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Q: Does Nutradvice accept any insurance plans?A: If you have diabetes, all insurance carriers are required to cover at least 3 sessions of nutrition therapy. Nutradvice and its dietitians are all Medicare providers. This is currently the “only” insurance we are affiliated with. We do not "directly" accept other insurance plans as is the case with most dietitians outside of a clinical setting. We do however provide superbills you may give to your insurance company which they may or may not pay for the services we offer depending on your policy. If your insurance company covers our services, it is your responsibility to submit the superbill to the insurance company to receive the amount of money your insurance company will compensate up to for our services. Your dietitian will give you the superbill (if requested after the consultation). Note: Superbills are not offered for email consultations, phone consultations, grocery shop with the dietitian, supplement reviews, diet analysis and/or meal plans. The reason we do not "directly" accept insurance other than Medicare is because most insurance companies do not fairly compensate us for the unique service options we provide and in the past, we have had difficulties with other insurance companies reimbursing us on time or giving us full compensation for our services. We have always believed in the old adage: You get what you pay for. Nutradvice hires the "best of the best" when it comes to Nutrition professionals, we don't just let anyone join our nutrition network; and as such, these professionals deserve a fair compensation for their outstanding competencies. If we accepted other forms of insurance, we would not be able to provide you with the "very best" in nutrition consulting services. We accept Medicare, cash, check, or debit/credit card payment only because this ensures our dietitians are fairly compensated and can provide you the best quality service available which makes us stand out from other dietitians in the private practice or clinical setting. Furthermore, we feel we do a disservice to our dietitians and profession if we accept other insurances because it lowers their value as a trained medical professional. Becoming a registered dietitian is a rigorous process that involves intense study and years of practical training (for more information, see What is a Registered Dietitian?). Very few people realize that only a "select" few college graduates in a California Dietetics credentialed and approved program are eligible to go on to train as registered dietitians. That is because the selection process is very competitive. If we accepted other forms of insurance, we would be under-compensating these well-deserving professionals and it cheapens the value of our profession. Q: Can I schedule and pay for my appointment over the phone?A: Certainly! Just call us at 1-800-980-9780. One of our customer service specialists will be happy to schedule you in and take your payment over the phone.
Q: Can I cancel an appointment?A: Yes. Our cancellation policy states that you must cancel an appointment within 48 hours notice. While we understand sometimes there are certain circumstances that arise which might make you unable to receive your consultation, even after the 48 hour cancellation policy has taken effect, Nutradvice needs to keep this policy in place in order to ensure we give the highest quality customer service. Our dietitians work very hard and we need to make sure they are fully compensated for the time they reserve to speak to you. If you would like to cancel your current appointment, please click here) (opens new window). Please make sure you have your confirmation code assigned to you after you scheduled your appointment in order to cancel it. You may also cancel your appointment by calling us at 1-800-980-9780, however, please be aware of normal business hours which may be viewed in our appointment manager storefront by clicking here (opens new window). Q: Can I reschedule an appointment?A: Yes, as long as you do so within a 48 hour notice prior to your scheduled appointment. If you would like to reschedule your current appointment, please click here (opens new window). Please make sure you have your confirmation code assigned to you after you scheduled your appointment in order to cancel it. You may also reschedule your appointment by calling us at 1-800-980-9780, however, please be aware of normal business hours which may be viewed in our appointment manager storefront by clicking here (opens new window). Q: Does Nutradvice offer any financing for its services?A: We currently only accept financing for larger services such as corporate wellness programs, educational seminars, and other contracted services. If you are interested in financing a custom service (opens new window), please call us at 1-800-980-9780 or email customer support for more information. Q: Can I contact the dietitian directly without setting up an appointment?A: Yes, but only if your question is related to appointments, credentials, specialties, or services provided. While Nutradvice is committed to offering you the best in customer service, our dietitians cannot correspond every single person with nutrition-related questions unless an appointment or service is paid for and the questions directly relate to the appointment or service paid for. It is only fair that our dietitians be compensated for their time and work. If our dietitians answered everyone's individual questions, there would be little or no time left for our dietitians to consult. If you do not have many questions, we recommend you pay for an email consultation or schedule a 15-30 minute phone, office, or home consultation.
Q: Are there increased prices for group consultations or group grocery store visits?A: No, however, do be aware that the more people who are present for your appointment will mean the experience is less personalized (assuming they have questions for the dietitian). When you submit your patient form, your dietitian takes the time to create a personal profile and assess your needs based on your specific information. As such, our dietitians cannot be held liable for any advice or information given to anyone else in your party other than the person who filled out the patient form because your dietitian would not have time to properly screen or assess other people in your party. You also acknowledge that any patient information that you or the person who filled out the form may find sensitive or confidential may be divulged to your party during the course of the appointment. It is important to keep these factors in mind. In the event that you decide to have a group with you during an appointment, please call or email us ahead of time.
Q: Do you offer medical nutrition therapy (MNT)?A: We do offer medical nutrition therapy but only for office and home consultations. Medical Nutrition Therapy is defined by the US government as “nutritional diagnostic, therapy, and counseling services for the purpose of disease management which are furnished by a registered dietitian or nutrition professional ... pursuant to a referral by a physician.” (Medicare MNT Benefit, effective 2001)
Medical nutrition therapy is done by registered dietitians and is prescribed for diabetes, kidney disease (non-dialysis), cardiovascular diseases, weight and eating disorders, allergies, malnutrition, AIDS/HIV, and neoplastic diseases. It tends to have an emphasis on more complex methods of nutrition support using specialized nutrition therapies. Usually medical nutrition therapy is used for chronic diseases. To get an idea of the difference between medical nutrition therapy and nutrition counseling, please see this document for more information.
As to why our medical nutrition therapy services are restricted to home and office consultations only:
Certain laws prohibit us from offering medical nutrition therapy over the internet or phone with a few exceptions. Of those exceptions, they are only covered by Medicare’s Telehealth provisions which only cover certain rural areas. Licensing restrictions also prevent us from offering medical nutrition therapy over the phone or web-based medium unless the person in the state requesting MNT is not in a state that has licensing restrictions or is in the same state in which the RD they wish to consult with resides. It is because of these reasons we cannot do this over the internet or phone.
If you are seeking medical nutrition therapy and are in the California area, you are going to need a physician’s referral after which, you may schedule an appointment online or over the telephone. Prior to appointment, we must either receive your physician referral via regular mail, fax, or upon appointment arrival. Please note, if you do not have your physician referral upon appointment arrival, you will be billed for consultation and your appointment will be void. If you have further questions regarding MNT, please contact Nutradvice Support at support@nutradvice.com Q: Is the Healthy Lifestyle Calculator - Downloadable Version available for Mac?A: Unfortunately, the downloadable version of the Healthy Lifestyle Calculator is not currently available for Macintosh-based operating systems. We realize this might an inconvenience for some of our visitors and have created an online version of our Healthy Lifestyle Calculator which has the same features and functionality as the downloadable one except with much richer graphical content. In the future, we plan to create a downloadable Healthy Lifestyle Calculator which will also work for Macintosh.
Q: (Windows XP and earlier operating systems only): Why do I need to have Microsoft.net framework installed on my computer to run the downloadable Healthy Lifestyle Calculator on my computer?A: Using the .net framework allows us to create a calculator which is more platform independent. Applications that run in the Microsoft.net framework have relatively low setup file sizes which are convenient for our visitors. Eminent companies and sites are employing .net framework based applications given they offer the latest in technology and are easily manageable. We realize at present, most people probably do not have Microsoft.net installed on their computer; as a result, we have conveniently hosted the latest Microsoft.net framework setup file on our website so you may download it and run our Healthy Lifestyle Calculator trouble free. When designing the calculator, we looked ahead and realized that many of our customers would be using the Windows-based operating system (In fact, current statistics show that over 90% of US residents are Windows users). We also realize that a new operating system called Windows Vista would be developed in January of 2007 which would already have the .net framework pre-installed. We had to make a tough choice: Do we create a simple application without the .net framework which would make the installation simpler and hassle-free yet would be using obsolete technology in the next year and also make upgrades more difficult and expensive, or do we use the most advanced software technology available which will allow for smaller file size, easier usage, and more importantly, more freely available to people who have different operating systems. Microsoft.net framework allows us to deliver this wonderful free application to you. If you feel uncomfortable using the Microsoft.net framework, you may always use our free online version of the Healthy Lifestyle Calculator.
Q: Can I host the downloadable or online Healthy Lifestyle Calculator on my website?A: Only with permission, but you may post a direct link to the Healthy Lifestyle Calculator page where the person may download the Calculator. The reason we require you to ask permission to host the downloadable calculator on your site is to ensure no inferior or malicious applications are hosted on other sites which claim to be the original Healthy Lifestyle Calculator. Under special circumstances, we may grant access for hosting the original online and/or downloadable Healthy Lifestyle Calculator on your site. You may place a request with us by clicking here. Be sure to state your name, title, company or organization you represent, your email address, telephone number and why you want to host our calculator directly through your site. Q: I'd like to report a bug on the website or the Healthy Lifestyle Calculator, who do I contact?A: Please email support@nutradvice.com to report any bugs and thank you for your time! Q: What if I am not satisfied with the service I received?A: Nutradvice wants to ensure you are completely satisfied with the service you receive with our dietitians. If in anyway you feel you did not receive an excellent consultation, please contact Nutradvice Support at support@nutradvice.com. Please state your name and contact information and please explain which dietitian you were speaking to, when, and what the consultation was about. Please explain what it was about the consultation that made you feel dissatisfied with the service. Upon receiving your comments, we will evaluate them and see if a refund is in order although to date, we have not had any complaints or requests for refunds. |
