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Our Office

Welcome to Our Office!

GROW Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, PLLC is the pediatric medical practice of Dr. Owens, Dr. Rusk, Dr. Wise, Dr. Duong, Dr. Lloyd, Dr. Ali  and their staff. Together, we provide medical care to children from birth to late adolescence.

In November of 2023, the clinic relocated to its current location in Mueller, next to Dell Children’s Medical Center. We remain an independently owned and operated practice, and now offer 13 beautiful  exam rooms to accomodate our patients.

Our pediatricians are Board-Certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and are Fellows of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Our physicians are passionate about what they do, and along with our staff, are dedicated to giving a higher standard of care to our patients and their families.

We have created an office where your child’s medical visit will flow seamlessly, from being shown to your room to our thorough procedures for drawing and triple verifying vaccines and medication. Our office is also wheelchair accessible, and we have two dedicated patient restrooms with baby changing stations within our suite.

We are proud of what we have built, and are honored to have you and your family in our practice!

 

We’d like to let our families know that we are taking extensive precautions to protect our patients and staff during the Covid-19 pandemic. We ask that families with newborn patients (Age 6 months and younger) not enter the clinic without first calling from outside to check in. This way, we can ensure that a room is ready for our most vulnerable population; those not yet eligible to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. As of January 16, 2023, all other patients may enter the waiting room and approach the front desk to check in. 

Office Hours

  • Monday – Friday, 8a-noon & 1:30-5:00
  • After Hours on Saturdays 9:00 am-noon (on a rotation with the other practices in our call group)
  • Sundays – CLOSED

In addition, we are routinely CLOSED the following holidays:

  • New Year’s Day
  • Memorial Day
  • Independence Day
  • Labor Day
  • Thanksgiving Day
  • Christmas Day

Depending on the year, we may also be closed for all or a portion of the day on Christmas Eve and New Years’ Eve.

 After Hours Care

Our providers share ‘call’ with two other like-minded practices:

  • Austex Pediatrics (Dr. Melody Cassels, Dr. Wesley Glazener, and Dr. Taylor Beall)  512-454-0406
  • Children’s Medical Group (Dr. Lorri Powell, Dr. Tammy McConnell, and Dr. Grace Holzman) 512-451-5161

For after hours needs, we have some options:

  • Outside of regular business hours, we have quality, qualified Pediatric RNs available for urgent needs, 24 hours a day. They can be reached via calling our office directly after hours and selecting Prompt 3 when you get our main greeting. Our triage service always has access to an on-call physician, if necessary. There is a fee of $25, billed directly to patients, associated with these calls.
  • If it is a Saturday, GROW, Austex, or Children’s Medical Group will have After Hours Clinic from 9:00 am-noon. Please refer to our Facebook page or the home page of this website for updates on which clinic is on for the weekend. Same day appointments can be made by calling the clinic on duty directly. Please note, it is customary to assess an out of pocket afterhours fee in addition to any regular copay. GROW charges $40 for this service. 
  • If your child needs to be seen outside our office hours and After Hours Clinics, we always recommend After Hours, Urgent Care Clinics, and Emergency Departments that are staffed by pediatric medical staff (pediatricians, pediatric nurse practitioners, and pediatric specialists).

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Our goal in offering these policies and procedures is to be responsive to your child’s needs, whether he or she is sick or well, and to allow for the best use of your and your child’s time.

Do you accept walk-in patients?
Because our office is so small, we are not able to accept walk-in patients. If your child is a current patient of our office, or if you are in the process of transferring your child’s care to our office, please give us a call. We will make every effort to see your child as soon as possible. If we are not your child’s primary care provider, and you are not in the process of transferring care to our office, we ask that you seek care at your child’s current provider’s office, or call your child’s provider’s office for recommendations of where to seek care for urgent matters.
How often should my child see the pediatrician?
Regular well-child visits allow your child’s pediatrician the best opportunity to observe the progress of your child’s physical and mental growth and development, to council and teach parents, to detect problems through screening tests, to provide immunizations, and to get to know one another. Well child visits are a great time for parents to raise questions and concerns about a child’s development, behavior, nutrition, safety, and overall well-being. We recommend the following well-child checkup schedule: • 3 to 5 days (usually 2 days after hospital discharge) • 7 to 14 days (also called the ‘2 week well-check’) • 1 month • 2 months • 4 months • 6 months • 9 months • 12 months • 15 months • 18 months • 24 months • 30 months • 3 years • Once each year thereafter for a visit that includes a physical exam as well as developmental, behavioral, and learning assessments.
Is your office accepting new patients?
Yes! Dr. Natalie Rusk and Dr. Laura Wise are accepting new patients at this time. If you are interested in joining our practice, please fill out the New Patient Paperwork (on our Forms & Policies page) and mail it, email it, or drop it off at our office. Alternatively, you may call to register over the phone and set up an appointment (if needed). For those who are interested in getting to know us before committing, we host a monthly Meet & Greet event for parents who are new to our practice. Please call or email our office to sign up, as space is limited. Here are the Meet & Greet events we have scheduled for 2019: • Tuesday, March 26th at 1pm • Tuesday, April 23rd at 1pm • Tuesday, May 21st at 1pm • Tuesday, June 25th at 1pm Please call or email us to sign up, as space is limited.
What is the best way to schedule an appointment with your office?
You may call our office during regular business hours, request an appointment online by message, or email us at info@growpediatrics.com. We schedule three different types of office visits: 1. Routine visits, such as well child examinations, sports physicals, and new patient evaluations 2. Follow-up visits for non-urgent problems such as weight checks, asthma, and ADHD 3. Urgent visits for acute illness Our policy is designed to accommodate each patient with the appropriate amount of time to provide the necessary evaluation and management of their condition. Routine visits take up more time in the office and therefore are more difficult to work into the provider’s schedule. Routine visits are generally booked within two to three months. We ask that you plan as far in advance as possible when requesting an appointment. Non-urgent follow-up visits may take a week or more to book. We do our best to work with patient schedules, and make every effort to accommodate individual needs. It is essential we maintain availability to see patients with urgent problems. Urgent problems, such as acute illness and injury, are usually seen within a day or two. If you feel it is necessary to be seen that day, please call our office before 10:00am. If you have an urgent complaint, we will offer you the earliest appointment available, which may be with one of our physicians, or with our nurse practitioner. In these cases, please be flexible. We’re certain you understand it is not possible to see patients on a walk-in basis in our small office. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to accommodate every single request for a same-day appointment. Depending on the urgency of your child’s problem, we may ask you to wait until the following day, or even refer you to urgent care or the emergency department for evaluation. Some medical problems, such as dehydration, respiratory distress, or serious injuries cannot be treated within an office setting and necessitate more extensive facilities. In these situations, we may recommend immediate assessment in the emergency department (generally at Dell Children’s Medical Center or St. David’s Children’s Hospital).
Do you have a vaccination policy?
We do have a vaccination policy. In short, we require our patients to receive the recommended vaccines on the recommended schedule. That said, we are glad to work with families who are currently using an alternative schedule to ‘catch up’ to the recommended schedule.
What if I need after hours service?
We often offer after-hours appointments on Fridays, from 5pm to 7pm (please call before 5pm to schedule). We also rotate Saturday morning office hours with Children’s Medical Group and Austex Pediatrics. To make a Saturday morning appointment (for urgent needs only), please call Medlink at 512-660-6581. A Medlink representative will know which of the three offices is open and can give you the phone number to call to make an appointment. Please call Medlink at 512-660-6581 to reach the on-call provider. We share call with Children’s Medical Group (Drs. Bell, McConnell, and Dodson) and Austex Pediatrics (Drs. Cassels and Glazener). We charge a fee of $25 for each after hours call. If the concern requires urgent attention, we will refer you to the nearest pediatric friendly emergency department or urgent care center. We recommend the following after hours/urgent care clinics: • 411 Pediatrics After Hours (located in South Austin) • ADC EasyCare (North and Southwest) • After Hours Kids (Central) • ARC Urgent Care (multiple locations in and around Austin) • Dell Children’s Medical Center (East/Central) • Dell Children’s ER at Seton Northwest (Northwest) • Dell Children’s ER at Seton Hays (Southeast) • St. David’s Children’s Hospital (North) • Texas Children’s Urgent Care (South) • Urgent Care for Kids (located in both Cedar Park and Round Rock) Another great option for assistance after hours is the nurse line for your insurance company. Most insurance companies offer this service to their members free of charge! Please see the back of your insurance card or call the member services number for more information.
Which insurance plans are accepted?
We accept most commercial health insurance plans. It is very important that you confirm with your insurance company that our providers are currently under contract (in-network) with your plan (even if it is listed below), since plans change frequently, and there are several ‘narrow’ or ‘skinny’ network plans that we may not be in-network for. If we are not listed as one of your providers, you may be seen at our office under ‘out of network’ benefits (if out of network benefits are offered with your plan). In most cases, we are contracted with the following plans: • Accountable Health Plan/Interplan Health Group PPO • Aetna HMO, PPO, POS, EPO • Aetna Whole Health/Seton Health Alliance • Ambetter by Superior • Averde Health PPO • Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO, PPO, PAR • Beechstreet PPO • Cigna PPO, HMO • First Health PPO • Healthsmart Accel PPO • Healthsmart Preferred Care PPO • Humana PPO, HMO, POS (we are not in-network for HMOx plans) • Multiplan PPO • IdealCare by Sendero • Oscar • PHCS • Smarthealth (formerly Seton EPN) • Tricare • United Healthcare PPO, HMO, POS, EPO • United Student Resources (UT Student Division) PPO • USA Managed Care PPO We are unable to accept any form of Medicaid at this time, including ‘Managed Care’ plans, such as those offered by BCBS, Sendero Health Plan, Superior Health Plan, and Dell Children’s Health Plan. We are also not accepting ‘Health Share’ plans or ‘MEC – Minimum Essential Coverage’ plans at this time.
Which hospitals do you visit?
Our providers visit newborns daily at Seton Medical Center Austin. We utilize the neonatal hospitalist service at the other Seton facilities, as well as the St. David’s facilities. If your child requires hospitalization, we will turn his or her care over to the inpatient pediatric specialists at Dell Children’s Medical Center to coordinate medical care.
What is your cancellation/no-show/late policy?
In an effort to have the best availability for your family, we ask parents to call us at least 24 hours ahead of a scheduled well visit or four hours prior to a ‘sick’ appointment if you need to cancel. While we understand that unforeseen problems occur, a fee may be charged when these guidelines are not followed. A fee of $50 will be charged for no-shows and appointments cancelled with less than a 24 hour notice. If a patient has not arrived within 10 minutes of their scheduled appointment, our office will call the phone number on file. If the patient arrives more than 15 minutes after the appointment time, we will reschedule the appointment.
I received a notice my insurance company did not pay for a service. Why is that? What do I do next?
Even if we accept your insurance, payment is not guaranteed. Our office does not have information on your individual policy and its coverage. If you receive a notice a service was denied, we ask that you call your insurance company; they can give you a specific reason for the denial. If it was inappropriate or you believe an error was made, we are happy to re-submit or appeal your claim as long as it is within your insurance company’s filing limit (which is usually 60-90 days of the date of service). Please call our billing line at 512-467-7334, option 2, for any billing questions.
Are you hiring?
We are currently looking for an experienced Pediatric Triage Nurse to work 1 day a week (about 10 hours). If you know of someone who would be a great fit, please ask them to email their cover letter and resume to jobs@growpediatrics.com.

 

 

We are located on the first floor, at 1401 Philomena, Suite 120. Conveniently located off of I-35 and next to Dell Children’s, we offer street parking as well as a dedicated parking garage directly behind our building. Parking is free. 

Please do not park in the surface lot directly east of our building; it is marked as “reserved” and belongs to another building.

 Get In Touch- Send us a (Non-Urgent) Message

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Book An Appointment

The quickest and easiest way to book an appointment is to contact our office by phone.
In most cases, we can make a same-day appointment for a sick child. We ask that you contact us at least a 4-6 weeks ahead to schedule your child’s well visit.

Address: 1401 Philomena Street, Suite 120

Austin, TX 78723

Phone:
512 467 7334

Fax: 512 467 7335
Email: frontoffice@growpediatrics.com
Web: http://growpediatrics.com

Let’s be Social!

Which insurance plans are accepted?

We accept most commercial health insurance plans. It is very important that you confirm with your insurance company that our providers are currently under contract (in-network) with your plan (even if it is listed below), since plans change frequently, and there are several ‘narrow’ or ‘skinny’ network plans that we may not be in-network for. If we are not listed as one of your providers, it may be possible for you to be seen at our office under ‘out of network’ benefits (if out of network benefits are offered with your plan). In most cases, we are contracted with the following plans:

  • Aetna HMO, PPO, POS, EPO
  • Aetna Whole Health/Seton Health Alliance
  • Ambetter by Superior
  • Ascension- Automated Benefit Services (SmartHealth)
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO, PPO, PAR
  • Beechstreet PPO
  • Cigna PPO, HMO
  • First Health PPO
  • Healthsmart Accel PPO
  • Healthsmart Preferred Care PPO
  • Humana PPO, HMO, POS (we are not in-network for HMOx plans)
  • IdealCare by Sendero
  • Meritain by Aetna
  • Tricare
  • United Healthcare PPO, HMO, POS, EPO
  • United Student Resources (UT Student Division) PPO
  • USA Managed Care PPO

We are unable to accept any form of Medicaid (including managed care plans such as BCBS, Dell Children’s, Superior, etc.) at this time.

We also do not accept ‘healthshares’ as a form of payment. These are NOT insurance plans. Patients who use healthshares are considered ‘Self-Pay’, must pay at the time of service, and may file for reimbursement from the healthshare directly.

Do you accept walk-in patients?
Because our office is so small, we are not able to accept walk-in patients.

If your child is a current patient of our office, or if you are in the process of transferring your child’s care to our office, please give us a call. We will make every effort to see your child as soon as possible.

If we are not your child’s primary care provider, and you are not in the process of transferring care to our office, we ask that you seek care at your child’s current provider’s office, or call your child’s provider’s office for recommendations of where to seek care for urgent matters.

How often should my child come in to the office?
Regular well-child visits allow your child’s primary care provider the best opportunity to observe the progress of your child’s physical and mental growth and development, to council and teach parents, to detect problems through screening tests, to provide immunizations, and to get to know one another. Well child visits are a great time for parents to raise questions and concerns about a child’s development, behavior, nutrition, safety, and overall well-being. We recommend the following well-child checkup schedule:

  • 3 to 5 days (usually 2 days after hospital discharge)
  • 7 to 14 days (also called the ‘2 week well-check’)
  • 1 month
  • 2 months
  • 4 months
  • 6 months
  • 9 months
  • 12 months
  • 15 months
  • 18 months
  • 24 months
  • 30 months
  • 3 years
  • Once each year thereafter for a visit that includes a physical exam as well as developmental, behavioral, and learning assessments.
Is your office accepting new patients?

This changes several times throughout the year. Please check the latest updates on our blog or Facebook page, or give us a call to inquire about becoming a new patient!

If you are interested in joining our practice, please fill out the New Patient Paperwork (on our Forms & Policies page) and mail it or email it to our office. Alternatively, you may call to register over the phone and set up an appointment (if needed).

For those who are interested in getting to know us before committing, we host virtual Meet & Greet events for parents who are new to our practice. Please call our office to sign up, as space is limited.  

    What is the best way to schedule an appointment?

    You may call our office during regular business hours, request an appointment online by message, or email us at GROWfrontdesk@gmail.com.

    We schedule three different types of office visits:

    1. Routine visits, such as well child examinations, sports physicals, and new patient evaluations
    2. Follow-up visits for non-urgent problems such as weight checks, asthma, and ADHD
    3. Urgent visits for acute illness

    Our policy is designed to accommodate each patient with the appropriate amount of time to provide the necessary evaluation and management of their condition.

    Routine visits take up more time in the office and therefore are more difficult to work into the provider’s schedule. Routine visits are generally booked within two to three months. We ask that you plan as far in advance as possible when requesting an appointment.

    Non-urgent follow-up visits may take a week or more to book. We do our best to work with patient schedules, and make every effort to accommodate individual needs. It is essential, however, we maintain availability to see patients with urgent problems.

    Urgent problems, such as acute illness and injury, are usually seen within a day or two. If you feel it is necessary to be seen that day, please call our office before 10:00am. If you have an urgent complaint, we will offer you the earliest appointment available, which may be with one of our physicians, or with our nurse practitioner. In these cases, please be flexible. We’re certain you understand it is not possible to see patients on a walk in basis in our small office.

    Unfortunately, it is not always possible to accommodate every single request for a same-day appointment. Depending on the urgency of your child’s problem, we may ask you to wait until the following day, or even refer you to urgent care or the emergency department for evaluation.

    Some medical problems, such as dehydration, respiratory distress, or serious injuries cannot be treated within an office setting and necessitate more extensive facilities. In these situations, we may recommend immediate assessment in the emergency department (generally at Dell Children’s Medical Center or St. David’s Children’s Hospital).

    Do you have a vaccination policy?

    We do have a vaccination policy. In short, we require our patients to receive the recommended vaccines on the recommended schedule. We do not accomodate families who prefer an alternative schedule, but are happy to assist in getting your child caught up to the recommended schedule.

    Please follow this link to read our policy in its entirety: ‘GROW Vaccination Policy’

    What if I need after hours service?

    Please call our main number and select Option 3 to connect with our Afterhours triage service. They are always able to reach the on-call provider, if clinically necessary. We share call with Children’s Medical Group (Drs. McConnell, Powell and Holzman) and Austex Pediatrics (Drs. Cassels, Glazener and Burns). We charge a fee of $25 for each after hours call. If the concern requires urgent attention, we will refer you to the nearest pediatric friendly emergency department or urgent care center. We recommend the following after hours/urgent care clinics:

    Another great option for assistance after hours is the nurse line for your insurance company. Most insurance companies offer this service to their members free of charge! Please see the back of your insurance card or call the member services number for more information.

     

    We also rotate Saturday morning office hours with Children’s Medical Group and Austex Pediatrics.  To make a Saturday morning appointment (for urgent needs only), please check the home page of this site or our Facebook page to connect with the clinic on call. Alternatively, you can call PediCall Care at 888-868-2803. A PCC representative will know which of the three offices is open and can give you the phone number to call to make an appointment.

    Which hospitals do you visit?
    As of July 1, 2019, GROW providers will no longer make newborn rounds at Ascension Seton Medical Center.

    As much as our providers love getting to know new babies on those first few days of life, we feel that allowing the experienced neonatal team to care for newborns who are in the hospital will best serve the needs of our patients.

    The wave of the future is the separation of hospital medicine from outpatient medicine, and we love the idea that this will enable better access for appointments in the office.

    If you are expecting to deliver after that date at Seton and have questions about the process, do not hesitate to call our office!

    What is your cancellations/no-show/late policy?
    In an effort to have the best availability for your family, we ask parents to call us at least 24 hours ahead of a scheduled well visit or four hours prior to a ‘sick’ appointment if you need to cancel. While we understand that unforeseen problems occur, a fee may be charged when these guidelines are not followed.

    A fee of $50 will be charged for no-shows and appointments cancelled with less than a 24 hour notice.

    If a patient has not arrived within 10 minutes of their scheduled appointment, our office will call the phone number on file. If the patient arrives more than 15 minutes after the appointment time, we will reschedule the appointment.

    I received a notice my insurance company did not pay for a service. Why is that? What can I do?

    Even if we accept your insurance, payment is not guaranteed. Our office does not have information on your individual policy and its coverage. If you receive a notice a service was denied, we ask that you call your insurance company; they can give you a specific reason for the denial. If it was inappropriate or you believe an error was made, we are happy to re-submit your claim as long as it is within your insurance company’s filing limit (which is usually 60-90 days of the date of service).

    Please call our billing line, 512-467-7334, ext. 4, with any billing questions. Once you leave a message, our staff will work with our outside billing company to process your request.