Direct Primary Care (DPC) is a new membership-based movement in medicine geared toward enhancing the relationship between patient and physician without the limitations placed by insurance or the impersonalization of a large corporate practice. All medical care with Dr. Wheeler, including texting/questions, in-person and virtual care, and after-hours/weekend access, are included for a flat monthly fee. Please see "Services and Pricing" for details.

In some ways, they are very similar. Both models offer smaller practice sizes, easy and increased access to your doctor, and longer appointments with minimal wait times, all of which lead to a more personalized experience and doctor-patient relationship. The main difference is that DPC practices work directly with patients, providing high value services through membership without billing insurance. Concierge medical practices, on the other hand, are often cost-prohibitive, because they typically have higher annual fees of over $2000/patient, in addition to billing insurance with resultant patient co-pays, etc. DPC offers Concierge care without the Concierge price.

DPC is not necessary to keep your child healthy, but it will make the process much easier and more enjoyable! Our goal is to provide family-focused care and guidance on your child's health, well-being, nutrition, sleep, growth, and development and to support your parenting needs in a flexible, patient-centered environment. You get as much time with Dr. Wheeler as desired, not a rushed appointment once a year.

Our patients and parents experience a much more personal relationship with their pediatrician. Dr. Wheeler is just a quick text, phone call, or email away.

We provide comprehensive and accessible care with a goal of avoiding unnecessary urgent care or emergency room visits for issues that could have been addressed by your pediatrician, if only they were available. The out-of-pocket cost (with insurance) for one urgent care visit can be several hundred dollars, and for one trip to the ER can be more than a year's membership with our practice.

Petite Pediatric Care sees patients from newborn to 18 years old.

Due to the unique nature of our clinic, Petite Pediatric Care does not have set office hours, and Dr. Wheeler is almost always available. She is in the office most weekdays and evenings/weekends as needed.

Expectant parents who are interested in membership should schedule a prenatal meet-and-greet with Dr. Wheeler. Once you are accepted into the practice, simply complete the registration form to secure your baby's spot, then let us know once the baby arrives, so we can officially add them to the PPC family!

While in the hospital, the hospital team will take care of the baby's needs until discharge. Notify the hospital team that you are a member of PPC, so they can send us the relevant medical paperwork.

Once you know the day of discharge, text or call Dr. Wheeler to schedule your baby's first newborn visit. Dr. Wheeler will come to your home (within a 10-mile radius of the office) for any visits in the first 2 weeks to give you time to rest and figure out the carseat :)

We understand that plans change, so we request that you notify us by 5 pm on the day prior to your appointment if you need to cancel or change your appointment to a different day. This can easily be done by text or phone call.

If you're running late, just text to let us know!

After the first no-show or same-day cancellation, a $50 fee may be charged for future no-shows or same-day cancellations.

Petite Pediatric Care will administer vaccines in the office when possible. We follow the AAP immunization schedule and require that all "school-required" vaccines are up to date to be a PPC member. This does NOT include Flu and Covid vaccines.

We are happy to discuss vaccines and answer questions but believe that childhood immunizations are safe, save lives, and can prevent severe illness and permanent disability.

While we respect everyone's right to decide what is best for their family, it is our responsibility to protect our patients and our community. If you do not plan to vaccinate your child according to medical recommendations, then our practice will not be a good fit for your family.

We answer all non-urgent messages and calls on weekdays from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm.

For questions requiring an urgent response, please call Dr. Wheeler on the member access line.

For true emergencies, please call "911".

Dr. Wheeler will provide advance notice for any planned absence and notice as soon as possible for any absence due to illness or family emergency.

She may still be available by text, phone, and email during these times.

In the unusual event that Dr. Wheeler is completely unavailable for an extended time, we will make arrangements for a board-certified physician to attend to any patient needs that arise.

No, Petite Pediatric Care is self-pay. Our membership and services are out-of-network with all insurance carriers.**

Although we would love to accept insurance, insurance carriers have unfortunately made it almost impossible for small primary care practices to participate with them. Their profit-focused policies prevent the kind of hands-on, personalized care with longer visits and direct access that Petite Pediatric Care offers.

We want to keep our focus on patient care. By removing the middle men, we are proud to offer excellent service and care with transparent pricing.

If your insurance plan offers out-of-network benefits, we can provide you with an itemized receipt (a "super-bill") at the end of each visit that you can submit to your insurance carrier for reimbursement directly back to you, based on your coverage agreement.

**Vaccines are billed through insurance.

Membership fees are automatically charged monthly, similar to a gym membership, to your debit/credit card or directly to your checking account (ACH) if you prefer. Since the membership fee is automatically charged, you never have to worry about an unpaid charge or wonder if an insurance claim has been processed and how much you may still owe.

Our members often use HSA (Health Savings Account) or FSA (Flexible Spending Account) cards to pay for their memberships. We recommend that you consult your plan managers and/or accountants to ensure compliance with account and IRS guidelines.

If you prefer to pay annually, we offer an 8% discount, which is equivalent to a free month of membership.

The flexibility in payment options with this model means that anyone can pay for your child's membership, including grandparents or anyone who would like to give a unique and valuable gift to new parents.

We require that all patients have insurance or participate in a healthcare share plan to ensure coverage for high-cost items that we cannot provide, such as specialist consultations, emergency room visits, surgery, lab testing, vaccine charges, imaging (x-ray, CT, MRI, ultrasound, etc), and hospitalization. Without coverage, a single unanticipated medical event, such as a car accident or surgerical emergency (like appendicitis), can result in bills totalling tens of thousands of dollars.

When choosing your insurance coverage, we recommend NOT choosing an HMO plan, as these require any referrals to come from "in network" providers only, so we will not be able to provide referrals.

PPC offers reduced-cost labs, but if you prefer, these can be processed through insurance instead.

Membership can be cancelled at anytime with a 30-day notice with no cancellation fee or penalty. If the full year's fee has been paid, PPC will refund the prorated amount for the months being cancelled.