Patient Centered Medical Home

What is a Patient-Centered Medical Home?

Amherst Pediatrics is proud to be your family's Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH). But what exactly is a PCMH?

The Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model embraces the idea that patients and their families are cared for by a team of healthcare professionals that extends beyond the time spent with your doctor. The PCMH model ensures that patients receive care that is accessible, family-centered, continuous, comprehensive, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally effective.

Access: Amherst Pediatrics understands how important it is for you to be able to see your doctor at a time that is convenient for you. We are closed only 3 days out of the year (Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day) and we are open 5 days a week, as well as for Saturday virtual visits. We have clinical staff available by phone to provide advice and triage during office hours, and we always have one of our providers on call to answer your urgent questions in the middle of the night.

Family Centered: At Amherst Pediatrics we recognize the important role that family plays in ensuring your child’s health. We respect and honor the care that you and your family provide for your child and we believe that decisions about your child’s health need to be made by the family.

Continuous: At Amherst Pediatrics, we believe that patients should have an established primary care provider who they see for most appointments. Your Child's Primary Care Provider will be familiar with your child’s medical history and will be better equipped to recognize anything unusual in your child’s health.

A major aspect of the PCMH is proactive, continuous care of chronic conditions such as asthma, obesity, and anxiety. When you are seen in our office you will receive not only exceptional care but a care plan jointly created by you and your provider that will serve as a roadmap of care for after you leave the office. But our job doesn't end there. We will keep in touch with you after your visit to help you follow your plan of care, and to answer questions that may arise over time. Behind the scenes, we will be continuously tracking your progress and make sure you come in for follow-up visits and tests when appropriate. We will also follow-up with any specialist visits, as well as with emergency room and hospital admissions.

Comprehensive: At Amherst Pediatrics, we provide primary care for your child and will work closely with you and your family to ensure that you are able to access any additional care that might be necessary including specialty medical care and mental health care. Our Medical Home Care Coordinator will support you and your family in accessing resources in the community and can serve as an advocate to bridge the gap between Amherst Pediatrics and specialty medical care, schools, and resources in the community.

Coordinated: We work closely with your family to discuss plans of care and to ensure that you understand the care that your child needs. In the event that your child needs to see a specialist outside of Amherst Pediatrics, our Referrals Coordinator will assist you in obtaining a referral from your insurance company and scheduling the appointment. Our Medical Home Care Coordinator will provide reminder calls to you for specialty medical appointments, as well as follow up with you afterward to see if you have any questions or comments you would like your child’s PCP to be aware of.

Compassionate: At Amherst Pediatrics, we want you and your family to feel welcome and supported. We genuinely care for the health and well being of your family and will listen to your concerns with respect and patience. We recognize that the health of your child is dependent on the health of your family as a whole and want to hear about any stressors or challenges that you might be facing.

Culturally Effective: We welcome and respect the diverse values, cultures, beliefs, and languages at Amherst Pediatrics. For our patients who do not speak English, we will arrange for professional medical interpretation either on the phone or in person to ensure that you and your family understand the important information being shared about the health of your child.

Click on the link below to access our Health Needs Assessment page, and valuable resources for your family:

>> Health Needs Assessment

Contact Us

Our Address
31 Hall Dr.
Amherst, MA 01002
Tel: (413) 253-3773
Fax: (413) 256-0215
Email: [email protected]

Patient Care Hours:
Monday-Friday
8:00 AM - 4:45 PM: In-office and MyChart Telehealth visits
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM: MyChart Telehealth visits only

Sat
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM: MyChart Telehealth visits only

* Please note: It is our policy that we do not approve referral requests for visits to outside urgent care centers during times that our office is open.

Holidays
We are open for urgent visits only on most Holidays. However, our office is closed on the following holidays:

- New Year's Day
- Easter Sunday
- Memorial Day
- July 4th
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Christmas Day

For urgent concerns, you can always reach an on-call provider, even when our office is closed.