General Office Policies

1. You are encouraged to ask questions on any health-related topic and to take an active role in your healthcare. You are more than welcome to bring a friend or relative to your visits (or listen on telemedicine visits) if you prefer.

2. Information revealed during office and group visits is confidential. Exceptions to this confidentiality include disclosure by you regarding intention to harm yourself or others. Your record and the information contained within it will not be disclosed to others unless you direct us to do so or unless the law authorizes or compels us to do so.

3. Becoming a patient of our clinic does not constitute a practitioner-patient relationship with other family members or friends. Any advice or supplement recommendations provided for patients regarding family and friends is meant to be of a general nature only. Family members and friends who may benefit from our services are strongly encouraged to make appointments with our clinic so that fully informed, appropriate treatment recommendations can then be made.

4. Initial Consultation/Follow Up Visits:  Pricing/Timing 

**These prices do not include testing requested by practitioners.

Dr Hopkins DO, ACOFP, IFMCP, ABIHM, ABOIM

• Office visits and teleconferences are billed at $500.00 per hour (increasing to $525 effective 1/1/25). The initial office visit usually lasts 90 – 180 minutes. Subsequent follow-up visits are scheduled 60 minutes for virtual and 90 minutes for in-person (minimum of 30 minutes). 
• A written action plan following an initial intake appointment is required for an additional $250.
• Follow-up appointment note preparation is 0.25-0.5 hours (depending on length of visit) at $500/hr.

• Office visits and teleconferences are billed at $475.00 per hour. The initial office visit usually lasts 90 – 180 minutes. Subsequent follow-up visits are scheduled 60 minutes for virtual and 90 minutes for in-person (minimum of 30 minutes).
• A written action plan following an initial intake appointment is required for an additional $237.50.
• Follow-up appointment note preparation is 0.25-0.5 hours (depending on length of visit) at $475/hr.

Lisa TerHaar APRN, CNP

• Office visits and teleconferences are billed at $330.00 per hour (increasing to $375 effective 1/1/25). The initial office visit lasts up to 90 minutes. Subsequent follow-up visits are scheduled for 60 minutes (minimum of 30 minutes). 
• A written action plan following an initial intake appointment is required for an additional $165.
• Follow-up appointment note preparation is 0.25-0.5 hours (depending on length of visit) at $330/hr.

There is no refund for services provided. However, you may be eligible for out-of-network insurance reimbursement or tax deduction for medical services. 

5.Cancellation policy:When you schedule an appointment, time is reserved especially for you and no one else. Since the appointments are much longer than standard office visits, cancellations are significant interruptions to the Clinic. Thus, please provide us with at least 5 business days’ notice to cancel or reschedule your appointment.

New Patient Appointments – 

• We require a deposit of $300 to schedule your initial appointment. This will be applied to the total amount due after your first appointment. The deposit is non-refundable. 
• A minimum of 5 business days’ notice is required should you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment.

Follow-Up Appointments – 

• A minimum of 4 business days’ notice is required should you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment.
• For late cancellations or appointment ‘no-shows’:
• Dr. Hopkins – the fee will be $250.
• Dr. Rueda – the fee will be $237.50.
• Lisa TerHaar – the fee will be $165.

6. In the case of pediatric patients, we require all legal guardians with medical decision-making capability to sign this document and thereby consent to minor’s evaluation by our office. We also strongly encourage all responsible parties to be present for consultations.

7. Standard (blood draw) Laboratory Testing. Patients are free to use any lab of their choice. Many have orders sent to their primary care clinic for potential insurance coverage. We are not responsible for any lab/test fees that insurance may not cover and will not be held liable by the patient or the labaratory.

8. Specialty Laboratory Testing: Our clinic frequently uses specialty testing. These are usually an out-of-pocket expense. Occasionally, there is some insurance coverage. We will guide you through identifying the costs associated with your testing.

9. Emergencies, after-hours care: Our practitioners are considered consultative physicians and are not available on a 24-hour basis. Therefore, you must have a primary care doctor with whom you can consult in the event of an emergency or urgent problem. If you have a serious health problem that requires immediate attention, you should call your other doctors(s), call 911, or have someone take you to the nearest hospital emergency room. If you notice an adverse effect from one of the components of your health plan, you should discontinue it immediately and call the clinic at 612- 412- 5130 or message via the patient portal.

10. Billing: We accept credit cards, FSA and HSA cards. We do not accept insurance, nor do we bill insurance or prepare HCFA forms for you. However, we will furnish you with an itemized bill for self-submission if you are seen in office or via telemedicine. 

**Patients are required to upload their credit card information to their patient portal prior to their appointment. The patient’s credit card will automatically be charged after each visit unless previous arrangements have been made to pay with a check or cash.  

11. For our Medicare patients: Since we do not accept Medicare in our office, all services, and specialty lab tests, are self-pay. You will not be able to submit any bill to Medicare for reimbursement for any services you encounter in our office.

12. There is a standard $50.00 service fee charged for pursuing prior authorizations from insurance companies. This fee will also be charged for practitioner time spent on completing simple letters and forms related to work/school/travel. Additional fees may be charged for more complex or time-intensive administrative work and physician chart review.