My Doctor Online The Permanente Medical Group

Family Medicine is a specialty devoted to comprehensive health care to people of all ages. It is based on the knowledge of the patient in the context of the family and the community, emphasizing disease prevention and health promotion. Family Physicians spend a minimum of 3 years after medical school in residency training which includes caring for newborns, children, adults and geriatric patients both in the office and in the hospital. The training includes Women’s Health and many office procedures. Some family physicians pursue additional training in Adolescent Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Sleep Medicine or Sports Medicine. Depending on practice location or personal preference family physicians may limit their practice to adults and or older children.

Physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants may practice in Family Medicine. Nurse practitioners are nurses with advanced education and licenses that allow them to diagnose and manage medical conditions within their specialty. Physician assistants are licensed to work under the supervision of a physician.

You can browse through the professional and personal profiles of family physicians on this Web site. Our Choose your Doctor page will allow you to find physicians in your area. You can also see whether a physician is fluent in your primary language. Talk to your friends or to another physician you see at Kaiser Permanente; they might recommend a physician in your area.

If you are pregnant, it’s a good idea to investigate which pediatricians or family medicine physicians would be a good fit for your family. If you have older children who have a particular physician, your new baby should be able to see the same one or you can choose someone new if you prefer.

After the birth of your baby, you will be assigned a medical record number for the baby and can choose your pediatric or family medicine provider. If you do not have a specific preference for a particular provider, someone in the pediatric or family medicine department can help you choose.

How often you come in for a visit is something you and your personal physician can discuss. Depending on your age and whether you have a chronic condition, you may need screening tests or immunizations. We feel it's very important to get all the preventive care you need. From birth until age 2, well care visits are generally scheduled every few months. As you age, the frequency may change and depends on whether you have a chronic condition or need screening tests or immunizations.

From birth until age 2, well care visits are generally scheduled every few months. Once your child turns 2, we'll see you for well care visits every year or two until age 18.

These visits help us make sure your children are growing and developing, and getting the care they need to stay healthy. Well check visits are also an opportunity for you to talk with your physician about questions you may have about your child's health and well being.

We recommend that you bring your child in for routine well visits at the following ages. Note: Your physician may recommend a slightly different schedule, based on your child's individual health needs.

Newborns
In many of our medical centers, we offer special newborn clubs or clinics just for new families. Services include newborn exams, breastfeeding support, newborn care information and advice, and immediate access to physicians as needed. 

Infancy
2 days (see newborns, above)
2 weeks
2 months
4 months
6 months
12 months

Early childhood
21 to 24 months
3 years
4 to 5 years

Middle childhood
5 to 6 years
6 to 8 years
8 to 10 years
10 to 12 years

Teens
Every 1 to 2 years, based on your child's doctor or nurse practitioner's advice.

Generally, we encourage women to come in for a well-woman check-up every 1 to 2 years, but this can vary:

If you're under 25 and sexually active, you should be tested for sexually transmitted diseases every year. This can be done during a check-up with your Ob/Gyn doctor or with a general medicine doctor.

Pap tests for cervical cancer screening should begin at age 21. If your Pap results are normal, you can wait as long as 3 years between tests. You can stop having Pap and HPV tests if you are over 65 and have had either three or more normal Pap tests in the past 10 years and/or you are HPV negative. You can also stop having Pap tests if you have had a total hysterectomy (where your cervix was also removed) and you have no history of cancer of the cervix, vulva, or vagina.

If you are 40 or over, and you have no personal or family history of breast cancer, you should come in for a clinical breast exam and a mammogram every 1 to 2 years.

If you have risk factors for breast cancer, you should talk to your physician about when to begin regular screening.

Many parents have questions about immunizations. We encourage you to be informed so you'll feel confident vaccinating your child.

We are dedicated to providing you with answers you can trust and links to unbiased information. Stay up to date with all recommended immunizations and you'll know your child is protected.

Check to see what immunizations your child needs with our personalized online Preventive Services.  This summary can help you stay up to date with you and your family's recommended immunizations and screening tests.

This is a secure online feature and requires that you have an active password for our member site and be authorized to use the Act for a Family Member feature.

• In most cases, your teen needs parental permission before seeing a physician or nurse practitioner. However, adolescents 12 and older can make their own appointments for certain confidential services.
• Confidentiality laws also protect certain parts of a teen's medical records. For these reasons, parents and guardians of pediatric members ages 12 to 17 have slightly different levels of access to our secure online features. For more information about confidential care for teens, please review our Special Care for Your Teen handout.

Resources for parents of teens

• We want to work with you to teach teens to begin to take charge of their personal health care as they transition from childhood to adulthood.
• We know this is a big transition. To help you stay connected with your teen's doctor or nurse practitioner, we encourage to you sign up for our free Healthy Teens Online newsletter. You'll receive the latest in teen health information as well as parenting tips and resources, all delivered right to your inbox.

We recommend that you start by choosing a personal physician. You can browse through the professional and personal profiles of family physicians on this web site. Our Choose your Doctor page will allow you to find physicians in your area. You can also see whether a physician is fluent in your primary language. You can also call Member Services to select a personal physician.

You can make or cancel routine appointments and view future appointments anytime at kp.org/appointments or by using the appointments link on the left-hand side of my home page. (To register for access to this feature, just click the “register now” link when prompted after clicking on the Appointments link).

To schedule routine and urgent care appointments by phone, call our 24-hour Appointment and Advice line. Whether you schedule online or by phone, you will need to have your or your family member’s Medical Record Number handy.  This number is on your or your family member’s Health Plan card.

Depending on the symptoms, you may have the option to schedule a telephone appointment with your physician or a trusted colleague. If you would prefer a telephone appointment, please let the Appointment and Advice line representative or advice nurse know when you call. Your doctor will call you at an agreed upon time, at whichever phone number is most convenient for you. Many people like the convenience of this option, but if you prefer to be seen in person, it’s always your choice.

You can always call our Appointment and Advice line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Trained advice nurses are available to address questions any time and can help determine what type of care you or your family members may need.

Our advice nurses can send a message directly to your doctor or nurse practitioner. They can also help you make an appointment with your doctor, or a trusted colleague.

For some concerns, depending on the symptoms and your preferences, the advice nurse may offer you a telephone appointment with your doctor or a trusted colleague. Many people like this option, but if you prefer an in- person appointment, be sure to let the representative or advice nurse know.

Advice nurses are registered nurses with special training in working with members over the telephone. They work using guidelines developed by Kaiser Permanente physicians, and they work with pediatricians who help staff the Advice line. If special circumstances or very urgent concerns arise, they will consult a physician to help decide on the best course of action to address your concerns.

You may reach me by calling our 24-hour Appointment and Advice line or by sending us a secure nonurgent message from the links on the left-hand side of this page. If you do not yet have a kp.org account, just click “Register Now” when prompted. I will respond within 2 business days if I am not away from the office. Please e-mail nonurgent concerns only. For urgent concerns, call the 24-hour Appointment and Advice line.

For any genuine medical emergencies, you should call 911 or go to the nearest Emergency Department.

Yes. You can send secure, confidential e-mail to your doctor at any time during the day, night, or on weekends. We are usually able to respond to your messages within 2 business days if not away from the office. Since we may not be in the office all the time, it's best to contact our Appointment and Advice line with any urgent concerns.

If you are a member and want to email about your child who is under 18, you can do so by signing up for Act for a Family Member. Once activated, you can e-mail your family's doctors or nurse practitioners with non-urgent questions or concerns any time, day or night, and hear back within 2 business days.

Special note for parents of teens: As KP members, you and your teen can both sign up to send secure e-mails to your teen's doctors and other members of their team. (Teens can set up their own kp.org accounts starting at age 13.) Please be aware that this is a transparent form of communication between family members and your teen's doctors. This means that you and your teen will be able to see each other's messages and replies from your teen's doctors. For any information that you want kept strictly private between you and your teen's doctors, please contact him or her by telephone instead of using secure messaging.

Usually, yes! However, you may not see your own doctor if you want a certain day and/or time for your appointment and your physician is not in the office at that time. You may also see one of my colleagues if you need an urgent or same-day appointment.

You don't need a referral for Health Education, work-related injury/Occupational Medicine, travel clinic, Ob/Gyn, Optometry, or Psychiatry. In addition, if you have seen another specialist within the last 13 months, you can contact them directly by phone or e-mail.

Once you have finalized your travel plans (destination and firm dates), please contact us at least 6 weeks before you plan to leave on your trip. Certain vaccines and medications need several weeks to start working.

For more information about travel clinics, check out the CDC website for Traveler's Health. You can also call the Appointments and Advice phone number for your local Kaiser Permanente facility. You can find this phone number in our facility directory.

You don't need paperwork or an appointment to get a lab test. You can do lab tests ordered by me or another provider at any Kaiser Permanente lab.

Fasting is having nothing to eat or drink except water and any medication you take. It is important to fast for 12 hours before certain tests or procedures. If you have diabetes, check with us before fasting.

Yes. Most of your lab test results will be available for viewing online. Due to privacy concerns and regulations, some may not be. If you do not see the test results you are looking for online, you can call or send an e-mail message to your personal clinician.

You can visit any of our main or satellite pharmacies to fill prescriptions. You can refill prescriptions online through the Prescriptions feature on this site. To refill prescriptions using our mail-order service, fill out the preprinted order forms available at our pharmacies. By telephone, you can call the number on your prescription label. If you order online, by telephone, or by mail order service, you can get most of your refills delivered to your home, postage paid, within 7 to 10 days.

Certain medications such as controlled substances and narcotic pain medications require additional processing time due to prescribing regulations. We recommend you submit requests for these medications at least two business days in advance of when you need them. Walk in requests for most controlled substances and narcotic pain medications will generally not be approved unless authorized by your primary care physician.

If you have no refills left when you place your order, the pharmacy will contact me to request additional refills. Please allow an additional 2 business days to process your order when you have no refills remaining.

Your prescription bottle may say "0" refills, but if you called us in the past for a refill, you may have more refills available. You can check the prescription number online and see how many refills you have, or call us.

To transfer a prescription from a non-Kaiser Permanente pharmacy to any of our pharmacies, simply give your Kaiser Permanente pharmacist your prescription number and the pharmacy’s name and phone number. Your Kaiser Permanente pharmacist will handle the rest. Please allow 2 or more business days to process the transfer.

We can help you keep track of your family's health, from the convenience of your own computer, 24/7.

With My Health Manager on kp.org, you can e-mail your doctor, find results of most lab tests, schedule and cancel routine appointments, view future appointments, view past office visit information, refill prescriptions, view immunization records, view eligibility and benefit information, act for a child or other family member, and take advantage of health tools, resources, and information online. To register for access, click on any of the features under Stay Connected with Your Doctor on the left hand side of my homepage and click “register now” when prompted or visit kp.org/register.

To Act for a Family Member: Click on the “Act for a family member” link on the left hand side of this page to get started.

• If your child is under age 18 and both of you are members of Kaiser Permanente, you can:
• View, change, or cancel your child's appointments
• Refill your child's prescriptions
• E-mail your child's doctor or nurse practitioner's office with non-urgent questions
• View your child's allergies and immunization records
• Sign up for our Online Newsletters for parents customized to your child's age
• If your child is under age 12, you can also:
• Keep up with your child's personalized Preventive Services
• View most lab test results
• Review information about past visits 
• If you have any problems with registration, please call our Member Web Site Support at 1-800-556-7677 for assistance.

Whether you have a tot or a teen, we encourage you to sign up for one or more of our free online newsletters for parents.

Created by Kaiser Permanente pediatricians and health educators, each newsletter is full of quality health information and links to resources that make it easier to manage your family's health.

How does it work? The newsletters are timed to your child's age and stage. Once you sign up, each newsletter is delivered directly to your e-mail in-box. It's an easy way to stay connected to your child's pediatrician and take advantage of all our online resources.

To protect your child's personal information, you will have access to act for your child for 2 years, or until your child turns 18. After 2 years, your access will automatically expire.

If your child is still under age 18, you will need to renew your access.  We regret the inconvenience, but this 2 year limit helps protect your child's medical record and ensures that we can protect member privacy and prevent unauthorized use.