Our Practice
What makes our practice a little different?
Christakis Pediatrics is a somewhat unusual pediatric practice in certain respects. We, like many of our colleagues, attempt to provide excellent and compassionate care to all of our patients. We do this by maintaining high standards in the areas of clinical expertise and patient satisfaction. I have had a strong desire to be a pediatrician since my own childhood. I began solo practice in 1988, by “hanging up a shingle,” joining my older brother John, an internist. Fortunately after 36 years, I continue to thoroughly enjoy my work every single day. I keep thinking how great would it be to write a book containing all of the cool and hilarious things our little patients say in our office! My pediatric career has been everything I expected and more. On the other hand, we have also experienced the reality of trying to practice pediatrics as a traditional and solo doctor in today’s medical business world. Predictions have been made about the end of this brand of medical care. My hope, going forward, is to continue to buck the trend of merging with a large group practice, or selling the practice to a hospital chain, but instead to continue working as I have been. By this I mean:
- A small, personal office setting, in which patients and parents get to know each of us. Our staff consists of myself, pediatric nurses Alice and Jina, and Ana at the front desk. Our patients have taught us over the years that knowing what to expect when they come to our office, and specifically who they will see is a highly valued characteristic of our office.
- Reasonable scheduling of well visits. We schedule adequate time to cover the many issues that I am expected to cover as a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics. We also try to carve out enough time in the day for the inevitable sick visits. I personally place great value in running on time, although it is not always possible. I very much appreciate the patience and understanding of our kind parents when I find myself running late.
- Live phone response. I dislike voice menu answering systems so much that I have vowed to never go that route for my own office.
- Excellent coverage after hours and on weekends. Doctors Blanco, Wexler and Laskas of Boca Raton Pediatric Associates have been long time colleagues with whom I rotate coverage. This entails direct-to-doctor phone access after hours for urgent matters, and walk-in office hours at their east Boca office on most. weekend mornings, when I am not on call.
- 24/7 access to me if your child is in the hospital, during which time I personally collaborate with the hospital pediatrician.
- Email communication directly with me or a nurse for non-urgent clinical questions, and with the staff for appointments, form requests and other administrative or billing issues.
- Availability for home visits.
We have implemented an annual fee of $400 per family. There was simply no other way to maintain our kind of medical office. This has allowed me to continue to practice pediatrics in the manner I envisioned when I first opened in 1988. Because of the understanding of our patients, we have been able to avoid closing, selling, or merging with another practice. I feel very grateful and honored to have the trust and respect of our patients’ parents, who, despite difficult economic times, have stayed with us. Our intention has never been to exclude patients. I am living a life long dream to be a pediatrician in my hometown of Boca Raton, where I have lived since 1974, and so I thank all of my families for that!
We are always open to suggestions and feedback, and we certainly hope you will communicate with us so we can improve our practice, or if there are special circumstances about your situation that we need to be aware of.
Feel free to contact me at 39CHILD (392-4453) or at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), at any time.
All the best,
Dr Paul