It has been a pretty wild ride with COVID-19 and we want to share our latest plans and preparations. Governor Abbott announced Monday about the slow re-open of a few locations like restaurants and movie theaters.

Here at iLiveWell Nutrition, we also feel that it is our social responsibility to help the community to stay safe, protecting our more vulnerable populations, and supporting the medical and public health community in safely managing this situation. After careful consideration, we will continue to be virtual until we have a better understanding of how the first phase of Governor Aboots plan unfolds.

INSURANCE IS NOW COVERING TELEHEALTH!

We are THRILLED that many of our insurances are now covering services for nutrition counseling! Contact Andrea at Andrea@iliveWellNutrition.com  if you have any insurance-related questions or to schedule an appointment.

We have been busy contacting each insurance company to determine Telehealth coverage specific to each individual client in our practice. If you have a scheduled visit with us, be on the lookout for a call or email from us updating you of any changes to your coverage.

WE’RE ENCOURAGING YOU TO:

• Be open to video-conferencing sessions. This might feel different and new, but telehealth has been around for awhile and allows us to stay connected and provide you support during this time. If you are worried that you are not tech savvy enough for online appointments, we can have a member of our team walk you through it before your appointment. We’re here for you!

• Keep coming to your visits. Staying consistent with adequate, nutritional intake helps us stay healthy, stable, and gives us the energy we need to manage stress. This is a tough time for all of us and we want to be able to continue offering support during this difficult time. We strongly encourage all of our clients to keep their appointments as scheduled, whether online or over the phone.

• Communicate with your dietitian. Let your dietitian know how you are doing, if you are worried about your sessions, or if you are concerned about scheduling issues. We understand that the schedules of both our staff and clients are subject to change with school closings, changes at work, and more. We encourage everyone to be flexible and adaptive as we navigate this in the coming weeks. Please know that we are here for you. Even if you don’t have an appointment scheduled or are worried about the insurance coverage you can still contact us. Please reach out.

HOW WILL THIS IMPACT BUSINESS AT iLiveWellNutrition? 

We are here for y’all. Our number one priority is making sure we are here for our clients and that nutrition services are not interrupted. We are diligently working with the insurance companies we are contracted with (Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, United Health Care) to allow access to telehealth / virtual visits via our HIPAA compliant platform.

Should your particular insurance plan not cover telehealth, you are more than welcome to self pay for these visits. We have a few recommendations to help in reducing the cost to you:

• We bill in 15 minute increments and can offer shorter duration appointments

• Health Savings Accounts and Flex Savings Accounts may be used to cover the cost of these services

• We can provide you with a fully coded “superbill” to submit to your insurance for possible reimbursement to you.

We’ll be sure to update you as changes and updates become available.

HOW IS COVID-19 AFFECTING SCHEDULING FOR NEW CLIENTS AT iLiveWell Nutrition? 

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! iLiveWell Nutrition is currently offering appointments online and would be happy to schedule you for an intake with one of our dietitians on our easy to use, HIPAA compliant, online platform. At this time, we’re being told that telehealth coverage will be temporary and we are paying close attention to these dates. Once we resume in-person sessions, you are welcome to continue treatment with your dietitian and meet in-person in our beautiful office in downtown Salem, MA.

*Please note that our 24 hour notice cancellation policy remains in place even with the shift to telehealth.  Please contact our office manager, Andrea, if you have any questions or concerns. We know a lot of schedule changes and childcare issues are happening due to school closings so please reach out to us as soon as possible for any rescheduling needs.