Office Policies
Patient Appointments
Appointments are scheduled on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Afternoon and evening appointments are available on these four days. At this time, no morning appointments are possible.
We are very careful to keep on schedule, so please try to arrive 10 to 15 minutes early for your appointment. Arriving early allows you to rest a few minutes and allow your pulses to calm for the visit. When a patient rushes to make an appointment, it disturbs the qi and pulse.
We want you to benefit fully from a complete treatment session, and this is another reason to come a little early. In order to be fair to other patients, we do not extend your treatment into another patient's appointment if you arrive late.
Telephone Policy
For established patients, there is no charge for telephone consultations of up to ten minutes. Consultations of over ten minutes are charged at the rate of $ 40.00 per fifteen-minute interval. Long distance charges are applied for calls outside of the 216, 330, and 440 Calling Areas.
Cancellation Policy
If you cannot make an appointment, please notify us as soon as possible. Recording machines are available 24 hours a day. Because we do not double-book patients, when you fail to arrive for an appointment this time period cannot be used by anyone else. Patients who have acute problems or need to be seen the same day may be inconvenienced or denied treatment.
We ask that you provide 48 hours notice of a change or cancellation of an appointment. A charge applies to appointments that are missed and not cancelled, or are cancelled less than 48 hours before the appointment. These fees reflect the value of the time reserved when an appointment is scheduled as well as the costs of overhead.
We understand that there are unavoidable emergencies and inconveniences in everyone's life, but repeated problems keeping appointments will result in dismissal from the practice.
Payment Policy
Payment is expected in full at the time of each visit by cash, check, or credit card. There is a discount for cash payment, in keeping with our fee-for-service philosophy. No billing or payment plans are accepted. We do not accept assignment from Government programs or insurance companies.
Presently, Medicare and Medicaid do not pay for acupuncture or traditional Oriental medicine. Participants in these programs must agree to be responsible for all fees. Workman's compensation will sometimes reimburse for these treatments, with prior approval by the agency.
If you have a Medical Savings Account (MSA), Health Savings Account (HSA), or a Medicare Medical Savings Account, you will be able to use these funds for acupuncture treatments and dietary supplements.
Coordination with Other Practitioners
Even though many conditions can be treated through a consulting practice such as Acupuncture Associates, often people have prior associations with several different physicians and practitioners. We believe it is best for all medical care to be coordinated, so we encourage patients to communicate the plan of care between physicians.
We will be happy to discuss your treatment or our suggestions with any of your specialists.