Advocates for Families specializes in biomedical treatments for autism and other developmental disorders. This information is intended to give you basic information and guidelines to prepare you for your first visit to our office.
Working with children with disabilities is difficult for both families and practitioners. While we are here to partner with you in this difficult work, each child is an individual and requires his/ her own treatment plan. Your child’s progress will hinge not only on our plan of care but on your commitment to its implementation. What we will ask you to do will not be easy but we will support you through it.
Due to recent reimbursement problems with complicated extended visits we are no longer accepting insurance.
This applies to new patients seen at Advocates for Families ONLY! We will provide patients with a detailed bill that can be submitted to private insurance companies. Payment in full is due at the time of service.
Because we do not participate with insurance, Advocates cannot be responsible for insurance referrals, prior authorizations, etc. All negotiations with insurance companies must be done by the patient’s family or primary care physician.
A
new patient packet and
intake questionnaire must be completed with as much detail as possible. The packet will need to be mailed to the office along with $100.00 non-refundable intake fee before we can schedule your appointment. This fee will be applied toward your initial visit.
The completed new patient packet, intake questionnaire, and $100.00 deposit must be received before your appointment will be scheduled. We accept cash, check, Visa, and Mastercard.
Fee Schedule (effective September 1, 2007 for all new and current patients)
All appointments
Initial consultation, Lab review, Phone consultation,
Follow-up consultations for treatment planning and
patient education |
$350.00/hour |
| Speech/feeding evaluation |
$150/hr |
| Speech/feeding follow-up |
$60/30 min. |
| Patient education and coordination of care by support staff |
$40.00/hour |
Our experience has been that families are more successful in retaining information and implementing treatment when they have shorter, more frequent appointments. The average initial evaluation and treatment plan takes about 3 hours depending on the complexities of the child. We strongly recommend scheduling these appointments over several days or weeks especially if utililizing other clinic services.
Speech/Feeding Evaluations
Speech and/or feeding evaluations are now available at Advocates for Families. This service is provided by Elizabeth Bolton, Board-Certified Speech-Language Pathologist. Beth has 23 years of experience that include early intervention and school-based speech and feeding therapy. Evaluations can be scheduled for the same day as your initial visit or can be scheduled for any follow-up visit. Initial evaluations are $150 per hour and payment is due at the time of service.
Labs
Laboratory tests are an important part of your evaluation. In order for us to customize your treatment plan, our doctors will recommend lab tests based on your child’s individual history and assessment. Lab tests will be recommended at your first visit. Some of these tests may be covered by your insurance; however, the specialized tests are rarely covered and can be expensive. Develop a budget for these types of services and communicate it clearly with us during your initial visit. We will make every attempt to stay within your budget. Because these labs are extensive we will not be able to give results over the telephone. Many of the labs will be reviewed at your follow-up consultation. However if additional lab work is done, it is your responsibility to schedule a follow-up visit either in office or by phone consult with a physician.
Office Philosophy
At Advocates for Children and Advocates for Families we believe in a team-approach to care. We are fortunate enough to have two DAN!-trained physicians, a nurse practitioner, and professional support staff. We are also a training facility for medical and nursing students. You will have the opportunity to work with all of our staff during your visits. Due to the complexity of these children it is difficult to give advice over the phone. Please make an appointment for complicated issues or if you need to ask multiple questions. Due to the high volume of patients we see and the size of our staff, we cannot be responsible for negotiating with insurance companies regarding labs or supplements. We will be glad to supply you with the any diagnosis and/or procedure codes you may need in order to work with your insurance company.
