Patient Information for The Fork Functional Medicine Clinic

Patient Portal

patient forms And Telemedicine

Welcome to The Fork! We're so excited to partner with you in your health journey.

Please note we have a Functional Medicine Program and a Peptide Program. These are different.

If you are a new patient in the clinic you will need to fill out AND return several forms; to save time and streamline your experience it is required that you do this prior to us scheduling your first visit. The team member who schedules you will onboard you, once you are set you up in the patient portal (and provided with log in information) you can log in and find the forms and submit them. Please read them, do not just sign them!

Functional medicine as you probably know by now is not your typical provider experience or relationship. We are partnering to achieve incredible things together.

Additionally you will need to upload to the portal:

All medications and supplements that you are currently taking.
Also list allergies. Also your weight and height in your vitals section of your portal.

Upload copies of any recent or significant labs or imaging you may have had done in the past year. We have no way to scan this in, we do NOT keep hard copies or files on patients so it MUST be electronically uploaded to your portal.
PLEASE ENTER YOUR INSURANCE INFORMATION INTO THE PORTAL BEFORE YOUR APPOINTMENT SO THAT WE CAN ORDER LABS FOR YOU.

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Telemedicine

Telemedicine visits are available to patients in the State of Tennessee. Providers licensed in the State of Tennessee can provide Telemedicine to patients who are present in the state of Tennessee at the time of the telemedicine appointment. Currently our providers are only licensed in Tennessee so they are only available for telemedicine in state, however, we are working on licensing in other states and may be available in other areas in the future. We will update that information here at that time.

fees + billing policy

Functional Medicine patients visiting The Fork for the first time will go through a series of steps.

The first being the onboarding process, completion of the paperwork, and scheduling referenced above.

Next a Discovery consult will take place where your provider will review your forms, paperwork, any records you upload, and your Concerns and Goals note and determine what labs and testing they recommend. You will have a consult with a staff member to explain the functional testing and conventional labs recommended by the provider for the initial Strategy visit and to review the providers recommendations.

You will have your labs drawn, receive and complete any functional testing and mail that in to the laboratory to be resulted.

When these results come in your provider will then review these labs and create a treatment strategy in preparation for your initial Strategy Visit with your provider. We have this in-depth process in place so that you can begin to address and treat your health issues at the very first appointment into our clinic and not have to wait weeks or months to get started.

The cost of booking an appointment with us includes the intial booking/intake fees... and this is in addition the cost of your functional lab kits. Lab kits vary and range from $285-900+ depending on the test.

The initial booking/intake fee covers the time that is spent reviewing your history, lab work, paperwork and intake forms and ordering appropriate testing and/or diagnostic studies. The cost of becoming established as a patient is $1500. This includes the above described services but not any other ongoing follow up visits (and no labs or lab kits).

Follow up visits are between 15 minutes and 1 hour depending on the complexity and time required to review your labs prior to the appointment- Fees range from $125 - 500 for these appointments.

For further information on our pricing and packages please call our office to speak to our patient navigator.

financial policy

The Fork Functional Medicine is a functional medicine practice. While we do not bill insurance directly, we will be happy to provide you with a superbill that you can submit to your insurance company yourself. Functional medicine services may or may not be covered under your insurance plan however you are seeing a Licensed Nurse Practioner and you may be eligible for out-of-network coverage. Because all plans vary, you will need to check with your insurance directly prior to your visit. We also are not a participating provider in Medicaid or Medicare. We are not responsible for filing your claim and we do not make any guarantees stated or implied that our services or any labs ordered will be covered.
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We are a cash-based, fee-for-service practice and payment is expected at the time of your visit. Before booking the initial Discovery Appointment, payment in full is required for your initial booking/intake fee in order for us to add you to our system, deliver paperwork to you, and schedule you. This is a non-refundable deposit. Remember your paperwork must be complete before you will be scheduled.

more on our financial policy

At The Fork we are passionate about what we do and we feel that we have a calling to provide the highest quality health care to as many people as possible. We feel that our services are unique and our financial policies also set us apart from the mainstream health care model. Below you will find an explanation of our policies, if after reading this you still have questions please feel free to call and speak with a member of our team.

Why we do not accept Insurance assignment:

Some patients have inquired as to why we do not bill insurance directly. First off I empathize with the financial challenge this presents, however, we have elected not to bill insurance directly for the following reasons:

When a provider bills the insurance company directly they are required to become a participating provider in that companies program and to sign a contract that allows the insurance company to determine what services they will and will not provide and how much the provider can charge for these services. As a general rule insurance companies are not concerned with prevention, wellness, underlying causes, nutritional or lifestyle medicine… and we are. The insurance companies are invested in the conventional model of medicine and health care that leans upon surgeries and pharmaceuticals. The participating providers in these situations are contractually bound to accept the fees the insurance company dictates, regardless of if those fees are relevant for the situation in that patient/provider relationship. The conventional model focuses on brief visits and quantity not quality. This is in opposition to our values and goals as a practice. We hear patients complain about how their provider hardly had time to hear their concerns and they felt pushed out the door, yet, they are frustrated with the cost of appointments that cover their concerns. We understand and we have made a decision that we cannot be part of the insurance network and provide the level of care we value here at The Fork Functional Medicine. Our fees support the cost of operating the clinic, our staff, expensive professional continuing education and the time invested by our providers in your care. Our providers and staff do this because they are passionate about their patients health and wellbeing.

cancellation and late policy

We have held a space for you and when you cancel another patient who may be on a waiting list may be able to take your time if we have enough notice, otherwise we have experienced a loss of revenue and the opportunity to help someone else who is in need.

THEREFORE.... OUR CANCELLATION AND LATE POLICY IS:
PLEASE NOTE: We require 48 of OUR BUSINESS hours notice for appointment cancellations. All patients that do not show up for their scheduled appointment or do not provide adequate notice when cancelling will be charged for their visit regardless. Please understand that when you cancel with little notice we are unable to fill those appointment slots and that is lost revenue therefore we have to charge for the appointment.

We make it a priority to stay on schedule because we highly value your time, we make the utmost effort to stay on schedule, and we ask the same respect and consideration for ours and the other patients who are scheduled. We understand that things happen, however, in the spirit of respecting our other patients time If you are late for your appointment then you will lose the time that you are late as we can not run your appointment over into another patient's time slot.

Patients who are late by more than 10 minutes may have to be rescheduled.

Individuals who are late or no show for more than once will only be allowed to schedule with prepayment for the visit. No shows or those who are too late for their visit to be completed will be charged for the visit and rescheduled as this is time lost. Please call us if you are running late so that we are able to accommodate others who need to be seen.

If you fail to show up for the second appointment you may not be seen in the future. Please be considerate and provide at a minimum of 48 of OUR BUSINESS hours notice for all cancellations. NOTE: We are closed on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Cell phone policy

We ask as a courtesy for others that you turn off your cell phone when in the office. If you have to take a call we ask that you make it brief or step outside.

prescription refills

We desire to provide you with prescription refills as quickly as possible. However, due to the abundance of calls we get daily we ask that you please call your pharmacy first for refills. The pharmacy will be able to identify your prescription number, and this helps us ensure that you are taking what we have prescribed and will clarify dosages and decrease the chances for medical errors. PLEASE DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE A FEW DAYS FROM RUNNING OUT OF YOUR PRESCRIPTION TO CALL OR WRITE A MESSAGE IN THE PORTAL FOR A REFILL. IT TYPICALLY TAKES US A WEEK TO PROCESS REFILL REQUESTS. WE RECOMMEND YOU REQUEST REFILLS TWO WEEKS BEFORE YOU EXPECT TO RUN OUT. WHEN OUR PROVIDERS PRESCRIBE WE PRESCRIBE ENOUGH MEDICATION WITH ENOUGH REFILLS TO LAST UNTIL YOUR NEXT APPOINTMENT. IF THE PHARMACY SAYS YOU HAVE NO REFILLS ASK THEM TO PULL THE ACTUAL SCRIPT AND CHECK BECAUSE THEY ARE LIKELY WRONG.

‍Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

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If you have not been seen for over four months, you will most likely need to schedule an appointment prior to getting your refill. WE REQUIRE LABS AND FOLLOW UP VISITS TO MANAGE MEDICATIONS.

supplements

Why We Sell Them and Our Pricing:

Supplements are a complementary to lifestyle modifications, this is an evidence and science based practice that is well researched and part of our functional medicine model of practice. We have carefully chosen therapeutic grade nutritional supplements to provide and recommend to our patients. As a general rule the supplements we sell are of a much higher quality than those typically available over the counter. We have purchased and set up relationships with companies that provide high quality products from the top nutritional research laboratories in North America and we have priced our products to cover our cost for providing them and with the most minimal mark-up possible.

At your visit your provider will prescribe your supplements to Fullscript (a nutritional supplement pharmacy), supplements form this company are typically at a discount to the suggested retail prices. There is no requirement that you order from them or buy from us directly, this is provided for your convenience.

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Additionally we have a very limited supplement store in house with our most frequently used supplements or things not available through FULLSCRIPT for your convenience.

Occasionally patients will tell us they have found a cheaper source for the same supplement. If it’s a comparable brand to what we recommend, please make sure their products are fresh, not expired and have not sat in hot warehouses and been compromised. Also make sure that it is the same form, strength, dosage, and delivery. If the product is of the same quality then by all means we encourage you to make the most economical purchases possible; we realize our protocols are sometimes challenging financially. If you have found an affordable high quality source of the supplements we recommend, please share with us so that we can share that information with our other patients.

Parking

There are many parking spaces available across the street from the clinic at the church. They have been very generous in allowing us to use their parking and we ask that you be respectful in the same spirit. Additionally there is public parking scattered about throughout the community… everything is a short walk.

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