Do you accept insurance?  Our providers are not on any insurance preferred provider lists because some of what we do is not covered by insurance. However, many PPO or POS plans will reimburse our patients a percentage of their office visits, and will cover some of the tests that we order. Some appointments can be done over the phone. We will provide you with a billing statement that you can submit to your insurance company for reimbursement.  Nutritional supplements are not usually covered by insurance, but may be covered by a medical savings account, or FSA through your employer.  Unfortunately, Kaiser and HMOs will not cover our services, but we are often able to work with your primary care provider to get some of the required testing done through your insurance. 

Do you have someone to help us with insurance claims?  Our staff can give you advice on your insurance claim process. We help provide any necessary documentation that your insurance company requests for reimbursement, when appropriate. 

How long are the appointments? The initial intake appointment is usually 1-1/2 to 2 hours long. The first follow-up appointment is usually 2 weeks later and is 30 minutes to 1 hour long. The second follow-up appointment is two months after the intake (or 6 weeks after the first follow-up) and is one hour long, and may include a follow-up blood draw. The third follow-up appointment will review those labs.  If any of your appointments run less than the scheduled time, your fee will be prorated. After the first two - three follow-ups, most appointments are half an hour to one hour in length, every 3-6 months, depending on your needs. We also offer 15 minute appointments for quick questions in between regular appointments.     

How often will I/my child need to be seen? After the first few appointments, most patients need appointments only approximately every two to three months. After they are stabilized, we may only need to see them once or twice a year.  

How can I get in touch with the clinic between appointments if I have a question?  You can call the office and ask our staff if it is a simple question about scheduling, etc. You can also email us with quick questions at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . There is a nominal $15 charge for answering emails between appointments. You can also schedule a quick 15 – 30 minute phone or in-person appointment to discuss any quick questions that you may have. 

What do we need to bring to our appointments?   Please bring a note pad and pen to take notes, and if possible bring an audio recorder as well. There is a lot of information given at our appointments, and you will need to be able to write it down, and possibly even listen to it again if you choose.  For the first appointment, also bring copies of any previous medical tests and fill out the medication and supplement information entirely. Please have the name of the supplement or medication, dose in milligrams, and the number of pills taken per day listed. For example: Zinc, 20 mg capsule, 1 capsule twice a day.  We also need a copy of the insurance card. If the patient is a child, we recommend that parents bring snacks, drinks, and favorite toys or movies to the initial two hour appointment, so that your child is more comfortable. In general, it is recommended not to bring the child to the second and third appointments, because we will be reviewing extensive lab test results at that time. 

What kinds of tests will you do?  We order blood, urine, stool, and often hair tests. We usually do the blood tests here at our office, but sometimes those can be done at a lab near your home. The urine, stool, and hair samples will be collected by you at home, and packaged and shipped directly to the laboratories in specially designed test kits. Just follow the instructions in the test kit box. 

What is the purpose of the blood draw?  We need to see how the many different systems in the body are functioning. Everyone is different, and we customize our treatment plan to the test results. We do the most tests in the beginning to get a baseline before any treatment is started. We treat only the medical problems that show up as abnormal on the testing. Some of the testing is redone later on to make sure our treatments are working and to see if changes need to be made. 

If we’ve done tests someplace else, can we use them?  Please bring copies of any pertinent medical testing done in the past to your appointment. We will review these tests. If the results are more than 3 - 4 months old, some of them may have to be repeated. 

Will I get copies of all the test results?  Yes. You will get copies of all of your test results at your follow-up appointments. 

How long does it take to get the test results?  This depends partly on how fast the tests are collected and sent out. Most test results come back between one to six weeks after they are shipped, depending on the test. It is important to make sure that your test results are back before your next appointment, so that we can discuss the results.