By Shirley Harper
We are anticipating a busy week in clinic this week. Dr. Harper just returned from an FMCSA conference in Dalles, Tx over the weekend where he learned all the things that will be coming up for the Department of Transportation CDL Physicals.
We will be in clinic just 3 days this week Monday through Wednesday. Thursday we will be in Atlanta training doctors.
Dr. Morris will be in the office this week on his usual schedule. Both he & Dr. Harper are staying rather busy, which means there is some wait time for a regular appointment. Scheduling sooner rather than later is always a good idea! We appreciate your patience!
This is a question we get a lot, and it is difficult for people to understand why we don’t bill insurance “like everyone else”. These are the reasons “Why we don’t take insurance.”
#1 Insurance doesn’t pay for most of the therapies we do ( they do not pay for natural thyroid products, compounded bioidentical hormones, vitamins, ozone therapy, PEMF etc.) that actually help our patients.
#2 Insurance billing and prior authorizations increases, costs, staff hours, wait time to receive treatment, including extra billing, coding, and “scrubbing claims” (to the tune of up to 30% increase in overhead). By not taking insurance we are able to keep costs lower for longer.
#3 Insurance companies actually “punish” doctors for prescribing treatments and diagnostics the insurance company feels are unnecessary- they routinely second guess providers through (audit and utilization reviews) telling them who they can refer to and which treatments they will cover etc.
That said, we understand many patients have some form of insurance or health care cooperative. We will give a coded superbill, if the patient wants to apply for reimbursement directly to their cooperative or insurance company. Additionally, they can use their insurance for laboratory or imaging at other locations- we shop around for the best CASH price on labs here but cannot accept insurance in the clinic. In summary, we provide cost effective integrative medicine to likeminded patients that we would be unable to provide within the confines of the insurance system.
At Gem State Holistic Health, you can rest assured that your provider is the one directing your care not some stranger in a corporate cubicle that may or may not have some medical background.
Have more questions or looking for answers?
Call today (208-476-3158) to book an appointment with Dennis Harper, DC or Joshua Morris, MD at Gem State Holistic Health in Orofino Idaho!
Visit our website at www.gemstateholistichealth.com to explore all of our treatment options!
