top left image
top right image
bottom left image
bottom right image

Policies & Information

About Us

Immunization

Visiting

Calling

After Hours

Prescriptions

Well Visits

Specialists

Health Forms

Payment

Insurances

Assistance

Directions

Affiliations

Dr. Rajee K. Joyce has practiced pediatrics in Arlington for more than 10 years. She graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in 1989 and earned her M.D. from SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn in 1993. She completed her pediatric internship and residency at The Floating Hospital for Infants and Children at the New England Medical Center in Boston in 1996. She is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Because Dr. Joyce is the only health care provider in our office, she oversees every aspect of your child’s primary medical care and will see your child at all visits (with the rare exception when she must ask a covering doctor to see sick visits in-office while she attends professional meetings).
We believe firmly in the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, and require all patients to immunize according to the schedule recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Immunization is important not only for your child's safety, but for the safety of all patients in the practice. If you decide not to immunize your child according to this schedule, we will ask you to seek a different pediatrician.

You can find educational resources about vaccines on our
Resources page.
The office is open from 8:30am to 4:30pm every weekday except Tuesday, when we close at 12 noon. Visits are by appointment only. The one exception is during the morning walk-in clinic, between 8:30 and 9:00. The walk-in clinic is for acute sick visits and for established patients only. No advance appointment is needed, but please call ahead and leave us a voicemail so we know to expect you. (Calling ahead will also let you know if the office is closed, in which case a recording will tell you how to reach a covering doctor.)

If you cannot bring your child to the walk-in clinic, call as early in the day as possible for a sick-visit appointment. Dr. Joyce will find time to see your sick child the same day when you call during office hours, but depending on the urgency of the problem, she may decide a call back is sufficient or ask you to come in the following morning.
When you call during regular office hours, you will either reach our office staff or get a recording asking you to leave a voicemail message. We check voicemail frequently and try to return calls promptly if requested. In order to help us prioritize your call, please let us know if you are calling to: (1) schedule a well-child appointment, (2) schedule a same-day appointment for a medical problem, (3) request a call back from Dr Joyce about a problem or question, or (4) request a referral or prescription.

If you would like a call back, Dr. Joyce will try to return your call within several hours, generally by 1pm if received during the morning and by 5pm if received during the afternoon. If you call at the end of the day and the matter is not urgent, Dr. Joyce will return your call the next morning.
For urgent matters when the office is closed, call the office number and follow the recorded instructions to leave a voicemail. You will have the option to leave a non-urgent message that we will hear the following business day, or to leave a message regarding an urgent medical problem if you are requesting a call back right away. On weekdays, Dr. Joyce is on call overnight. The system will alert her and she will return your call as soon as possible, generally within 30 minutes.

For weekends, holidays and vacations, Dr. Joyce shares coverage with
five other solo pediatricians in the area, so there will always be a doctor available for you to speak with. Calling the office will always give you a recorded message telling you how to reach her or a covering physician. If you feel that your child needs to be seen, please call between 8am and 9am, and the doctor on call will decide if an office visit is necessary.

The office is closed on the following holidays: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King's Birthday, President's Day, Patriot's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Prescription refills should be called in during regular office hours. If you are leave a voicemail be sure to give us the name and location of your pharmacy. You may also request refills using our Patient Portal. Please allow 48 hours for all refills when possible.
Children older than two should be seen once per year for their routine physical.

At the end of each well visit, we will ask you to schedule next year’s visit. Ordinarily, we schedule well visits no earlier than one year from the current date. However, if you would like to schedule the physical sooner than that, we encourage you to call your insurance carrier to determine whether it will be covered.

If you prefer not to schedule your child's next physical a year early, you are welcome to call us closer to the date. Please call at least two months in advance in order to find a day and time that fit your schedule. You may also request appointments using our
Patient Portal.

Children who are two and younger need more frequent well visits, according to the following schedule: 3-4 days after birth, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, 15 months, 18 months, 2 years.
We can assist you in finding specialists for your child when necessary. If possible, we will coordinate visits for multiple specialists and/or diagnostic tests during one trip, although more complex issues may not be able to be accommodated.

If your insurance requires that you obtain a referral authorization to see a specialist, please call us
in advance of the visit and provide us with the following information: the specialist’s name, the date of the first appointment, the number of visits required, and the specialist’s contact information. You may also request referrals using our Patient Portal. It is your responsibility to follow up with any specialists to make sure they receive our referral authorizations.
At each routine physical, we will give you a health form that contains your child’s health information and immunization record. This is a standard form and may be used for school, camp and sports. Please make at least one copy for your own records, in case you should need it again. If you need an additional copy, please give us 48 hours advance notice.

If you would like us to mail or fax the health form (or any other part of your child’s medical record) directly to a school or camp (or any other third party), we are required by law to obtain your written authorization first. An Authorization Form is
available on our web site.
Insurance copays are due at the time of service. We accept cash, checks, and credit & debit cards (MasterCard, Visa, Discover & American Express). If your insurance does not cover the full cost of visits, you are responsible for any co-insurance, deductibles or non-covered services. Insurance plans vary widely even within carriers and it is your responsibility to understand the benefits and coverages of your particular plan.

You will receive a statement from us (sent by our billing service, ASTAT Medical Billing) detailing the amount your insurance has paid and the amount you owe. Balances are due 30 days from your receipt of the first statement, and you will continue to receive statements monthly until balances are paid. You may
pay online securely at our web site, or mail us a check. Overdue balances may be sent to a collection agency. If at any time you are unable to pay in full, please contact us so we can arrange a payment plan. If you do not have insurance, the full amount is due at the time of the visit. Help for those seeking coverage is available at the state's Commonwealth Connector web site.
AETNA
Blue Cross Blue Shield
CIGNA
Commonwealth Indemnity Plan (GIC)
Fallon Community Health Plan
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
MassHealth
Neighborhood Health Plan
PHCS/MultiPlan
TRICARE/HealthNet
Tufts Health Plan
United Healthcare
For families with limited English proficiency, we can access phone translation services if given advance notice. We can also help to identify resources for families without health insurance.
The practice is located near Arlington Center at 366 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite #101B. When you arrive, take the elevator to the lower level.

There is parking on Mass. Ave. and nearby side streets. Bus #77 stops near the building. If you have time, take a stroll down Pond Lane to Spy Pond, which has a playground and nice views.


page0_1 page0_2 page0_3 page0_4 page5_3