Brookdale Family Care Centers Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What's primary care?
A: Primary care is normally associated with a family/general practice--routine internal medicine for adults, routine pediatric care for children, and at BFCCs, routine gynecological/obstetric care for women. Primary care includes regular checkups, appropriate screenings for diseases such as high blood pressure or lead poisoning, and doctor visits for non-emergency illnesses such as the flu or a sore throat.
Q: What's preventive care?
A: Preventive care means going to the doctor before you get sick. For instance, regular checkups can detect and help your doctor treat high blood pressure before it becomes a dangerous condition. Preventive care is happening when your doctor answers questions about nutrition or gives you tips on how to stop smoking. All the care you and your medical team invest in keeping you well is considered preventive care.
Q: What's well-baby care?
A: Well-baby care is really a catchy phrase for preventive, primary care for children. Regular checkups ensure that your baby or child is developing properly. Importantly, checkups allow children to get their regularly scheduled immunizations, which prevent dangerous childhood diseases such as measles, polio or whooping cough. And of course, if your child is sick with a typical, non-emergency ailment such as an ear infection or strep throat, treatments are handled at a Brookdale Family Care Center.
Q: What's well-woman care?
A: Well-woman care is preventive, primary care for women. Regular pap smears and breast exams, family planning advice, the treatment of minor vaginal infections--all would appropriately fall under this category. The Brookdale Family Care Centers also provide general obstetric care, including regular prenatal exams and advice on taking care of yourself and your unborn baby.
Q: What is Child Health Plus?
A: There is a new health insurance program only for children to assure that all of their health needs will be met from their newborn days through their teen years. This health insurance program is called Child Health Plus and it is for those children who are not eligible for Medicaid insurance and who do not receive health care services through another family health insurance program. Child Health Plus is a free or very low cost health insurance program which offers many health services:
- Regular physical examinations and follow-up care, immunizations, emergency care, prescription medications
- X-rays and lab tests
Insurance premiums are based on income and the number of people in your family. The program is funded by New York State and in some cases, the insurance is free.If you enroll your child in the Child Health Plus insurance program, you will be asked to select a doctor who will be responsible for all your child's health care needs. You should choose a doctor whom you like, whose office is convenient to where you live and where all of your family members can receive care.If you have questions about Child Health Plus, the doctors and the staff at each of our Brookdale Family Care Centers are available to answer them. Please feel free to call the site administrator at the BFCC, Linden Boulevard at (718) 240-8600 to arrange a visit or to have your questions answered.
Q: What if something serious comes up?
A: Each Brookdale Family Care Center is affiliated with The Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, and Brookdale Family Care Center patients are referred to Brookdale's specialists when necessary.
Q: How do I pay?
A: The Brookdale Family Care Centers accept most major insurance plans including many HMOs and managed care programs. We also are a member of Neighborhood Health Providers (NHP), and accept Medicaid, Medicare and provide low-cost, sliding scale fees.
Q: Sometimes the name Brookdale Family Care Center is confusing--is it a daycare center?
A: No, a BFCC is NOT a daycare center nor is it affiliated with any child protection social service. |
