Questions?

It is a modern healthcare model in which insurance is removed from the patient-provider relationship. Direct care allows for patients to have direct access to their health care provider and limited office staff so that your care is directed by your health care provider and not a "team" of people. Typically, the patient panel size is limited so that the provider has more time and energy to take care of the people on their panel. In an insurance based model, panel sizes can be as large as 1500-5000 patients.  In direct care, panel sizes are typically 50 patients to a few hundred.  CCWW is on the smaller side, sometimes called a "micro practice". Patients typically have direct access to their provider between visits, and eliminates the need for you to come in to be seen for minor health concerns or questions.

Yes, for anyone in North Carolina.

Yes! We will work together to figure out what you need, and this will be done after thorough history, exam, and lab work as needed.  

No. Pellets give a supraphysiological dose of hormones, and in most cases that is not needed or necessary.  Once you have a pellet inserted into your body, it can not come out in the event you are having a side effect or if the hormone concoction is not the right dose for you. The term "bioidentical pellet hormone therapy" is a marketing term, not a medical term, and it is not a term that is used among menopause specialists.  It can actually cause harm and irreversible side effects for patients.  We do prescribe bioidentical hormones - but these can be either compounded in cisgendered female physiological doses or even prescribed at your local pharmacy like CVS and Walgreens. 

Yes. We can provide routine well woman care and cervical cancer screening with Pap tests, as well as all the routine preventative care services for all women at any age.

We do not order labs before we see you, because we believe to deliver the best care we need to meet you and do a thorough evaluation before we can make recommendations.  Depending on which hormones we are looking at, hormone testing can be done through blood, saliva, or urine monitoring known as hormone mapping.  We also can order an array of blood testing depending on what we are looking for, what we are treating, or what kind of prevention we are looking at. 

We do not order DUTCH tests.  

Health and wellness is a long term effort, and I am interested in aligning with individuals who are invested in their health for the long haul.

Annual physical exam, wellness consultations, chronic disease management, acute care.  Access and communication to your provider between visits.  Visits on the weekends/after hours can be arranged for a mutually agreed upon time. Text/email support with your provider.  All/any paperwork that is required for medication authorization, employment, jury duty, or other miscellaneous paperwork as it comes up. 

Any visits to urgent care or emergency department or hospital.

Labs or imaging, with the exception of point of care testing in the office (urinalysis, microscopy, hemoglobin A1C, and COVID/flu when in season.

If you have insurance, you are encouraged to use your insurance for labs and imaging. The way that the lab or imaging facility contracts with your insurance does not regard whether or not the ordering clinician is an in or out of network provider.  However, sometimes these costs are still high and for that reason CCWW offers cash pricing with Quest Diagnostics for frequently ordered labs.  For example, a TSH is $10, a CBC is $10, and a testosterone is $40.  You must indicate prior to the lab draw if you prefer your labs are cash pay.  In that case, you will pay CCWW for your labs prior to them being drawn.  CCWW also has an account with LabCorp, but does not have cash pricing with them.  Therefore, Quest Diagnostics is CCWW preferred lab.

There are other functional testing that is not typically covered by insurance and this includes specialized hormone testing, urine neurotransmitter testing, functional gut testing in which case these tests will be pre-paid prior to ordering.  

There are some imaging modalities that are not covered by insurance such as coronary calcium artery score and abbreviated breast MRI.  If indicated and ordered, pricing will be discussed.

All lab and imaging bills are patient responsibility.

Sure! The way your insurance contracts with imaging centers, pharmacies, and labs is between your insurance and these entities.  Sometimes labs are less expensive if you do not go through your insurance, but I will leave that up to the patient as it is impossible for me to know what your benefits are.

I have direct cash lab pricing through Quest, which is my preferred lab. I also have an account with LabCorp, but do not offer cash pricing for LabCorp.

I can order imaging wherever your insurance prefers.  If you do not have insurance or prefer not to use it, I have cash pricing for an outpatient imaging center.

Based on clinical scenario I also offer functional medicine testing including urine neurotransmitter testing (ZRT), saliva hormone testing (ZRT), food sensitivity or functional gut testing (Genova), and pharmacogenic testing for psychotropic medications (Genesight).  These labs may or may not be covered by insurance.

For most individuals, the membership makes sense because it is not going to take 1 visit to figure out the best course of action for most people.  Perimenopause, in particular, is like trying to treat a moving target.  Sometimes we pick the right course of action, sometimes we don't! The membership allows for ease of care in between visits, so that we don't have to book several subsequent visits, costing you more money in the long run.  If you are still uncertain, we recommend just book an initial consultation and you can decide to join the membership for your follow ups (registration fee waived).

There is no long term commitment.  You can cancel when/if you feel your healthcare needs are met.  However, we can't anticipate our health care needs.  The goal of direct care is to establish a meaningful relationship with your provider so that when a health need arises, it can be addressed in a timely, appropriate, and compassionate manner.

No membership based medicine is not like insurance.  I highly recommend you have an insurance plan for specialty visits, emergency, and surgical procedures.  However, I cannot advise on which insurance plan or carrier might be right for you?

Insurance does not cover membership fees, and there is no ICD10 or CPT code attached to membership billing.  Both of these codes are required for insurance reimbursement.  For this reason, there is not a way to produce a superbill for membership fees.  It is up to you to look to see if your HSA/FSA will cover the membership fees.  I can still produce a superbill for those who choose to be non-members and their visits fall under fee-for-service.  You can download a superbill by going to your Hint account.

If you anticipate you do not need frequent communication between visits, and plan to only be seen 2-3 times per year, a fee for service model makes sense for you.  Please visit the fees tab to learn more.

Due to the busy nature of our clinic, Christina will not be able to discuss your case with you on the phone prior to a consultation.