Frequently Asked Questions

 

What is a Registered Dietitian (RD) or Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN)?

Registered Dietitian Nutritionists are food and nutrition experts who are leaders in the field of nutrition and have met the minimum academic and professional requirements to quality for credentials of an “RD” or “RDN”. RD/RDN are regulated healthcare professionals licensed to assess, provide nutrition diagnosis, and treat /manage nutritional problems.

What is the role of a RD/Registered Dietitians Nutritionist

RD/RDN are well-versed in many areas of nutrition, offer a special niche that can help you best meet your goals. Registered Dietitians are unique in that they can provide Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT). They can alter patient’s nutrition upon their medical conditions and individual needs. The nutrition plans prescribed can help alleviate chronic illnesses or diseases.

A few of Common reasons to see a Dietitian includes:

  • Receiving nutrition coaching for Chronic Kidney Disease to improve kidney health and Increase eGFR and delay dialysis
  • Receiving diabetes and metabolic syndrome nutrition counseling to manage blood sugars/reduce A1c/weight loss
  • Nutritional Coaching for women’s nutrition health during menopause
  • Seek for Medical Nutrition Therapy for Hyperlipidemia 

How is an RD/RDN different than a nutritionist?

The “RD” credential is a legally protected title that can only be used by practitioners who are authorized by the Commission on Dietetic Registration of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Some RDs may call themselves “nutritionists,” but not all nutritionists are registered dietitians. The definition and requirements for the term “nutritionist” vary. Some states have licensure laws that define the range of practice for someone using the designation “nutritionist,” but in other states, virtually anyone can call him- or herself a “nutritionist” regardless of education or training. Individuals with the RD credential have fulfilled specific requirements, including having earned at least a bachelor’s degree (about half of RDs hold advanced degrees),
completed a supervised practice program and passed a registration examination — in addition to maintaining continuing education requirements for recertification. This question and answer is supplied from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (Website: http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=6713 Many people often use the terms “dietitian” and “nutritionist” interchangeably. Although these two professions are undoubtedly related, they maintain distinctive qualities. The biggest difference between dietitians and nutritionists lies in the legal restrictions that each title carries. Only nutritionists that become registered with Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) may legally declare themselves as "Dietitians" or more precisely, registered dietitians
(RDs/RDN). Dietitians evaluate the health of their clients and or patients. And based on their findings, they advise clients on which therapeutic diet is suitable for them or what foods to eat. Dietitians are your food and nutrition experts and considered to be Regulated healthcare professions.

Do you accept insurance?

At this time I do not accept any insurance. If you plan to use insurance, I recommend that you check with your insurance to see if “dietary counseling” is covered under your plan. It may also be called “medical nutrition therapy.” You can have them look up procedure codes 97802 and 97803 to see if those are covered under your plan. Quite often these will be included in your “Wellness Benefits” or “Preventative Benefits.” This part is important: if your insurance covers procedure codes 97802 and 97803 then you must also have them check to make sure that the diagnosis code that I will be using will be covered: Z71.3 (Dietary counseling and surveillance). This is the ONLY code that I can use without having a referral from a doctor. If it is not covered then you need to call your doctor for a referral (unless they already referred you to me) in order for you to have them send me a diagnosis code that is covered by your insurance.

Do you offer remote or virtual consultant services?

Absolutely! I provide digital conferences through telephone and video (Telehealth). For example, some of the telecommunication applications are Zoom, Google.

How can I find out what services are best for me?

I suggest you view the services offered on the home page and book a discovery call. During the call we will discuss what your goals,issues/concerns, types of services that interest you in order to determine what services will best fit your needs and level of support.

What type of questions will a RDN ask you?

RDN/RD may ask personal questions about your health to gather
information needed to conduct a comprehensive assessment, which
gives them an idea of your current nutritional status, lifestyle and
background.
Here are a few questions:
Medical history
Mediation history
Body composition (height and weight)
Eating patterns and habits
Food allergies and sensitives
Culture and food traditions
Supplements sand vitamins
Challenges and obstacles
Lifestyle and physical exercise
Behavior and mental health

What forms of self-payment options do you offer?

I accept credit cards or debit cards. No Checks.

What are the payment and cancelation policy

We have a strict cancellation policy. Why?  Because we believe in providing our clients with excellent service. In fact, that is why we are in private practice.  We care about your health, sometimes more than you do.  While you may be willing to put your healthcare needs on hold, for any number of reasons it only hurts you in the long run AND it hurts our bottom line.   We ask that you provide 48  hrs notice for cancellation of appointments. When you book an appointment via practice better, that time is exclusively reserved for YOU.  When you cancel, not only do we lose YOUR business, but we also lose the business of another individual who could have scheduled an appointment for the same time. Cancelled appointment often cannot be filled on short notice (and we don't overlook). There is a $100 fee for appointments and cancellations less than 48 hours in advance.  Same-day cancellations or no-shows are subject to the full fee for the service missed.

Will my diagnosis be covered?

We ask you call their insurance company PRIOR to your visit to confirm coverage. I know we sound like a broken record – we just
don’t want our patients to have ANY surprise bills.  Do I have nutritional counseling coverage on my insurance plan?

  • If the insurance company asks for a CPT code please provide them with the following codes 97802 & 97803. If they say you do not have coverage using those codes NEXT ask them to check your coverage for the following CPT codes: 99401, 99402, 99403 and 99404. We also can bill for S9470 if it is covered on your policy.
  • If the representative asks for a diagnosis code (aka ICD 10 code) – please tell them the visit is coded the ICD 10 code: Z71.3

  • If they don’t accept Z71.3 then provide them with Z72.4 and see if they will cover that diagnosis instead on your plan.
  • If you are overweight, obese, have pre-diabetes, diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease or high cholesterol you may want to see what your coverage is for these diagnoses as well.
  • We always code your visit using preventative coding (if applicable) to maximize the number of visits you receive from your insurance carrier. However, if you ONLY have a medical diagnosis (for example: IBS, and you are not overweight or have CVD risk factors) your insurance may impose a cost-share for your visit either in the form of a deductible, co-pay or co-insurance.

How many visits do I have per calendar year?

  • Your carrier will let you know how many visits they are willing to cover. Depending on the carrier the number of visits vary from 0 to unlimited depending on medical need.
  • For most insurance companies dietitians are considered a specialist. Therefore, your specialist co-pay is applicable and is payable at the time of service. This information is often apparent on the front of your actual insurance card. However, often because we bill your insurance with preventative counseling the co-pay is often not applicable.

Summary of questions to ask to verify your nutrition benefits.

  • Do I have coverage for nutrition counseling?
  • Do I need a referral to see a Registered Dietitian? 
  • Are my diagnoses covered on my particular plan?
  • How many visits per calendar year do I receive?