Lata Shridharan MD, FAAP: Dr. Lata has extensive experience in outpatient care, ICU, Emergency Department and as a Hospitalist. She was the lead physician at Children’s Hospital Outpatient Clinics for five years and worked at Children’s Medical Center for two years as a Hospitalist. Prior to Children’s, she was the Director of Pediplace (a non-profit children’s clinic) in Lewisville and a Hospitalist at Stanford Medical System in California. Her interests are natural solutions to common childhood ailments (covering nutrition, parenting changes, home remedies, and supplements) including ADHD, autism, asthma and allergy care. She is conversant in English, Spanish, Hindi, Tamil, Urdu, and Marathi. Fellow of American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Member of the Texas Medical Association (TMA).
Charmaine DSouza Banze MSN, APRN, FNP-C is an Advanced Practice Nurse Practitioner with over twelve years of experience in areas of outpatient pediatrics, school nursing/special procedures, medical-surgical, telemetry, urology, and neuro-surgical ICU. She has a Baccalaureate degree from the University of Central Oklahoma and a Masters degree from Chamberlain University. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Society of Nursing and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. She lives in Plano with her husband and son. In her spare time, she enjoys reading novels, poetry, watching movies, and going for long trail walks. She is conversant in English, Urdu, Hindi, and Marathi. Pediatrics requires great empathy, caring, and patience, and it is what she is most passionate about.
Tina Conner MSN, IBCLC, CPNP-PC earned her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from the University of Texas at El Paso in 1992 and completed her Master of Science in Nursing degree from Texas Woman’s University in 2020. She is a board-certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (CPNP-PC) and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). Tina gained valuable experience serving the Neonatal Intensive Care Nursery (NICU) at Baylor Scott & White Dallas as a bedside leader for 12 years and as NICU lactation consultant for 16 years. She was a member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Society of Nursing and is currently a member of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP).
Tina is born and raised in Texas and recently united with her birth family who is in Ohio. She has a beautiful and talented daughter who is working on college studies. Tina enjoys weightlifting, jogging, walking, Peloton rides, and yoga. She loves a good Audible book in romantic comedy genre and enjoys listening to music of all varieties. Lastly, let’s not forget her adoration of cats, coffee, and chocolate!
Tina joined the Natural Pediatrics team in 2021. She is available for well child visits and sick visits in both the Plano and Frisco offices. She is passionate about supporting children reading books, breastfeeding, and empowering healthy lifestyles.
Billing Manager: Ms. Lisa (Billing@Txnaturalpediatrics.com)
HOSPITAL AFFILIATIONS
- Children’s Medical Center, Plano
- Medical City, Plano
- Medical City, Frisco
- Baylor Medical Center, Frisco
SERVICES
Exams and Care
- Newborn care
- Well-child exams & care
- School & Sports Physical
- Sick-child exam & care
- Immunizations & Flu Shots
- Minor emergency treatment
Preventive Care
- Prevention, Wellness and Nutrition counseling
- Asthma Management
- Weight Management
Screening test and Treatment/Referrals
- ADHD screen/treatment
- Autism Screens
- Depression Screens
- Age-appropriate Development Screens
Procedures/tests performed in the office
- Minor Lab work (Blood work is done by outside labs)
- Suture removal
- Cryotherapy (wart removal)
INSURANCES
(This is not a complete list. If your insurance plan is not shown, please call 972-618-3547)
- Private Insurances (PPO and ACO)
- Accountable PPO
- Aetna
- Ambetter
- Baylor Scott+White
- BCBS Texas (HMO and PPO)
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO & ACO
- Blue Cross Accountable Care
- Beech Street
- CIGNA
- Galaxy
- Golden Rule
- HealthSmart
- Humana
- IMS PPO
- InterPlan
- Molina Exchange Plan
- PCHS
- Surest
- UnitedHealthCare
- UHC
- UMR
- USA MCO
- Self-pay (same day Cash, Mastercard, Discover or Visa).
- Most Affordable Care Act Plans
- Government Insurances
- Amerigroup
- CHIP
- Children’s Health Medicaid
- Parkland
- Parkland CHIP
- STAR and STAR+PLUS
- Superior
- Texas Medicaid
(Unfortunately, we don’t yet take Cooks Medicaid Insurance)
CHOOSING THE BEST DOCTOR FOR YOUR CHILD
Simply put, it is a matter of TRUST. So take your time to choose the right partner for your baby’s care.
We have tried to answer some of your common questions and concerns about our practice and the doctor (in blue font below).
DOCTOR
- Is the doctor a specialist in children’s health? Is she Board Certified?
Yes. Dr. Lata Shridharan is an American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) Board Certified Pediatrician.
- Does the doctor participate in my insurance plan?
Natural Pediatrics takes most Private Insurance, and Government Insurance (like Medicaid). To help our community we have one of the lowest (non-profit like) rates for self-pay patients. We also offer some financial assistance to Child Advocacy community organizations. For a list of insurances supported, see list above.
- Are there any complaints against the doctor at the State Medical Board?
No.
- Is the doctor affiliated to the leading hospitals in the area?
Yes. We are affiliated with most major kid hospitals in North Dallas including Children’s.
For a list of hospital affiliations, see list above.
Even if the doctor is not affiliated to a hospital, the doctor can see you immediately after release from the hospital.
- How experienced is the doctor? Has she handled complex cases? Does the doctor have extensive hospital experience to handle the special medical needs of our child (if any)?
Yes. You are in good hands. The doctor has over 22 years of experience caring for very sick kids in ICU, ER, hospital, and outpatient setting at some of the leading hospitals in the nation – Children’s Medical Center and Stanford hospital network. She has also led four successful outpatient clinics. Natural Pediatrics is a labor of love for her.
- Does the doctor have practical hands-on experience?
Yes. She has two children of her own and knows the worries and travails of a parent, firsthand.
- Does the doctor take a holistic approach to our child’s need (covering physical, mental and behavioral health, nutrition, and parenting aspects)?
Yes. Please read our doctor’s Philosophy of Care here.
- What are the doctor’s views on medications, antibiotics, alternative medicines, and second opinions?
This is best-answered face-2-face but our approach is:
We will work with you on the best care approach for your baby. If it is an urgent/critical issue we follow the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics. If it is a chronic or common condition, we suggest nutritional changes, supplements, parenting changes and natural approaches as the first line of treatment.
- What are the doctor’s views on vaccination/immunization?
We believe in vaccination and do not accept parents unwilling to vaccinate. The doctor’s children are vaccinated. For more details, please see our views on “Vaccination” here.
- Does the doctor take my urgent calls personally after hours?
For non-urgent concerns, please use the patient portal to email the provider. For urgent after-hours support, we provide a complimentary 24×7 pediatric specialist hotline to our patients. Please see our “After hours” protocol here.
- How easy is it to communicate with the doctor? How much time does the doctor spend addressing my questions? Will my child be comfortable with the doctor?
Please read our patient’s testimonial here.
CLINIC
- How clean is the clinic?
We welcome you to visit us. With a garden entrance, quiet cozy office, kid-friendly books, and Cartoon while you are filling forms, kid-friendly toys in each room, we are sure your kid will love the staff, the games, and the doctor.
- Is the clinic conveniently located?
We have two locations: Central Plano and West Frisco, approximately 20 minutes from anywhere in Richardson, Frisco, Allen, Little Elm, Colony, North Dallas, and McKinney.
- Are the hours flexible?
We are open five days a week. To spend enough time with you, we may restrict the last appointment to an earlier time (especially well checks). We are also open some Saturdays. We keep some appointments open later in the day to accommodate sick kids on the same day.
- Is the staff friendly?
We welcome you to visit us. We are proud of our front desk and staff. With a cheerful attitude, we hope to bring a smile on your face.
- How long do I have to wait for an appointment?
We try not to book appointments such that you have adequate time with the doctor. For most families, we strive to keep our wait time in reception to less than 5-10 minutes. Sometime we may get backed-up a little if we need to perform lab procedures.
If you are a new patient, you can eliminate even the paperwork time by downloading our forms and filling and faxing it before your visit. You can find the forms here
- Does the practice use state-of-the-art Electronic Medical Record (EMR)?
Yes. We use the same EMR that most hospitals use. So referrals, electronic prescriptions, and lab reports are fast and error free.
- Can you see our sick child, the same day?
Yes (in most cases, except holidays or if she is backed up taking care of newborns or kids admitted in hospitals). We keep some appointments open later in the day to accommodate sick kids on the same day.
- Can you handle all aspects of my child’s care (like a sick visit, well visit, sports physical, developmental visit, supplements, food and sleep issues, nutrition, parenting issues, chronic cases, and immunization)?
Yes
- Is the practice technologically savvy in using email, Facebook, web and other modes of communication?
Yes. For medical matters, you can directly communicate with the doctor through the Patient Portal. For non-medical and non-HIPAA issues, you can email us at planonaturalpediatrics@gmail.com or check us out on Facebook . (“Like” us and we will send you periodic health tips.) You will also find a lot of resources on our webpage. But please be aware that due to HIPAA regulations, we cannot reply to certain patient-specific information by electronic mediums.
- How expensive are the Self Pay fees?
We realize that in this economy families struggle to pay the high premiums of health insurance. To help our Self Pay patients we have perhaps the lowest price for services. However, we expect parents to pay at the time of service.
FINALLY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY
- What do other patients have to say about the kind of care they receive?
Talk to them or check out their voices in Google or the Testimonials page.
Choosing the right doctor will help you feel confident that your baby will be well cared for throughout childhood and beyond. We hope to be that for you.
Join us – call today at 972-618-3547