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First Visit Expectations

What To Expect At Our Office

Most people appreciate being informed about their first visit to the chiropractor. What first visit expectations do you have before coming in to see us? Our patients at Foundation Spine & Posture have an experience that is different even from other chiropractic offices. But whether you’ve been to other chiropractors or you’ve never seen one before, don’t worry! We pride ourselves on keeping patients informed at all times about their care, what to expect, and the next steps. There are no surprises, and we will do everything we can to make you feel at ease.

The First Step

The first step in your journey is a new patient appointment with one of the doctors. We start with an initial consultation that is complimentary, where you will sit down with the doctor one-on-one so we can get a good idea about your health concerns and start to gauge whether yours is a problem we can help. At this point, the doctor may recommend an exam which can include orthopedic and neurological tests, a digital posture evaluation, and digital spine x-rays. The most you would pay would be $250 for these services. The doctor will discuss this with you before moving forward. We then schedule a follow-up with the doctor to go over the results of your exam and x-rays. If yours is a problem we can treat, we will give you several options for treatment — these treatment plans are also called Corrective Care. Our office will work with you to find a corrective care plan that fits your condition and your lifestyle. This can include adjustments (manipulation), postural and therapeutic exercises, home spinal orthotics, and in-office traction therapy. To learn more, check out our services page.

Here are some things you can expect at our office:

• Our initial appointment is about an hour. Our appointments always run on time! Comfortable, tighter-fitting clothing is helpful, but not required.
• We have a dedicated parking garage for our office building and we will validate your entire visit. When you schedule, you will receive an email with detailed instructions for your initial visit and parking.
• Our fees are transparent and explained prior to ANY services rendered, you will NEVER receive a surprise bill from us.
• We work with most insurance plans on an out-of-network, reimbursement basis. This means you will pay up-front for services and we will provide everything you need to submit to your insurance for reimbursement. We will ALWAYS discuss any charges prior to rendering services. At your first visit, we will take a copy of your insurance card and verify your plan benefits for chiropractic care. We will also explain how to correctly submit so there is no confusion.
•  We can provide reimbursement claims for you to submit for most PPOs including (but not limited to): HMSA, UHA , HMA, BCBS Mainland Plans, HMAA , Federal Employee Program PPO (HMSA). Note, it is determined If you are not sure if your plan could have coverage, please feel free to call us with questions. Insurance plan types such as HMO plans, Medicaid Quest, and Tricare do NOT typically reimburse for services provided by out-of-network doctors and therefore will not have coverage at our office.
• We can help you use/apply for Care Credit in our office. We also accept FSA and HSA and can generate appropriate statements for reimbursement for these programs.

Chronic pain isn’t something you have to accept.

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NOTICE  OF  OUR  PRIVACY  PRACTICES

As required by the Privacy Regulations created as a result of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)

This notice describes how health information about you (as a patient of this practice) may be used and disclosed, and how you can get access to your individually identifiable health information.

PLEASE REVIEW THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY

 A. OUR COMMITMENT TO YOUR PRIVACY

Our practice is dedicated to maintaining the privacy of your individually identifiable health information (IIHI). In conducting our business, we will create records regarding you and your treatment and the services we provide for you. We are required by law to maintain the confidentiality of health information that identifies you. We also are required by law to provide you with this notice of our legal duties and the privacy practices that we maintain in our practice concerning your IIHI. By federal and state law, we must follow the terms of the notice of privacy practices that we have in effect at this time.

We realize that these laws are complicated, but we must provide you with the following important information:

• How we may us and disclose your IIHI
• Your privacy rights in your IIHI
• Our obligations concerning the use and disclosure of your IIHI

The terms of this notice apply to all records containing your IIHI that are created or retained by our practice. We reserve the right to revise or amend this Notice of Privacy Practices. Any revision or amendment to this notice will be effective for all of your records that our practice has created or maintained in the past, and for any of your records that we may create or maintain in the future. Our practice will post a copy of our current Notice on this website for you to review at any time, as well as a hardcopy in our office, and you may request a copy of our most current Notice at any time for your records.

B. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS NOTICE, PLEASE CONTACT:

Foundation Spine & Posture

1150 S King Street, Ste 408

Honolulu, HI 96814

Tel.: (808) 376-8937

C. WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSURE YOUR INDIVIDUALLY IDENTIFIABLE HEALTH INFORMATION (IIHI) IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS

1.    Treatment. Our practice may use your IIHI to treat you. For example, we may ask you to have laboratory tests (such as blood or urine tests), and we may use the results to help us reach a diagnosis. Any of the people who work for our practice – including, but not limited to, our doctors and chiropractic assistants, or indirectly with any provider we refer you to – may use or disclose your IIHI in order to treat you, or to assist others in your treatment. Additionally, we may need to disclose your IIHI to others who may assist in your care, such as your spouse, children, parents or guardians.

2.    Payment. Our practice may use and disclose your IIHI in order to bill and collect payment for the services and items you may receive from us. For example, we may contact your health insurer to certify that you are eligible for benefits (and for what range of benefits), and we may provide your insurer with details regarding your treatment and health status to determine if your insurer will cover, or pay for, your treatment. We also may use and disclose your IIHI to obtain payment from third parties that may be responsible for such costs, such as family members or insurance companies. Also, we may use your IIHI to bill you directly for services and items.

3.    Health Care Operations. Our practice may use and disclose your IIHI to operate our business. As examples of the ways in which we may use and disclose your information for our operations, our practice may use your IIHI to evaluate the quality of care you receive from us, or to conduct cost-management and business planning activities for our practice.

4.    Appointment Reminders. Our practice may use and disclose your IIHI to contact you via phone or email or to a family member who answers the phone (or to leave a recorded message) to remind you of an upcoming appointment.

5.    Treatment Options. Our practice may use and disclose your IIHI to inform you of potential treatment options or alternatives.

6.    Health-Related Benefits and Services. Our practice may use and disclose your IIHI to inform you of health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you.

7.    Release of Information to Family/Friends. Our practice may release your IIHI to a friend or family member that is involved in your care, or who assists in taking care of you. For example, a parent or guardian may ask that a babysitter take their child to our office for care. In this example, the babysitter may have access to this child’s medical information.

8.    Disclosures Required by Law. Our practice will use and disclose your IIHI when we are required to do so by federal, state, or local law.

D. USE AND DISCLOSURE OF YOUR IIHI IN CERTAIN SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

The following categories describe unique scenarios in which we may use or disclose your identifiable health information:

1. Public Health Risks. Our practice may disclose your IIHI to public health authorities that are authorized by law to collect information for the purpose of:

• Maintaining vital records, such as births and deaths
• Reporting child abuse or neglect
• Preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability
• Notifying a person regarding potential exposure to a communicable disease
• Notifying a person regarding a potential risk for spreading or contracting a disease or condition
• Reporting reactions to drugs or problems with products or devices
• Notifying individuals if a product or device they may be using has been recalled
• Notifying appropriate government agency(ies) and authority(ies) regarding the potential abuse or neglect of an adult patient (including domestic violence); however, we will only disclose this information if the patient agrees or we are required or authorized by law to disclose this information
• Notifying your employer under limited circumstances related primarily to workplace injury or illness or medical surveillance

2. Health Oversight Activities. Our practice may disclose your IIHI to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law. Oversight activities can include, for example, investigations, inspections, audits, surveys, licensure and disciplinary actions; civil, administrative, and criminal procedures or actions; or other activities necessary for the government to monitor government programs, compliance with civil rights laws and the health care system in general.

3. Lawsuits and Similar Proceedings. Our practice may use and disclose your IIHI in response to a court or administrative order, if you are involved in a lawsuit or similar proceeding. We also may disclose your IIHI in response to discovery request, subpoena, or other lawful process by another party involved in the dispute, but only if we have made an effort to inform you of the request or to obtain an order protecting the information the party has requested.  In general, we will require that the party that requests your records provide a records-release form, signed by you within the last 3 months.

4. Law Enforcement. We may release IIHI if asked to do so by a law enforcement official:

• Regarding a crime victim in certain situations, if we are unable to obtain the person’s agreement
• Concerning a death that it is believed to have resulted from criminal conduct
• Regarding criminal conduct at our offices
• In response to a warrant, summons, court order, subpoena or similar legal process
• To identify/locate a suspect, material witness, fugitive or missing person
• In an emergency, to report a crime (including the location or victim(s) of the crime, or the description, identify or location of the perpetrator)

5. Deceased Patients. Our practice may release IIHI to a medical examiner or coroner to identify a deceased individual or to identify the cause of death. If necessary, we also may release information in order for funeral directors to perform their jobs.

6. Organs and Tissue Donation. Our practice may release your IIHI to organizations that handle organ, eye or tissue procurement or transplantation, including organ donation banks, as necessary to facilitate organ or tissue donation and transplantation in you are an organ donor.

7. Research. Our practice may use and disclose your IIHI for research purposes in certain limited circumstances. We will obtain your written authorization to use your IIHI for research purposes except when: (a) our use or disclosure was approved by an Institutional Review Board or a Privacy Board; (b) we obtain the oral or written agreement of a research that (i) the information being sought is necessary for the research study; (ii) the use or disclosure of your IIHI is being used only for the research and (iii) the researcher will not remove any of your IIHI from our practice; or (c) the IIHI sought by the research only relates to decedents and the researcher agrees either orally or in writing that the use or disclosure is necessary for the research, and if we request it, to provide us with proof of death prior to access to the IIHI of the decedents.

8. Serious Threats to Health or Safety. Our practice may use and disclose your IIHI when necessary to reduce or prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of another individual or the public. Under these circumstances, we will only make disclosures to a person or organization able to help prevent the threat.

9. Military. Our practice may disclose your IIHI if you are member of the U.S. or foreign military forces (including veterans) and if required by the appropriate authorities.

10. National Security. Our practice may disclose your IIHI to federal officials for intelligence and national security activities authorized by law. We also may disclose your IIHI to federal officials in order to protect the President, other officials or foreign heads of state, or to conduct investigations.

11. Inmates. Our practice may disclose your IIHI to correctional institutions or law enforcement officials if you are an inmate or under the custody of a law enforcement official. Disclosure for these purposes would be necessary: (a) for the institution to provide health care services to you, (b) for the safety and security of the institution, and/or (c) to protect your health and safety or the health and safety of other individuals.