Please read our clinic policies below. To book an appointment, you must agree to the terms therein. A form confirming your agreement with the policies below will be provided to you prior to your visit.
Insurance and Clinic Payment Structure
The Complex Autonomic Center operates on a self-pay structure for care. While the Complex Autonomic Center does not directly take commercial or government insurance, we are happy to provide you with all required paperwork, including a “superbill”, which you can submit to your insurance company for potential reimbursement, depending on your individual policy. We do not directly submit charges to private insurance companies. Autonomic disorders are complex and often overlap with other disorders, and the current healthcare model does not support sustainable medical care for most complex and overlapping illnesses. The complex nature of autonomic disorders often goes beyond a single illness and often requires further additional patient time that is not treated equitably by insurance companies for these patients. Until this system is fixed, we will continue to operate focusing our resources on expert care for our patients rather than having our care overridden by insurance providers.
Superbill
At the Complex Autonomic Center, we do not submit charges directly to private insurance companies. However, we provide a superbill that you may submit to your insurance provider for potential reimbursement.
Our clinic does not participate in any federal, state, or government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, without exception. We are an out-of-network provider. If this policy does not meet your needs, we respectfully encourage you to seek care at other local clinics that work with these programs.
Please note that insurance companies are not obligated to cover our services, including consultations, procedures (such as insertions or pellets), or laboratory work conducted through our facility. Payment is required at the time of service. Upon request, we will provide a receipt and a completed superbill for submission to your insurance company. We do not communicate with insurance companies under any circumstances. We will not call, write, pre-certify, appeal nor make any contact with your insurance company. If we receive a check from your insurance company, we will not cash it but will return it to the sender. Likewise, we will not mail it to you. We will not respond to any letters or calls from your insurance company.
Health Savings Accounts (FSA/HSA)
For patients who have access to Health Savings Account, you may pay for your treatment with that credit or debit card. Some of these accounts require that you pay in full ahead of time, however, and request reimbursement later with a receipt and letter. This is the best idea for those patients who have an HSA as an option in their medical coverage. It is your responsibility to request the receipt and paperwork to submit for reimbursement.
Clinic Agreement
The focus of this clinic is to help you with long-term management of the symptoms of autonomic disorders and complex illnesses. Chronic complex illnesses often have severe and disabling symptoms with frequent exacerbations, and our goal is to help you manage the overall severity of these symptoms. If you develop new or different symptoms it is highly recommended that you see your primary physician first to evaluate for other possible unrelated problems.
In the event of a medical emergency, do not use the Patient Portal. Please call 9-1-1 or proceed to the nearest hospital Emergency Department immediately. For non-emergency health-related concerns, such as a flare-up of your symptoms, you may contact our clinic through the Patient Portal messaging system. We aim to review and triage these messages within 48–72 hours.
Text/Email communications between visits at the Complex Autonomic Center is designed for single, non-emergency issues communicated in a concise manner. This information is best communicated with bullet points, starting with the specific concern, and sent with a referred text/email to our clinic. Using this format will allow our clinic to address your non-emergency issue promptly.
Our messaging function between visits is not intended for handling extensive or complex inquiries, especially assessing new medical problems, as our resources are limited, and the system is optimized for simple responses and data sharing. Submitting excessive or multi-question messages can delay care and reduce efficiency. If you have multiple concerns or require detailed guidance, we kindly ask that you schedule a follow-up appointment to ensure we can address your needs comprehensively.
Visit Fees
Fees are based on typical time spent on the visit, and can include reviewing medical records, labs, preparing chart notes with assessments, and treatments. Fees are comparable to other similar clinics throughout the United States of America.
Cancellation and No-Show Policy
Due to the long appointment times and multi-faceted complex cases, no-shows and short-notice cancellations are particularly problematic. To schedule, we require an active credit card on file and a 50% deposit. Consultation fees will be collected in full one week prior to the visit. New patient consultations and autonomic testing cancellations less than 72 business hours prior to appointment will result in the loss of the deposit. If your reschedule then the deposit will be applied to your future visit.
Follow-up visit cancellations less than 48 business hours prior to the appointment will also result in the loss of the deposit. However, if you reschedule then the deposit will be applied to your future visit.
The loss of the deposit shall be waived if you suffered a catastrophic emergency, significant illness, or emergent life event.
If you arrive late to your appointment, we will honor the remainder of your scheduled time to provide as much care as possible within the original timeframe.
Arrivals more than 30 minutes late will be considered a no-show and may require rescheduling, subject to our no-show policy.
Preparing for Your Visit
Due to the complexity of the illnesses we treat, it is crucial to provide specific information before your visit. Please upload your relevant documents to our secure electronic medical record system using our direct chart email or alternate chart email:
- autonomiccenter@atlas.direct
- autonomiccenter@atlasmd.io
Please include the following (if available):
- Laboratory studies
- Cardiology consultations and records
- Genetic consultations and records
- Rheumatology consultations and records
- Neurology consultations and records
- Gastroenterology consultations and records
- Allergy consultations and records
- Imaging reports, biopsy reports, or other specialized studies
Payment
We require payment deposit 7 days prior to your appointment and paid in full prior to your visit. Scheduling an appointment requires an active credit card on file.
Guarantee
We cannot guarantee that your health will improve as a result of our care. Many of the conditions treated at this clinic, such as Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), chronic fatigue, and Mast Cell Activation Disorders (MCAS/MCAD), currently have no known cures despite ongoing academic and medical research. We strive to define your diagnosis and help you with management. With this in mind, we do not provide refunds for our services.
Telemedicine and States of Practice
This form of healthcare delivery offers certain advantages such as travel time and convenience for the patient. Telemedicine visits will be billed at the same rate as in-person visits.
If you choose to use telemedicine, you must understand and agree to the following:
- Telemedicine visits are billed at the same rate as in-person visits.
- While we use encrypted technology to minimize risks, there is a small possibility of a data breach.
- Telemedicine has certain limitations, such as an inability to conduct parts of the physical examination or measure vital signs.
- If you reside in a state other than Washington, Idaho, Oregon, or Florida and wish to book a telemedicine visit, Washington State law requires you to be physically present within the jurisdiction of Washington State at the time of your appointment.
Prior Authorization
As an out-of-network provider, we are not contracted with health insurance companies and therefore cannot process prior authorizations on your behalf. Health insurance companies do not allow us to initiate this service directly. However, we can assist you by providing the necessary chart notes, referrals, and diagnostic testing recommendations to support your prior authorization requests.
