It's OK to Ask Questions
Here are answers to some common ones.
Financial Policies
The short answer is ‘No’. However, if you have out-of-network coverage then we can give you a proper form to submit to your insurance company for re-imbursement. We cannot guarantee coverage, so please speak with your insurance representative. Please click HERE for a more thorough explanation of our thoughts on this topic.
No. Our providers have opted out of the Medicare/Medicaid program. If you are under Medicare, in particular, we are required by law to have you sign a Medicare Opt-Out acknowledgement form saying you understand you none of the services rendered to you by our clinic are submittable for re-imbursement.
Your fee to establish care with our clinic will depend on the New Patient Package you choose. For details, please go HERE. If you have any more questions, feel free to give us a call at 713-840-9355.
Follow-up visits with any of our providers are billed per minute. Rates are the same for in-office and phone consults. You are only billed for the time you are with the provider. Hence, time spent during check-in, check-out, etc are not billed. The rates as of September 2019 are as follows:
Medical Consults — $7 per minute
Nutrition Consults — $3 per minute
No, we do not. Payment in full is expected at the time of service. We accept all major credit cards, and you can use your HSA and Flex accounts here as well.
We understand your concerns about our seemingly high cash prices; They can be daunting if you are used to paying co-pays only. The paradox is that, by choosing to remain free from the constraints and controls of insurance, we actually make less money on average for every visit and treatment we provide than a conventional clinic does. But we do it gladly, because remaining free from insurance allows us to practice medicine the right way. However, practicing medicine the right way requires more than a simple 15-minute visit and basic labs. So, you’re getting incredibly greater care and attention at a clinic like ours, but that comes with a cost. Still, if you were to compare what we charge to what an insurance company charges in premiums and deductibles, and what they pass along to the providers (substantially more than our cash prices in many cases), you will find that we are offering an incredible value for diagnostics and treatments that actually make you well and don’t just keep you sick.
On-Boarding of New Patients
The process is straight-forward. First, fill out our patient inquiry form by clicking the button below. Next, we call you for a brief Q&A and information-gathering conversation. And then we schedule your first visit and ask you to fill out some questionnaires online.
All ages are welcome to apply. Because we are specialists in Functional and Integrative Medicine, and our services are needed for people spanning all ages, we do not have rigid age restrictions. We are not geriatricians or pediatricians, however, so in cases that require highly specialized care in those fields, we may refer you elsewhere.
This varies according to many factors, but in general Dr Wells is scheduled out five or six weeks. Appointments with Jason or Erin can generally be accommodated within two weeks.
To the extent that our providers are able, we are more than willing to work with outside providers as part of your comprehensive care team. We see many patients with complex, multi-faceted illnesses that require many angles of attack, so-to-speak. We have even collaborated with physicians from other countries to round out our care.
To this end, our providers will communicate with your other providers by whatever means necessary if/when needed. But please be advised that time spent by our providers for your care may be billed to you at the normal per-minute rate for consultations.
Yes, you do. Our packages represent almost four decades of experience and thousands of patient visits. We operated for much of our history using an ‘a la carte’ menu of visits and services, and with very rare exception, every patient has needed some combination of visits and services that you see listed in our New Patient Packages. By packaging them in the way we have, we are able to keep our prices lower while giving you a much more realistic and transparent picture of what the actual costs and involvement when working with our clinic will be.
Your package is not ultimately chosen until AFTER your visit with the medical provider, so that you have a very clear idea of what they have recommended before having to make your decision. This is huge, and should eliminate most of the guesswork. The packages are priced so that you gain more value as you “Level Up”. The primary reason we are able to do this is because, by knowing up front what your commitment is, we are able to optimize our provider schedules, and budget costs for services we provide. Therefore, we do not allow you to upgrade your package after the date of your initial clinical visit. There may be occasions and unforeseen circumstances that would cause a need to downgrade your package after the initial visit (such as difficulty doing the specialty labs), and those will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
For your initial visits to our clinic, the answer is ‘no’. As you may know, our clinic has a policy of remaining separate from the influences of insurance in any way possible. In our experience, taking lab orders elsewhere increases errors (wrong labs are run), delays treatment, and often leads to unpleasant surprises in the form of large bills to the patient for labs that their insurance company did not feel were justified. After years of dealing with those headaches and frustrations, and having to increase our prices to everyone to make up for lost time and wasted resources, we stopped allowing it all together. We have negotiated frequently with the labs to get the absolute lowest cash prices we can, and then pass those lower prices on to you. We know it may be frustrating to not be able to use your insurance directly, but please keep in mind that you can always file for reimbursement if your policy has out-of network benefits. Many of our patient do, and it works out well for them.
Our approach to wellness deviates from the approach of conventional medicine from day one, with diagnostics. Sometimes our providers are able to use recent bloodwork to assist in making a proper diagnosis, but one thing that sets our providers apart is their ability to study and consider multiple lab results in digging to the root cause of a problem. This kind of analysis is only done properly if all blood tests are timed appropriately, meaning that they are all measured on the same day if necessary, or staged in relationship to some protocol or life event. Therefore, our policy is to draw ALL necessary labs in-house, including those you may have already done recently.
We understand that not everyone needs a thorough exam and diagnosis, therefore we do have an Optimization and Support Package that includes only a visit with the provider and a visit with the Dietitian/Nutritionist. While it doesn’t offer as much value as the Packages advertised on our website, it is perfect if you just want to get a check-up and receive counsel and guidance on maintaining your wellness. We offer it for $1,699.
Yes and No. We like to send everyone off on their journey the very first day they visit our clinic. Our providers are experts and can make many diagnoses and recommendations just based on their visit with you. However, we will have a much better picture of your current condition after we have received and reviewed any and all lab tests that are ordered during your initial visit. So in many ways, your first follow-up visit will yield more information and enable us to create a thorough plan. You should expect to have a well established Wellness Plan on the date of your first followup.
This varies from person to person, so it’s hard to answer. The first follow-up is the most critical and will usually happen within 4 weeks of your initial visit. In fact, when you schedule your initial consult with us we will also schedule your first follow-up so that you have your spot reserved well ahead of time. Subsequent follow-ups will be scheduled as-needed, but it is very hard to know how many you will need until an examination and diagnosis has been made.
We love working with children, but we do not offer a dedicated Well-Child Evaluation. Instead, healthy children must establish care under our Optimization and Support Package which costs $1,699. We understand that is a considerable amount of money for a well-check, but there are a couple of things to consider. First, the high cost is only to establish. Once your child is established, subsequent well-checks and sick visits are much more affordable. Second, we are not a pediatric clinic nor a primary care facility. We love working with healthy children, but our primary purpose is to serve people of all ages who are in need of healing and wellness. Hence, we do not make financial concessions based on age or healthiness.
Intravenous Therapies
To receive IV therapy you must established a relationship with our clinic. Once established, we still ask that you schedule your IVs so that we can adequately prepare, but same-day appointments are usually available.