Hi!
Congrats on your new baby!
I currently go to homefirst and have good things to say as well as bad things to say.
Good things...They are all very nice and are balanced, which other readers have mentioned. I have met with Schatauer as well as Zumhagen and my personal preference is Zumhagen. I did decide to utilize homefirst when deciding I would not vaccinate my child for at least his first two years of life, possibly never. They are extremely supportive of this, but do not push a view either way. It is totally up to you to do what you feel is best and they will support you in that decision, whatever it may be. You will not receive any pressure, as I did utilizing "mainstream" pediatricians before finding homefirst.
That being said, there are some negatives, again simply my opinion and how it was affected by being a new mom. Like I stated earlier, I did utilize other pediatricians before finding homefirst so I was able to see the flexibility of many hours, nurses on hand to speak with when calling office to ask a question or someone to bounce things off of. You will not receive this at homefirst. First of all, they do not have nurses. Second of all, you can never call the office. They have a main number that everyone calls with receptionist who either take a message for the doctor or schedule an appt. THats it. Being a new mom, that was very frustrating for me. If your child is sick, you call the main number and get whatever md is on call. My first sickness, was vommiting and diarrhea,......which the doc on call simply sent me to the er. I am a new mom,,,,did not know any better and the people in the er said to me....and you are here why? Just go home and wait it out. Very frustrating. Also, I do feel that they pressure you to give a home birth.
Another drawback is they take your credit card at every visit, and charge your card whatever insurance does not pay. You will never see a bill, just a charge to your credit card. So it is up to you to check your eob and make sure it was processed right. As a woman living with leukemia, I can tell you almost 40 percent of my bills are never processed right. So be diligent about knowing what coverage you have and checking your eob. It took me 2 months and many irate phone calls to get a bill corrected by homefirst. That was extremely unprofessional to me.
Another negative is they never keep your chart at the office. Every time you go, it is a new slip of paper in which they ask the same questions, what are you feeding him, how much is he taking, etc. I feel like he never really knows my son and I constantly have to remind him of the things we struggle with, ie,,,,reflux because he does not have a history in front of him.
Needless to say, they are always nice, which means a lot. If I did not have such a strong, personal stance against vaccinations, I would not be utilizing them. Until I can find another doctor that feels the same way, will I switch. I have yet to find one. If you do, please pass along the info!
Also....they are all family doctors, not pediatricians. I do not know if that is something that matters to you, but thought I would mention. If you have any other specific questions, feel free to email. Just wanted to comment on the negative, as well as the positive so you could see another side.
Good luck and congrats!
B.