Working with Reformed Nutrition as a Patient
The Reformed Nutrition website and previous blogs may help you understand the “who” and the “why” behind Reformed Nutrition. This blog is to help patients know what to expect, how this works, step-by-step, when being referred to Reformed Nutrition for Medical Nutrition Counseling.
STEP ONE: You and/or your provider decide you could use help from a dietitian.
Scenario one: You just had an appointment with your provider, and they told you to “work on your diet” before your next visit or they will probably need to add another prescription medication to your regimen. Hopefully, they also offered to refer you to Reformed Nutrition for help from a licensed and registered dietitian.
Scenario two: You know you need help with your diet and nutrition, and you’re smart, so you looked up in-network dietitians with your insurance and found us! So, you reach out to Reformed Nutrition to schedule an appointment. If wellness/preventative counseling or Medical Nutrition Therapy is covered by your plan, we will need a physician’s referral. You may have already asked the office for a referral, or I can help do that for you.
Scenario three: Your insurance plan doesn’t cover nutrition counseling or preventative counseling. No fear! Reformed Nutrition has cash / prompt pay rates. The referral steps are preferred still, in order to provide you the best, most accurate treatment possible, but they aren’t critical because insurance is a non-issue.
STEP TWO: Your provider orders a referral to Reformed Nutrition for MNT and/or preventative counseling.
STEP THREE: You and I to schedule your initial, 1-hour assessment. If you are local to Greenville, SC, I prefer a live, in-person assessment. If this is not possible, telehealth is an option. I will have asked you to call your insurance provider to see what your plan covers, and I will likely be checking from my end too.
STEP FOUR: At least 24 hours before your appointment, you complete your initial paperwork, which includes a release of information for your referring provider, consent to treat and notice of HIPPA / privacy policies, your intake form, and other applicable forms as necessary.
STEP FIVE: We have your initial appointment and a follow-up is scheduled. You and your referring provider will receive a summary of our nutrition plan.
STEP SIX: Since our initial assessment was basically discovery / fact-finding and rapport building, I will almost always ask you for follow-up appointments. This is when we begin the actual “work” on your nutrition. The second appointment / first follow-up is typically 45-minutes (live preferable), and subsequent follow-up is usually 30-minutes. Reformed Nutrition does not require an exact number of follow-up appointments, that is ideally determined by you and your progress. However, sometimes insurance limits the number of appointments that they will cover. Again, after each follow-up, you and your provider will receive a summary of the visit and progress with the nutritional care plan.
STEP SEVEN: Time to leave the nest! You’ve done so well, met a lot of your goals, and you don’t need scheduled 1:1 follow-up anymore. I love my patients, and while I wish I could keep them forever, that’s never the plan. You need to learn how to “fish” versus depend on someone indefinitely. (If a change in your medical plan/condition occurs and we need to regroup, we can certainly do that.) THEN, if you haven’t already, you make sure you’re following me on social media, fill out your feedback survey for me, and run tell all your friends and family what a great experience you had with Reformed Nutrition. ;)
Questions? Please check out the FAQ page and reach out to me if more information is needed.