Get Involved

Your Invitation To Get Involved

In Your Health Care

Throughout history people have looked to recognized healers in their societies for solutions to the mysteries of illness and disease, and accorded them almost unquestioning compliance. We now live in a time of easy access to information and patients have become more educated and sophisticated in matters of health. This has changed the doctor-patient relationship. In the past patients were given scanty if any insight into the procedures being performed on them. Their options were few. In our present world, many patients are no longer content merely to accept what the doctors prescribe to remedy their ailments, but instead wish to converse regarding directions, insights, and education in addition to the alleviation of specific health problems.

Hand in hand with this change in patient attitudes is an emerging change in doctors’ attitudes. Doctors are beginning to recognize the importance of the patient as a significant partner in the development of individualized healing programs. They depend on patients to provide necessary information through personal discussion, completing questionnaires, and taking requested lab tests.

While this Center has successfully treated all kinds of patients, the patients who benefits most are those who take a cooperative and proactive approach in working as partners with their doctors. They stay informed on their medical treatment plan. They recognize that if there is a recommendation to keep a food diary, or take their temperature upon awakening every morning for a time, it is because such patient activity will supply information that cannot be obtained in any other way. This proactive patient is committed to make the lifestyle changes that will help them get well. The Center doesn’t recommend a universal plan for all patients but provides personalized treatment, specific recommendations, and offers a range of options.

It takes some thought to understand the variety of medical techniques or modalities offered by the Center. In our country, the 20th Century has seen the rise of “modern medicine”, which emphasizes drugs and surgery. Some wonderful results in specified areas have been achieved in conventional medicine where the belief is that for every disease, there must be a specific management. Much of our medical news is filled with scientists “searching” for cures. Critics of conventional medicine as the only medical approach believe that being cure-oriented avoids finding the underlying cause of disease and thus working to prevent, remove or change behavior. The cause of most of today’s diseases including hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and cancer can be found in our lifestyles.

Our integrative approach recognizes the values of all successful modalities tested throughout time applied in a complementary manner to restore health with a modest use of drugs and surgery as appropriate. Modern conventional medicine tends to rely on a more mandatory and controlling approach. The rest of the world’s traditional medicine, past and present, is empirical, that is based on studies of what works without fully understanding why.

The Center offers a wide range of medical modalities. We recommend our patients gain insight into the specific methods applicable to their needs. While the staff works to bring the various approaches together for the patients in a meaningful way, independent reading on the part of our clients helps bring this pro-active approach to a successful fulfillment.

Don’t be alarmed if we provide you with a lot of information. We want to maximize the benefits of your relationship with the Center. We want you to be informed and consider all recommendations about long-range lifestyle modifications and therapeutic treatments. All of this will occur over time. The goal of our work together is to help you to feel better. We know you will benefit from your involvement.

Being an informed patient will help you outside the clinic as well. You will need to understand your health challenges and treatments when you work with other doctors. Also, many families are not supportive without understanding the process and the goal. In such circumstances, you need to be well informed so you can share your knowledge with others and obtain the support you need.

Introducing…

For some, this kind of experience with an interactive clinic is new. We would like to introduce you to a directory of those who will be able to help you most efficiently. Also listed are other resources and tips you will find useful.

Reception & Patient Coordinator

• New Patients
• When you come to the clinic for your first visit, be aware that we have patients who become ill upon exposure to perfume, aftershave, and scented laundry detergents and drier fabric sheets. Please come scent- free!!

Please Check in at the front desk when you arrive. Informed consent for receipt of services is done at that time. No service will be administered until the proper paper work is accomplished.

• Payment for services are due on the date of service. Lab charges are not a part of the doctor’s visit and are billed separately. Co-pays for PPO insurance are due at that time, Cash Pay and traditional Medicare are full payment for the doctor visit at the time of service.
• Whenever possible, bring relevant old medical records with you for the doctor to review and keep on file. As doctors are not required to keep medical records indefinitely, we suggest if you do not have a file for labs that you start one.
• Paperwork needs to be completed before the doctor can see you, so please arrive early for your first appointment or have your mailed packet filled out appropriately before you arrive.
• Arrange for laboratory work and scheduling of your next visit with the Receptionist before you leave. If you use an appointment calendar, be sure to bring it with you on this day and thereafter. Scheduling ahead insures that you get the time and date that is convenient for you.
• Scheduling in advance to see the doctor for laboratory results ensures that your treatment program will proceed most efficiently.

Quick Tips To Facilitate Your Appointments

• If you have a list of supplements or supplies that you wish to purchase, give them to the receptionist when you first come in, as all items have to be inventoried. This will help avoid a delay in your checking out when it is time to leave.
• Feel free to schedule Allergy Testing, Injections, and IV treatments at your convenience. Take the initiative to schedule with the Receptionist-Patient Coordinator if you are not certain what your next step should be.
• Schedule all injections for Nursing Services and Allergy Department work ahead of time even if it is for the same day. Please don’t drop in and expect immediate care. Scheduled patients have priority and we certainly want to meet your needs as well.
• When it is time for you to leave, if you have followed the above procedure, you are free to leave. Sometimes orders can occur that the receptionist may not be aware of, so stop by the Front Desk to avoid confusion and duplication of services. Your receipt will show the amount you paid that day. We make every attempt to record all services at the time of service. Make sure your fee sheet is complete and reflects the services you received. The bookkeeper is then able to track your charges as well as credits. If you have any questions later, be sure to contact the bookkeeper.
• Come prepared. When you think about your appointment, collect what you may need ahead of time and place it somewhere so you’ll remember it on your way out to come to the clinic.

Bookkeeping

• New Patients
• In order to set up your chart initially, certain information is necessary. We need your birth date, social security number, and if insurance is under a spouse’s name, we need the same information on him or her. We require picture ID such as a Driver’s License.
• Be sure to bring your insurance card if you wish us to bill your insurance. If you qualify for reimbursement, having this information on file will help to cut down any delays on our part.
• Insurance billing is done as a courtesy for patients. It is not intended to be a guarantee of insurance reimbursement nor to negate patient responsibility of their financial obligation.
• Most insurance companies do not pay for certain services such as IV therapy. We must have a good reason to bill them since reimbursement would typically be denied.
• Keep all fee sheets. If you have a question regarding your account, we allow 60 days for resolution. Any questions you have regarding your account should be directed to the Bookkeeper.
• Laboratory fees for basic labs are billed through Providence. You will be directly responsible to them. Please know your particulars about your insurance coverage as it is your responsibility. For example, United Healthcare only allows billing through Quest.

Patient Coordinator/Reception

• Sometimes your time and funds are limited, so prioritizing treatment becomes a factor. The Patient Coordinator can help you with prioritizing.
• Important note: Generally people ignore illness until it won’t go away and they are forced to do something about it. Just as chronic illness occurs over a period of time, health is restored in the same way – over time. Intense treatment may be appropriate for some patients while others must take a more conservative approach. Based on clinical experience, the Patient Coordinator will recommend and help you explore your treatment options.

Nursing Services

• Allow at least one day’s notice for prescription renewals. Compounded formulas take at least three days to fill. Please call your pharmacy for all refills and they will contact us. As nursing staff leaves by at 12:00 pm on Fridays, any request will be addressed the next business day.
• Be on time for your IV appointment. If you are not on time, the next person regularly scheduled will be assisted first.
• Cancel IV appointments 24 hours in advance. Nurses prepare IV’s between 8:30-9:00 am. If you fail to notify the nurses by then, you become responsible for the cost of the IV. Should you need to cancel, call as soon as you know. We can only hold I.V.’s over for one day and if you are not able to keep an appointment within that time, you will be charged for the product.
• If you become ill and are concerned that treatment may interfere with your therapy, call the Patient Coordinator to determine what you should do. Do not cancel a scheduled vitamin-mineral IV after chelation but do call. We may want to change your IV to a formula that would be more helpful in getting you through your distress.

Allergy Department

• Make sure you have read the guidelines for allergy testing before you come to your appointment.
• Order antigens a week in advance.

Nutrition–Expect to have it addressed. You are what you eat and much of what modern America eats is more chemical than nutrition.

Evaluating Treatment — It is best for you to collect a broad range of different ideas and possible approaches about your condition and treatment process. For example, evaluating the results of IV treatments may take up to 5 -10 visits to appreciate the full potential. Digestion evaluation and treatment may only require a few visits. The point is, it requires more time to treat the underlying cause of illness than to treat a symptom only.

We look forward to working with you in restoring you to good health! If you have an acquired condition which took 10 years to develop, one appointment is not a reasonable expectation to achieve any meaningful results.

One last note, I review each patients chart each time before I see them plus any new information. I intend to give you focused attention and discuss options when I see you. Once you arrive and are checked in, the chart is given directly to me. It can take 20 minutes to study, review and consider case management. This allows me to direct my attention to our discussion when you are in the room with me. The patient before you may require a little extra time to close our appointment. While you may be waiting for that time, I assure you I am making good use of the time on your behalf. If you find yourself pressed for time, please let the staff know of your concern. When we are together, if you do not understand a word that I use or what I am saying, I invite you to ask me to state my comments in a different way.

I will not be able to meet your needs if our communication is not open. I and my staff want to thank you for choosing Center for Environmental Medicine and we look forward to serving you. We will work to make your experience very positive.

David J. Ogle, MD