| Edmond Sarraf, M.D. |
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The Doctor Is In Edmond Sarraf, M.D., Is making round-the-clock house calls  Some doctors still make house calls. Meet Dr. Edmond Sarraf, a Beverly Hills “concierge” pediatrician whose private practice, Pediatric Gems, includes many from the world of entertainment.
With a monthly membership agreement, Dr. Sarraf will not only make house visits based on your family’s needs, but he will also provide coordinated urgent care; direct admission to UCLA, Cedars-Sinai, or St. John’s hospitals; 24/7 coverage; access to his personal cell phone number and e-mail and text-mail communications; access to an entire personalized holistic team, including nutritional evaluation and prenatal and postnatal yoga and meditation by a licensed RN; and much more, all in the comfort of your home.
“I wanted to be able to offer something different to parents, so I made myself available as a concierge doctor, which means that for an extra monthly fee, my patients have access to me always,” says Dr. Sarraf, who has been in practice for five years. “I wanted to be able to give parents peace of mind, as well as the quality of care that they expect for their children.”
Dr. Sarraf completed his residency program in 2004 at Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio. During the past five years, he has taken care of children of all ages by using a hands-on approach in treating a multitude of medical conditions ranging from moderate asthma and allergies to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He has managed care for hundreds of healthy newborns and sick children in the hospital and at his office. He performs circumcisions, drains abscesses, and cauterizes umbilical cords, as well as carries out all of the regular procedures vital for routine check-ups.
And while he isn’t fond of the term concierge doctor because he says it can have a negative stigma attached to it, he is happy to be of service. In recent years, he has been recognized as one of America’s Top Doctors, as well as received a Parent’s Choice Award.
“Unlike other doctors who offer this concierge type of service, I also take health insurance,” he explains. “What I am doing is creating a personal program for each of my patients and their family. If they have paparazzi around them all of the time and they need some well-checks done at home, I can work it out with them to do that.
“If the child is sick, I can admit him or her to the hospital myself, and I take care of them there rather than handing it off,” he continues. “All of that goes through insurance, and there are no extra costs—so anyone can afford me. Most concierge doctors are strictly cash, and they do not take insurance.”
Patient care could include helping the child and his or her parents better understand the child's ailment. For example, Dr. Sarraf sees children who have been asthmatic for years and were never shown how to use their inhaler correctly.
“I am amazed that they have been doing it wrong for so long,” he says. “What I am doing is making more time for my patients. I am actually taking the time to explain to them the right way to use their inhaler.”
As a result, Dr. Sarraf has built strong relationships with his patients and their parents.
“Right now, there are a lot of parents that are concerned about vaccines, and they have a lot of questions,” he says. “I educate them, and often those who were [against] vaccines to start with change their minds.”
In addition to parents having access to the doctor, he also has what he calls a “holistic team” ready and waiting. “I want the client who just had a baby to feel fully secure, and I want them to feel comfortable,” he says. “When parents have their first child, the first two months are the most stressful. Pregnancy is easy, but the whole interrelationship of trying to breast-feed and to get the whole system working afterward can be stressful for [a] mom.”
That’s when he sends in a “patient consultant,” who goes to the house within the first week to help the family.
He also has someone who teaches relaxation techniques and breathing. “There is also a nutritionist who comes so parents can learn how to cook if they wish, or they can learn how to eat healthier. The last person on the team is a chiropractor, because when you are pregnant, a good chiropractor is great for the back. This all helps in being effective in making sure the process of pregnancy goes well after delivery.”
Dr. Sarraf also has an interactive website (www.pediatricgems.com) that helps walk parents through everything from how to deal with a fever to medicine dosages. “There are very few concierge pediatricians in the country,” he says. “I’m doing what I love, and it isn’t just a job to me. My mentality was to give quality service for the most valuable thing in your family—your children. I’m bringing back the old days, in a way, when doctors did make house calls, families felt secure, and the doctor was like a part of the family.” Pediatric Gems 450 N. Bedford Drive #209 Beverly Hills, CA 90210 (310) 888-7778 |
