FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
We want your medical care to be as seamless and easy as possible.
We do this by setting up our practice for easy access to the office, your medical information, and to Dr. Muñoz. We help coordinate any specialty care that your child may need.
We accept all major insurance plans and Medi-Cal, however, it is your responsibility to ensure that we are in network with your plan.
Please contact your medical plan to confirm that we are “in network”. You will need our NPI number: 1891312153 (Our Group NPI number).
Some companies use Dr. Muñoz’s individual NPI: 1659799021.
We currently have contracts with several insurance companies in the form of HMOs, PPOs, and Medi-Cal. Please call your insurance plan to confirm we are part of your network.
We collect co-pays at our office on the same day as your visit. As a courtesy, we bill your insurance for the services rendered. You may receive a bill from our office if your plan does not cover the cost of all the services provided.
We accept all major credit cards, cash, and Health Savings Accounts.
We offer all our services via membership as well. Contact us for more details.
Some families have high-deductible plans and may not want to use their insurance for medical services.
Contact us today if you are interested in a membership for our services.
Si! En la oficina, todos hablamos español incluyendo a la Dra. Muñoz!
Your child will always see the same doctor at every visit! This is becoming a rare service in today’s medical, corporate world. We aim to be a “micro” practice where you may or may not see other patients in the office. In this new post-pandemic world, we aim to avoid a clinic full of patients.
Although we are a new clinic, we are a modern facility.
We are a high-tech facility. We have a CLIA-waived laboratory in our clinic and offer point of care testing such as COVID19, Flu, RSV, Strep throat testing, and many more tests. We use a pediatric-specific electronic medical record EMR called PCC which offers a Patient Portal to easily view visits, labs, and forms. We text message securely via the Spruce App. Essentially, we are ready to meet all your healthcare needs in as little pain as possible.
Dr. Muñoz has hospital privileges with PIH Whittier, Whittier Hospital Medical Center, where she can access your child’s records without delays and see your baby in the nursery or your hospitalized child at these hospitals.
For referrals to specialists, we use PIH, CHOC and Miller Children’s Hospital specialists.
Dr. Muñoz has a family of her own. We hope you understand if she is unavailable due to illness, a family responsibility, or vacation. She will arrange for appropriate coverage as needed.
Dr. Muñoz was educated and trained in Southern California. Please see the “About Us” section for more details. She worked as a hospitalist with Kaiser Permanente for 4 years, taking care of brand new babies and ill, hospitalized children of all ages. Dr. Munoz has also worked in Kaiser outpatient clinics caring for all children and adolescents and in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) clinic in an underserved area of Los Angeles.
Dr. Muñoz has been a Pediatrician for 8 years and has been in medicine for 13 years. She is ecstatic to offer her personalized medical and health services to improve your child’s health. Call us today to set up an appointment with us.
We only see patients who have scheduled appointments. We may offer you a same-day appointment if our schedule permits it.
Our practice makes every effort to run on time with appointments, as everyone’s time is equally valuable. We ask that you make every effort to arrive at the office at your scheduled appointment time. You may be asked to reschedule your appointment if you are more than 10 minutes late.
If you miss the appointment or do not give at least one business day’s cancellation notice, you will be billed $40. Your child’s appointment was provided exclusively for them. A one-day cancellation notice during business hours is required to avoid a broken appointment charge.
Yes, we are! Our policy is that once the practice becomes “full,” we continue to accept all siblings despite closing our clinic to others.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all sick visits will be performed via telemedicine. If an exam is needed, an in-office appointment will be made. We do our best to keep everyone safe, but also understand that some patients need to have an examination urgently; we accommodate this.
For emergencies, call 911 immediately. Emergencies include difficulty breathing, difficulty waking up, confusion, severe vomiting or diarrhea, severe pain, extreme weakness, chest pain, severe headache, severe injury, uncontrollable bleeding, or any symptoms that you think are life-threatening.
For urgent issues, Dr. Muñoz takes calls from her home after-hours. Please call the office phone number for directions on how to reach her. Please give her 30-60 minutes to respond. If you don’t receive a call within this time frame, please call again. The office will arrange for a backup doctor to answer after-hour calls when Dr. Muñoz is not available.
Please save routine questions such as a mild illness, appointment requests, prescription refills, or billing questions for regular office hours.
You may also email us at office@riendlyhillspediatrics.
Yes, we are excited to offer telemedicine visits via the Spruce app
https://spruce.care/friendlyhillspediatrics
Yes! Dr. Muñoz has privileges at the hospitals listed below. You will need to meet with Dr. Muñoz at least 1 month before your baby’s birth so she can plan to be available for you. Please inform the Labor & Delivery department that you are requesting Dr. Muñoz as your baby’s nursery pediatrician.
- Whittier Hospital Medical Center
- PIH Whittier Hospital
We offer the following:
- Routine vaccinations
- Covid-19 vaccinations
- Flu vaccinations
- Ear piercings
- Simple laceration repairs
- Tongue-tie release
- Ear wax removal
- Bandage and splint applications for sprains
- Influenza/flu, RSV, strep throat swabs
- COVID-19 PCR and rapid testing (see Covid-19 page for more details)
We offer Covid-19 and flu vaccinations for the entire family, including non-patients.
We also offer basic lab testing, including checking for anemia, diabetes, oxygen levels, urinary tract infections, strep throat infections, among other tests.
Ready to Become a Member
If you’re ready to receive top-notch pediatric care in a warm and welcoming environment, then join our practice today!