General Office Policies
1. You are encouraged to ask questions on any health-related topic and to take an active role in your health-care. 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/Office Visits: Office visits and teleconferences are currently billed at $465 per hour. The initial office visit usually lasts 90 – 180 minutes. Subsequent follow-up visits are 60 minutes. Additional costs, using the hourly rate, may apply for time spent on note preparation and documentation by Dr. Hopkins. There is no refund for services provided. However, you may be eligible for out-of-network insurance reimbursement or tax deduction for medical services.
Long Haul Covid appointments are scheduled for 90 minutes with a flat rate of $750. Subsequent visits will be scheduled for 60 minutes and will be billed at the hourly rate of $465 per hour. **These prices do not include testing.
5. 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.
6. 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, a minimum of 3 business days’ notice is required for cancellations of new patient visits. There is a $600 fee for late cancellations or “no-shows”.
7. 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.
8. Emergencies, after-hours care: Dr. Hopkins is considered a consultative physician and is not available on a 24-hour basis at all times. 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 doctor(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.
9. Billing: We accept cash, checks, 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.