like?
What happens during a follow-up visit?
What is a Pulmonary Function Test (PFT)?
What is a mid-level provider?
Will my child always see the same pulmonologist?
Both of my children see the pulmonologist. Can they be seen at the same time?
Who should I call if my child is sick between appointments?
Can my child be seen for a sick visit?
If I have to take my child to an emergency department for a breathing problem, will he or she be seen by the pulmonologist?
What if I need to get in touch with my child’s pulmonologist?
Is there a charge for parking?

What is a Pulmonolgist?
A pulmonologist is a doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating respiratory illnesses. A pediatric pulmonologist cares for infants, children and adolescents who have breathing problems.

What is a typical new patient appointment like?
Your child’s initial visit may be scheduled by you or by your child’s primary care provider. Either way, we will mail you a packet of information about our practice as well as some forms for you to complete and bring with you to your first visit. Please note, you will, prior to coming for your visit, need to arrange for a referral if required by your insurance.

When you arrive for the initial visit and have completed your paperwork, your child will be taken back to an exam room by a registered nurse. After checking height and weight, the nurse will take a thorough pulmonary related history. If your child has never had a chest X-Ray, the results of that X-Ray indicate the need for a follow-up or your child’s symptoms indicate a need for a chest X-Ray, we will get one done here in our office. If your child is five years of age or older, we will obtain Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs) to measure lung function. (See “What are Pulmonary Function Tests?)

After the history is obtained and the testing is complete, the physician will see your child. He or she will review the history with you and your child and will complete a pulmonary related physical exam. The physician will explain the diagnosis and medical therapy and answer any questions that you might have. You will be given written prescriptions for any new medications along with written home care plans and medication information handouts. The entire initial visit usually takes about two hours.

You will be asked to schedule a follow-up appointment 2 – 6 weeks after the initial visit. Please bring your calendar so that you are prepared to schedule the appointment.

The parking area near our building charges for parking and we are not able to validate your parking ticket. Make sure you bring about $5.00 to pay for parking.

What happens during a follow-up visit?
Follow-up visits are important to complete the diagnosis process and to make changes in your child’s medications depending on how well he or she is doing. The timing of follow-up visits varies depending on the severity of your child’s illness.

The follow-up visit might be scheduled with the physician or it might be with a mid-level provider such as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP) or Physician Assistant (PA). The Georgia Pediatric Pulmonology Associates mid-level providers are very skilled in the care of a variety of pediatric respiratory problems and work closely with your child’s pulmonologist. Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs) are done at almost all follow-up visits but most children don’t need another chest X-Ray.

Please come prepared to your child’s follow-up visits. You will be asked questions about how often your child has used a rescue inhaler since the last visit, how often they have missed school, how the child is doing with sports or physical activity and if there are any respiratory symptoms during sleep. It is helpful if the adult who attends the follow-up visit is very familiar with the child’s day-to-day life.

Follow-up visits last 20 minutes to one hour.

What is a Pulmonary Function Test?
At Georgia Pediatric Pulmonology Associates we use special equipment and trained personnel to measure your child’s breathing. These tests are called Pulmonary Function Tests (PFT’s) or spirometry. Your child’s test results are compared to predicted values based on your child’s height, race, age and sex much like a growth curve.

These tests are easy and fun for our patients and consist primarily of taking a big breath and blowing out as fast as possible. Interactive ‘breathing games’ encourage our patients to give their best effort. The equipment then measures the breath and airflow comparing it to predicted values and any previous test to monitor progress.

Our physicians and their assistants are specifically trained to interpret these tests to determine the presence and progress of lung disease such as asthma. These breathing tests are recognized by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute as an important tool in the diagnosis and management of lung disease.

What is a mid-level provider?
At Georgia Pediatric Pulmonology Associates we employ mid-level providers – pediatric nurse practitioners (PNP) or physician assistants (PA) - to assist with the care of our young patients. Each of these professionals is specifically trained in the care of infants and children with respiratory disease. They work closely with the pulmonologist in providing your child with comprehensive pulmonary care. The mid-level providers conduct follow-up visits as well as take weekend call and assist the physician in the care of our hospitalized patients. Just like the pulmonologists, the mid-level providers communicate with your primary care provider by sending a written summary of every follow-up visit.

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Will my child always see the same pulmonologist?
All out-patient follow-up physician visits will be scheduled with the same pulmonologist who you saw for the initial visit. If your child is admitted to the hospital and a pulmonologist is involved in the child’s hospital care, your child will be seen by the Georgia Pediatric Pulmonology Associates pulmonologist who is rounding at the hospital that day.

Both of my children see the pulmonologist. Can they be seen at the same time?
Yes, but make sure that you schedule two separate back-to-back appointments. They will be taken back to the exam room at the time of the first appointment

Who should I call if my child is sick between appointments?
If your child is having serious difficulty breathing or is turning blue, you need to call 911 and/or go to the nearest emergency room.

If your child is having less serious breathing trouble, coughing, wheezing or other symptoms that are related to his breathing you should call the nurse that is assigned to your Georgia Pediatric Pulmonology Associates pulmonologist. Your Georgia Pediatric Pulmonology Associates nurse can give you advice about changes in medications or help you decide if your child needs to be seen by a healthcare provider.

If your child is having trouble like an earache, sore throat or rash or other general illness of childhood, please call your primary care provider.

Can my child be seen for a sick visit?
Since we are not a primary care office, we don’t have scheduled “sick visits”. There may be some times that your child can be worked in to see a physician or mid-level provider, but this is usually not the case. Your Georgia Pediatric Pulmonology Associates nurse will advise you if you need to have your child see the primary care provider or if you need to move up your regularly scheduled appointment with your pulmonologist or mid-level practitioner. We send your primary care provider a written summary of your child’s visits to our office, so he or she should be very familiar with your child’s pulmonary care.

If I have to take my child to an emergency department for a breathing problem, will he or she be seen by the pulmonologist?
If you take your child to an emergency room at one of the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Scottish Rite campus, a Georgia Pediatric Pulmonology Associates pulmonologist will be on-call in the event that the emergency room physician needs advice about your child’s pulmonary care. Most of the time, your child will be seen by the emergency room doctor and will not need to see the pulmonologist at that time. Our physicians are not available at any of the other local emergency departments.

What if I need to get in touch with my child’s pulmonologist?
If you need to speak with your child’s pulmonologist, call the doctor’s nurse and leave a message. If she cannot answer your question, she will get in touch with the doctor or have the doctor contact you.

Is there a charge for parking?
There is a charge for parking at our Permieter office on Lake Hearn Drive. We are not able to validate your parking ticket, so please bring about $5.00 to cover the parking charge. There is not a charge for parking at the Alpharetta office, the Hughes Spalding clinic or the Columbus office.