IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING PATIENT CARE AND MEDICATIONS WHEN YOU ARE NOT PHYSICALLY IN ILLINOIS

To all our loyal patient families at Associated Pediatric Partners:

The COVID-19 pandemic was life changing for all of us and we are so excited that life is finally getting back to normal. One of the few positive outcomes of the pandemic was that of expanded access to care via telehealth. Federal guidelines required states to allow physicians to provide virtual care even across state lines. As the federal COVID pandemic emergency status ends on May 11th, the ability for physicians to provide virtual access across state lines will be severely restricted once again. As it was before the pandemic, physicians once again will be required to have a license to practice in the state where the patient is receiving care.

There is a lot of uncertainty as to how telemedicine will now be handled when the patient is out of state. It does appear that infrequent virtual care may be allowed for an established patient for established conditions, but only in a limited fashion.

As such, we are asking for your utmost understanding as we adjust, once again, to the necessary changes moving forward in how we offer telehealth services. We will continue to provide you with the same high level of personalized medical care, but it will unfortunately be less convenient for those away at college or on vacation.

EFFECTIVE May 12, 2023:

• Nothing significant will change if you are residing in the State of Illinois. You may still be seen in-person or via telehealth. The one exception is that we cannot see NEW patients for their very first visit by telehealth even in-state. All first visits MUST be in-person.
• NO controlled substances (i.e., stimulant medications for ADHD or narcotic pain medications) will be allowed to be electronically prescribed out of state. We can either give you a printed prescription that you can take to the pharmacy of your choice, or we can send the prescription electronically to any pharmacy in the state of Illinois. It will be your parents’ responsibility to pick up the prescription and get it to you out of state.
• Limited virtual visits for established patients who are temporarily out of state and have a chronic medical problem will be at the physician’s discretion unless the guidelines change in the future.
• We cannot provide ANY telehealth out of state for NEW problems, only for established problems.

• College students will be encouraged to schedule their visits in-person as much as possible during their holiday breaks, summers, or weekends at home. They should schedule these visits well in advance to work fits with their limited time at home.
• You may also request a med check be done at the time of your check-up (IF TIME ALLOWS), but it will require extra time for the visit, and we will bill accordingly per insurance and coding mandates as two separate visits. The visit will be subject to a co-pay per insurance rules. To not bill for these services is considered fraudulent.
• If you feel these new guidelines will not work for your child, it would be recommended that families find a local MD or psychiatrist to provide care while they are out of state.

We have struggled in deciding on these new guidelines, as we value caring for our patients even when they are out of state. But at least for our out-of-state patients, it will just be a return to pre-pandemic rules. We can still help them with their chronic conditions, it will just require more in-person visits, like in the good old days before COVID.

We appreciate your understanding.

Dr. Radis, Dr. Shapiro, Dr. Varghese, Dr. Donovan-Hunt, Dr. Gliksberg