Policies & Fee’s

Fees and Payment:

• $595 for a comprehensive, holistic first office visit, which is typically 60 minutes.
• Follow-up, telemedicine and acute care run from $250-500, depending on complexity and time spent in the appointment.
• Payment is due at the time of service and a credit card is needed to hold the scheduled time as this time is set aside for you. Please discuss any fee questions with the office before your appointment so you can know what to expect.
• You may pay with Visa, MasterCard, cash, and check.
• These fees do not cover lab testing, although Dr. Handwerger uses labs that PPO insurance can cover, depending on individual plans.
• Dr. Handwerger does not take insurance. However, a "Superbill" will be provided after every visit for you to submit for out-of-network reimbursement. See insurance below.
• Refunds requested on unopened items or labs not done will incur a 10% processing fee.

Appointments:

• First appointment: It is recommended that all initial paperwork be completed, signed, and received by our office preferably 2 business days prior to your scheduled appointment. You may fax or email these forms, but the originals will need to be delivered on the day of your appointment.
• Please check in 15 minutes before your scheduled appointment. Please do not wear any scented products, as many of our patients are chemically sensitive. These include lotions, cologne, perfume, hair spray, etc.
  Follow-up consults may be scheduled in 30, 45, or 60-minute blocks of time depending on your needs and the cost ranges from $250-$475
• All consultations are charged for the actual time used, not the time blocked.
• Any research requested by the patient are billable services and will be charged at the hourly rate.

Cancellations:

• If you cannot keep a scheduled appointment, you must notify us a minimum of 48 business hours prior to your scheduled time, or you will be charged for the missed appointment ($175 new patient and $95 return visit). You can reschedule and not be charged when you come in. If you miss your rescheduled appointment you will have to pay for the full price of the visit.
• If your appointment is on Monday, please notify our office no later than noon on the previous Thursday if you can't make it.
• As a courtesy, our office will send you an email and call you to confirm your appointment 2 business days in advance.

Prescription and Prior Authorization Requests:

Prescriptions refills on already established medications from an original pharmacy carrying that prescription are performed at no charge. However, requests for a new prescription or a change in prescription type or transfer to a different pharmacy may incur a $35 prescription handling charge. Prior authorizations with insurance companies due to non-coverage of a particular medication will incur a $65 charge.

Phone Consultations:

• Please call at the time of your scheduled consultation.
• All appointments are scheduled for the Pacific Standard Time zone.

Medical Letters:

Medical letters to schools, insurance companies, disability, etc. are a billable service. If these items are requested there may be an additional charge based on the time involved at the hourly rate per doctor to complete your request.

Questions and Follow-up:

You may email or call Dr. Handwerger with follow-up questions. Questions must be brief and concise. The office staff and/or clinic physician will determine if a phone or office consult is needed to answer your question(s). Otherwise, a member of our office staff will respond to your inquiry. When leaving a voice mail message, please be brief and concise, and always include your name and phone number, including the area code.

Please Note: We try to accommodate questions regarding treatment clarification at no charge. Simply put, if you have a quick question about a supplement or diagnostic test we recommended or a therapy reaction you may be experiencing, then by all means contact us. However, if the response to a question you submit requires doctor research and/or review, you may be billed for the time involved at the doctor’s hourly rate.

Follow-up Consultations:

• We generally recommend that all patients minimally have an office consultation every 6 months.
• If there are abnormal results from recent lab testing, that need to be reviewed, a follow up consultation is required. (This allows for quality care.)
• If prescription medication is being provided for yourself or your child, a office consultation is required every 6 months.

  Prescription refills will not be provided to patients who do not follow up within the 6-month time frame.