Services

We are your child’s medical home

Pediatrics is more than check ups and occasional ear infections. We aim to care for you and your child in a comfortable, familiar setting, even for things that are often considered “specialist” care. We provide comprehensive care from birth to graduation for what you child needs, inviting subspecialists onto the team when necessary. At Southwest Pediatrics, we have developed a wide variety of services to allow you to get “specialty care” in your child’s primary care medical home.

Our office provides these additional services aimed to care for your child more completely:

After Hours Care

Lactation Consultation

Circumcision

Asthma Care Clinic

Allergy (Skin) Testing

ADHD Evaluation &
Medication Management

Acne

Behavioral &
Developmental Concerns

Depression, Anxiety &
Mental Health Issues

FOR TRUE EMERGENCIES, PLEASE CALL 911
You can notify us after-the-fact, but please do not delay emergency care to call us.

FOR POISONINGS/INGESTIONS, PLEASE CALL 1-800-POISON-1
Again, notify us after-the-fact so we can help you in follow-up, but please call Poison Control FIRST.

After-Hours Care

When your child is sick or injured, it is really stressful. Our providers are available to you 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days per year. Our goal is to make sure you can access the best advice from your care team any time, rather than resorting to an urgent care or ER visit, or seeking a telemedicine visit with a random provider.

We are excited to offer Convenient Care, our after hours clinic available to both new and existing patients. We offer both in-person AND telemedicine visits during our Convenient Care hours. To schedule a telemedicine appointment, please call our office at (512) 288-9669. Click here to schedule an in-person Convenient Care visit.

Convenient Care Hours:

  • Weekdays from 5:00PM-9:00PM
  • Saturdays from 12:00PM-8:00PM
  • Sundays from 10:00AM-6:00PM

Convenient Care hours are subject to availability.

Extended Hours

A Southwest Pediatrics provider is available in person every weekday until 8 pm and on Saturday from 8-noon. These appointments are for urgent concerns (fever, minor injuries, acute illnesses, and sports physicals). Appointments are available via your patient portal or by phone. Walk-ins and in-person portal appointments are currently suspended due to COVID-19 precautions. We are screening all sick children via phone and/or telemedicine and bringing them in as appropriate. During extended hours we do not give vaccinations or perform well child care. We do not care for children with chronic conditions or behavioral issues, which are always best managed by your regular pediatrician.

How to Call After Hours

Telemedicine and in-person visits can be requested via your patient portal for extended hours. Extended hours are 5-8 pm Monday-Friday and 8-noon on Saturday. When our extended hours ends, you can request a telemedicine visit with the on-call doctor at (512) 288-9669. The provider will receive your contact information from the on-call service and they will send you an email invitation to the virtual waiting room. These visits are billed the same as an in-person visit and subject to copay according to your insurance plan. Quick questions that don’t need a formal visit are subject to a $20 fee. The fee is intended to cover our costs, but not discourage you from calling if you are concerned about a sick child. We welcome and expect your call if you are concerned.

When do I call?

It is most important to answer this question for yourself. What might seem minor to a pediatrician can feel very much like an emergency to a parent. We certainly understand this. If you are very concerned about your child, or will not be able to rest comfortably without getting some additional advice, we expect you to call. Here are some guidelines that might help you decide if you need to call after-hours or if you can wait until morning.

Please call us after-hours if:

  • You feel uncomfortable with your child’s condition and do not feel it can wait until the next day
  • Your infant (< 3months of age) has a fever greater than 100.4 (rectally). This is considered a life-threatening emergency.
  • There has been a serious accident or emergency
  • Severe breathing difficulties (working hard to breathe, severe chest pain, persistent wheezing, pale skin)
  • Sharp abdominal pain lasting more than 2 hrs
  • Bleeding that you cannot stop
  • Vomiting that seems persistent or if there are signs of dehydration (decreased urine output, listlessness, intolerance to sips of clear fluid after a short period of tummy rest, approximately 2-4 hrs)
  • You think your child needs to be seen in an Emergency Room or Urgent Care, but aren’t sure what the best choice would be.  We would be very happy to help you make that decision.   Please note: for all infants under 4-6 months of age, or any child who will need to be admitted overnight to the hospital, we will refer you to Dell Children’s Hospital.

Acne

Most cases of acne do not need management by a dermatologist.  Our Pediatricians are trained to care for most common skin conditions, including acne.  The majority of acne medications, except for oral/topical antibiotics, are now over-the-counter and we can help you develop a regimen that makes sense and is cost effective.   If acne is severe or has a high likelihood of scarring, we will make a referral for more intensive treatment, such as Accutane.

ADHD Evaluation & Medication Management

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder affects about 1 in 10 kids.  We are committed to meeting the needs of kids and families affected by ADHD as much as possible in our office.  All of our doctors are very comfortable doing initial evaluations and initiating treatment as needed without referring to a neurologist or psychiatrist.  ADHD is diagnosed clinically, meaning there are not specific “tests” that confirm the diagnosis.  Instead, we obtain feedback from parents and teachers and take a lot of history; if a diagnosis is made, we then carefully consider if medical treatment would be beneficial.  Whether or not medical treatment is chosen, we always focus on behavioral intervention, academic and emotional supports.

Allergy (Skin) Testing

Let’s face it: Allergies and Austin just go hand-in-hand.  Allergies to cedar, pollens and molds are very common and can really reduce our quality of life.  Parents also often find it challenging to differentiate colds from allergies, because symptoms are quite similar.  Allergy testing can help tell the difference and gives us useful information as to how to reduce the symptoms going forward.

We worked with a local allergist to develop our skin testing program, so we use the identical procedure and technology.  We can test for seasonal and food allergies for children 5 years and up.  Once we find out if and what allergies are present, we can determine if allergy medication or a referral for immunotherapy (allergy shots/drops from an allergist) are appropriate for your child.

Asthma Care Clinic

Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood.  Pediatricians are well trained to care for almost all cases of asthma.  We have the technology and experience to track and manage mild and moderate cases.  We ask for help with more severe cases from our Pediatric Pulmonology colleagues.  We have the ability and skill to perform and analyze Spirometry and teach you all you need to know to help manage your child’s asthma at home.  Our goal is for kids with asthma to do everything they want to every single day.  Asthma is common, manageable and almost always gets better with time and good care. In-person visits are usually needed for asthma, but often follow-up care, teaching, and “tune-ups” can be done via telemedicine.

Behavioral & Developmental Concerns

Pediatricians are trained and comfortable addressing many behavioral and developmental concerns. We proactively screen for developmental delays and atypical social development from a very early age, because we value early intervention. Parents need and deserve support, coaching, and great tools to handle difficult behavior and developmental challenges. Above these, we think parents deserve to be believed and validated when they have concerns.

Circumcision

Choosing to circumcise or choosing to not circumcise is a very personal decision and less so a medical one.  In the end, we support whichever choice you make without judgment or preference. If you choose to circumcise your son, we recommend it is performed in the hospital if at all possible; it is easier on the baby and easier on you. If this is not feasible, however, we can perform a circumcision in our office within the first 2 weeks of life. If a circumcision is needed, please inform the staff when you call to make the first appointment. We will set up a first visit to examine the baby & make sure things are going well. We can discuss the circumcision procedure, risks/ benefits and then set up a circumcision appointment within the next few days.

Lactation Consultation

Southwest Pediatrics is committed to your breastfeeding success and to help you reach your goals for a happy, fulfilling breastfeeding experience for you both. All of our providers are experienced with troubleshooting breastfeeding problems. When you need a little more help and support, we can also provide you with hands-on help as needed. We provide lactation and weight-check visits to check pre & post-feeding weights, problem solve and work through challenges. If formal Lactation Consultation services are needed, we have a collaboration with Breastfeeding Success Company – they see our patients in our office for your convenience Monday-Friday. https://www.bfsuccess.com/

Ear Piercing

Our board-certified Nurse Practitioner is now providing medical ear piercings. We use a topical anesthetic to make the process more comfortable, and of course, use a sterile technique. The piercing can be on a single ear or both ears, and ear lobes only! We have two different sets either gold or diamond studs, both are 24kt gold plated. This service is by appointment only (sorry, no walk-ins!).

Depression, Anxiety & Mental Health Issues

Unfortunately kids face mental health challenges too. This is tough on their parents and siblings as well as the patient. We start asking screening questions about mental health early and often. We get to know your child’s temperament and follow their social/emotional development as well as their physical growth and nutrition. We take into consideration family history, family dynamics, and other factors that increase vulnerability to depression anxiety – factors like bullying, learning differences, ADHD. When kids show early signs of depression, we intervene early with mental health assessment, support, parent coaching and, if needed, medication management.