IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: UCSF Blue and Gold Insurance

To all our patients under the UCSF HealthNet Blue and Gold plan,

We have received several phone calls today regarding your open enrollment selection for the upcoming year (1/1/2013). Unfortunately, Dr. Wan is not part of Hills Physician, and because he is a Brown and Toland preferred provider, he is not allowed to join Hills Physician. So if you want to keep Dr. Wan as your child's Primary Care Provider, you will have to select another insurance plan such as Regular Healthnet HMO or Anthem BlueCross PPO/Basic. We also understand that those plans come with a higher premium.

If you still have questions about this, please feel free to call and our staff will be happy to assist you. Regardless of your choice, we hope we will able to continue to serve you and your child in the future.

Sincerely,

The Office of Dr. Benjamin Wan

FLU VACCINE AVAILABLE!

To all our patients,

As of yesterday, we have received all our flu vaccines for this upcoming Flu season. That includes the Inactivated Flu Shot (Preservative-Free) for 3 years and up, the Inactivated Flu shot (Preservative-Free) for 6 -35 months, and the Flu mist nasal spray for 2 years and older. It is recommended for all children 6 months or older to receive the Flu vaccine. If you have an infant under the age of 6 months, it is also recommended for all household members to get vaccinated, so you should still schedule the older siblings to get the flu vaccine.

If you would like your child to get the flu vaccine, please call our office so that we can schedule an appointment for you.

For more information, you can download the Vaccine Information Statement for the Influenza Vaccine here.

Thank you!

Considering circumcision?

Are you wondering about whether or not to circumcise your newborn son? Well, a new statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says that the benefits outweigh the risks. This is mainly because of studies showing that circumcised males are less likely to contract and transmit STDs (sexually transmitted diseases). However, the American Academy of Pediatrics does not necessarily recommend the procedure. They are simply making sure that the public knows the risks and benefits of the procedure. It is still completely a parental preference.

Stealing a quote from the article: "Just make an informed decision. Do your research, be open-minded.”

You can read more here.

Chickenpox Cases Drop 80% in Last Decade

You can read more HERE.

BUMBO BABY SEAT RECALL.

You can find more information on Bumbo's website HERE or CPSC's website HERE.

GREAT NEWS! MAJOR INSURANCE UPDATE!

We can officially accept patients under CCHCA (Chinese Community Health Care Assoc.)! For those patients who have been waitng for this, thank you for your patience. Dr. Wan actually became a CCHCA provider effective June 14th, but it took the insurance companies this long to process the information. As of today, we know for sure that CCHP and Healthnet Healthy Families patients can choose Dr. Wan as their PCP. Please share this news with any friends or families who might be interested in this information. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to call our office.

Whooping Cough cases heading towards a 50 year high!

Whooping cough (aka Pertussis) is on the rise. Check out this article and make sure your child's pertussis vaccine or booster is up to date. And you may might want to get a booster for yourself as well!

INSURANCE UPDATE

We are now able to accept patients w/ Healthy Families or MediCal under BlueCross. If you have this type of insurance or knows of friends who do, please feel free to call us (or ask them to call us) for more information.

Dr. Shen's Blog

Our former colleague, Dr. Shen, has kindly agreed to share her blog with us. Please go check it out for some tips from a Pediatrician Mommy!

Click HERE to go to Dr. Shen's blog.

Immunization and Car Seat classes

For those interested, there is a car seat safety class and an immunization class coming up, both intended for parents. More info below:

http://www.sfimmunize.org/immunization-classes.html

Official Pictures!

The picture tour of our office has been updated with some professional pictures. Please check it out here: Office Tour. Big thanks to our photographer and models!

VISA? MASTERCARD? No problem!

Great news, especially for those with HSA/HRA/FSA accounts! We have received our credit card machine. After setting up and testing it out, we hope to officially start accepting credit cards on April 2nd!

Pictures of Our New Office

We have finally uploaded some pictures of our newly renovated office. You can find them here: Office Tour
These are just random pictures taken by Dr. Wan, but it can give you an idea of what our office looks like (especially when compared to the construction photos). More professional pictures will be coming soon!

An update on Medical Record Transfer

To all our patients, based on patient feedback, Dr. Carol Lee's office policy on medical record release seems to keep changing/evolving, and now there may not be a fee. If you are unsure whether your child's records will be affected, it is best to check with their office. You are also welcome to call us and we will try to provide you with as much information as possible.

If your child has an upcoming appointment, and you have sent in a record release to Dr. Carol Lee's, you need to call them one or two weeks ahead of time to confirm that they will release the records prior to your appointment.

Medical Record Transfer

To all our patients, we have just been informed by Dr. Carol Lee's office that starting now, they will be charging for medical records release, regardless of when you sent in your record release form. They are also asking all parents to call or drop-in in person to confirm their medical record release. We are very sorry about this inconvenience. In terms of the details of their new policy, we cannot say for sure. So far, the feedback that we have gotten seems very inconsistent. If you are not sure whether your child's records have been transferred yet, please feel free to call us so that we can assist you in any way that we can.

We're going electronic!

Started this past Thursday, we have officially switched over to electronic medical records. In other words, we are all learning something new and it will take us a while to get used to it. In the meantime, if our office seems to be functioning slower than usual, we sincerely apologize and hope you understand. Thank you!

We are moving to our new space!

To all our patients, our new space is finally ready for business! Though not 100% complete, starting February 27th, we will be seeing patients in the newly renovated Suite 500. Pictures will be posted soon.

Important! Infant Tylenol Recall! Please Read!

Infant Tylenol Recall

The most frequently asked questions about our practice so far...

Q: Is Dr. Wan by himself? Will it be hard to get an appointment because he will be super busy?


A: Actually, in the old office, he saw a lot of the other doctors' patients as well, so in fact he will be more accessible now. And plus we get to decide how to do the scheduling, so we will try to make sure that it won't be as overbooked as before.



Q: Will there eventually be a female doctor?


A: Yes. Absolutely. When we have a need for a second doctor, we will definitely try to get a female doctor.

Chinese New Year

Please note that in observation of Chinese New Year, we will be closed on Monday, January 23rd, 2012. For any non-urgent matters, please call back Tuesday during our regular business hours. If you require urgent medical advice, you can still call and page Dr. Wan. Thank you and happy Chinese New Year to you!

We are open for business!

We are currently located in a temporary suite that is right next to our future permanent home. Though everything is still a work in progress, we are able to start seeing patients. Please call with any questions and the staff will be happy to assist you.