Fees & Policies
Physician Appointment Types & Fees
We are committed to making your family’s health care as cost-effective as possible. Our fees and policies are designed to support the unique environment of our holistic clinic so our practitioners can provide exceptional personalized care. A detailed intake questionnaire and medical records are required prior to each patient's initial visit. Fees include the time necessary to carefully and thoroughly review each patient’s history, questionnaire(s), medical records, and lab data.
Please note that appointment durations are approximate and take into account the time required by your practitioner, in addition to your actual in-office time, to review and maintain medical records, review lab documents and consultation notes, make referrals to outside practitioners, complete required documentation, and perform any post-appointment follow-up. As a result, the time estimates of billed fees may not exactly match the actual time spent in the practitioner’s office. Follow-up appointment duration is specified by each practitioner according to the needs of each individual patient. Fees may change without notice.
Well-Care Appointments
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Sick/Urgent Appointments
We provide scheduled same-day sick visits for our established patients. The fee you are charged may include time in addition to your
in-office appointment that may be required for
telephone follow-up, lab review, and referrals
to hospitals or consulting physicians.
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All Other Appointments
Follow-up appointment duration is specified by each practitioner according to the needs of each individual patient.
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Telephone & Patient Portal Policies
At Whole Family Wellness, we do not use outside nurse advice services as many other practices do. You will always speak directly with one of our practitioners about your child's health care concerns.
We understand the value of your time and the convenience of picking up the phone or writing a patient portal message. These telephone and electronic consultations can potentially save you and your child the time and expense of an in-person appointment, or a trip to an urgent-care office or emergency department. Because we believe that care is best provided during face-to-face appointments in the office, we will request that some of these become in-person appointments when appropriate. Please also note the patient portal is for non-urgent messages only and it may take several days to receive a response. All non-urgent telephone calls and patient portal communications should be limited to brief matters that cannot wait until your next appointment, and that would not be better served with a scheduled in-office appointment or telephone consultation. If it takes you more than a couple of minutes to compose your message, it is likely best for you to schedule an appointment to discuss these matters with your practitioner.
We are available, without charge, for the following telephone or patient portal communications during regular business hours:
- Brief questions that do not require a new diagnosis, change in treatment plan, additional follow-up, paperwork, referrals, or prescriptions.
- Brief requests for clarification on labs, dosing and treatment plans from a previous office visit.
- Brief questions regarding possible reactions to supplements or treatments.
- Prescription refill requests for medications and supplements prescribed by our practitioners if a refill is appropriate.
- Phone calls or patient portal messages initiated by your practitioner.
Virtual Visits
Except for the simple questions detailed above, all non-urgent phone calls and patient portal communications that cannot wait until your next visit will be considered “virtual visits” and charged to your credit card on file according to the Sick/Urgent Appointment rates detailed above. Please note that appointment times are approximate and that coded fees take into account all practitioner time required to address your health concerns. As a result, actual time spent on the phone with your practitioner may not exactly match the time estimate of billed fees.
Telephone or patient portal topics that may be charged as a virtual visit include:
- Urgent advice requests that require extensive triage, treatment plan updates, laboratory orders, prescriptions, or referrals.
- Non-urgent consultation requests for existing or new symptoms that do not require a face-to-face evaluation.
- Any symptom or topic that requires further evaluation, additional lab testing, changes to treatment plans, or new prescriptions.
- Frequent or lengthy emails or patient portal messages with multiple questions.
- Topics that require back and forth discussion.
- Request for new lab orders prior to the next visit.
- Review of labs.
Patient Portal
We use a patient portal to enable our patients to communicate with our staff and practitioners easily and securely via the internet using either a web browser or a mobile app. Our office does not use email for established patient communications. All electronic communications take place through the patient portal where patients can request new appointments, view scheduled and past appointments, request medication and supplement refills, update demographic information, and send and receive non-urgent messages to our reception and practitioners. These communications seemlessly become part of your patient record. For all urgent matters, please call our reception during regular business hours, or contact our on-call doctor through our answering service after hours.
Urgent Advice
Our physicians answer advice calls for urgent matters throughout the day as soon as their schedule permits. We reserve time in our day for scheduled same-day urgent office appointments, and also offer scheduled same-day urgent phone advice calls. A virtual visit fee as described above may apply. Calls that require more extensive follow-up, lab orders, new prescriptions, or treatment plans will incur fees according to the appointment rates detailed above. Calls that end up requiring an in-person office appointment will not be charged. Urgent advice calls are not to be used for discussion of complex or chronic issues, change in treatment plans, or review of labs.
Urgent After-Hours Advice
Our physicians are available for urgent after-hours calls that cannot wait until the next business day. We do not use a nurse answering service and one of our physicians is available for you at all times. Urgent after-hours phone calls are made through our answering service from 6:00pm to 9:00am, Monday through Friday, and all day Saturday, Sunday and holidays. All urgent after-hours calls will incur a minimum $100 fee and are charged to your credit card on file. More extensive calls will incur virtual visit fees according to the appointment rates detailed above.
Forms & Paperwork
We do not charge for simple forms that are brought to your in-office appointment and can be completed during that time. We also do not charge for simple prescription refill requests. We charge $25 per form for simple forms and letters that are not completed during an appointment and that do not require extensive chart review (forms for daycare, school, camp, FSA prescriptions, referral forms, school/work excuse letters, jury duty letters, etc.) Some forms and letters requested by insurance or for other legal uses, including but not limited to forms for prior authorization, disability, insurance, FMLA, or other legal purposes, require extensive review of medical records so we can most accurately complete the information requested and optimize the benefits and services to which you or your children may be entitled. These forms will be billed according to the time needed to complete them and charged to your credit card on file. You may be asked to schedule an appointment prior to completion of any form if you or your child have not been seen in the previous 12 months. Please allow 3-5 business days for all forms and letters. Any paperwork that requires a faster turnaround will incur a rush fee of $40 in addition to any other fees.
Test Results & Lab Reviews
The practitioners at Whole Family Wellness may order lab tests as deemed appropriate in the management of your, or your child’s, care. Your practitioner will review the test results as we receive them and notify you if any result requires immediate attention. Otherwise, all test results will be reviewed during a scheduled lab review appointment. It is your responsibility to schedule a lab review appointment to discuss all test results. Results for test kits that are sent to specialized labs generally have a 4-week turnaround time, so please be sure to call our reception and schedule a lab review appointment as soon as you have completed any test kits. Copies of lab results will only be provided to patients at the time of the lab review appointment with your practitioner.
Automated Appointment Reminders
We use an automated system to confirm appointments by email and by your choice of a telephone call or a text message. Please let our reception know your preference when you book your next appointment.
Payment & Insurance
Payment for Services
Payment for services rendered is due in full at the conclusion of each appointment. Payment for each appointment is the responsibility of the adult who accompanies the patient if that patient is a child or adolescent. Payment methods accepted are cash, check, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover. All appointments require a credit card guarantee against late cancellations and missed appointments
Insurance and Our Services
Whole Family Wellness is not contracted with any insurance companies. This allows us to provide the kind of personalized service and dedicated time that our patients value and that is integral to holistic healthcare. Being part of an insurance network often means that priority is placed on high patient volume where doctors see 6-8 patients per hour. Additionally, we would not have the flexibility to offer our patients a therapeutic plan that integrates conventional and alternative approaches.
Most of our services are covered by PPO-type insurance plans as an out-of-network provider. While there are a wide range of plans and reimbursement rates, most of our patients with PPO-type insurance plans receive reimbursement for 50-80% of our service fees (after any applicable deductibles and/or co-payments have been met). HMO insurance will not typically cover our services.
Services may apply towards qualified medical expenses if you have a Health Care Reimbursement Account (HCRA) through your employer or a Health Savings Account (HSA). Please check with your insurance company regarding the specific percentages of coverage that apply to your particular insurance plan, and with your employer or accountant for details of your HCRA or HSA.
Insurance billing
As a courtesy, we will submit claims to your primary medical insurance carrier for each appointment. We do not submit claims to secondary medical insurance carriers. You are financially responsible for all services rendered by our office at the time of the appointment, and will be reimbursed for covered services directly by your insurance carrier. You are advised to know your policy coverage and limitations. Whole Family Wellness does not provide follow-up on the claims we submit, and it is your responsibility to contact your insurance company for any required actions regarding outstanding claims.
Late Arrival / Cancellations
Our time is reserved exclusively for your care during your scheduled visit.
If you are late for your appointment, please keep in mind that your appointment will end at the scheduled time to avoid delaying the next patient and you will still be charged for the entire appointment.
We have a 2-business-day cancellation policy. If you cancel an appointment less than 2 business days prior to your appointment you will be charged a fee that represents 50% of the cost of your scheduled appointment. If you cancel less than 1 business day before your appointment, or fail to show for your appointment, you will be charged a fee that represents the full cost of your scheduled appointment.
Class Refund Policy
If for some reason you are unable to attend the class for which you are registered, please note that we have a one-week refund policy. Classes that are canceled more than 1 week in advance will be refunded minus a $10 service charge. Registration fees for classes that are canceled with less than 1 week notice will be credited toward a future class taken at Whole Family Wellness.
Fees Effective 8/14/2023