Satellite Sites Offer Clinical Benefit and Easier Access for Families

The overall nephrology patient population has grown in recent years, including those referred to our division from the community and those referred for follow-up after inpatient hospitalizations. This has led to an increasing need for nephrology access with regard to both appointment timing and geography.

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Care Network offers more than 50 locations throughout the region where CHOP experts provide services to children. The CHOP Care Network currently offers nephrology appointments at our Brandywine Valley and King of Prussia Specialty Care Centers in Pennsylvania and our Princeton, Virtua and Voorhees Specialty Care Centers in New Jersey. Currently, one of the clinics at King of Prussia is our joint Nephrology and Urology Kidney Stone Clinic led by Gregory Tasian, MD, MSc, MSCE, attending pediatric urologist. Beyond the local region, we also occasionally see consultations abroad as part of our international program.

Our off-campus satellite sites provide a favorable patient experience, especially for those hoping to find locations closer to their homes and avoid the inherent stress of traveling to and from the city. Speaking for myself and my colleagues seeing patients at these sites, they offer clinicians similar travel and time benefits. But beyond that, the satellite offices have, in my experience, provided very good patient flow and accommodation for procedures like lab draws, imaging, and access to other specialists for those who need multidisciplinary care. This is highlighted by our experience with the joint Kidney Stone Clinic.

The satellite clinics are mostly “full service.” They have many specialties, and offer phlebotomy services, echocardiogram — which is helpful for our patients with hypertension — and in many cases ultrasound. As a specialty that relies heavily upon labs and imaging, this has been a major convenience for us and for patients. Also available in the satellite clinics is a space for urine microscopy, which enables us or available lab personnel to process and evaluate urine under the microscope in real time.

CHOP Nephrology satellite sites

Pennsylvania

Brandywine Valley

Team: Stephanie Clark, MD, MPH, MSHP, Chris LaRosa, MD; Lawrence Copelovitch, MD; Erum Hartung, MD, MTR

King of Prussia

Team: Chris LaRosa, MD; Kevin Meyers, MBBCh

New Jersey

Princeton

Team: Stephanie Clark, MD, MPH, MSHP; Ulf Beier, MD

Virtua

Team: Madhura Pradhan, MD, MBBS

Voorhees

Team: Madhura Pradhan, MD, MBBS

Patients can schedule appointments using MyCHOP, the online patient health portal for patients and families of Children’s Hospital. It’s a convenient, family-centered tool that allows families to communicate with their child’s physician, access test results, request prescription refills, and manage appointments from a computer or mobile device.