post-covid policies, procedures, and updates
Everyone at the office is excited to be welcoming patients back in July! Understandably, due to the situation with Covd-19, things will operate a little differently. Please make note of the following changes in preparation for your visit.
Scheduling and Appointment Changes:
Due to Covid’s social distancing restrictions, it is imperative that for the foreseeable future, each practitioner only use one treatment room and see one patient at a time. This will allow providers to effectively minimize cross-contamination that might otherwise occur if they were seeing two patients in two rooms at the same time, as had previously been the case. In addition, because of this limitation to flexibility, treatment times and offerings have changed slightly as well. Cupping and bodywork will now be booked in conjunction with acupuncture in their own sessions. Each type of appointment is separated on the online scheduler for ease of booking. The new list of services is as follows:
• Functional Medicine: 60 minutes, $300
• Acupuncture Initial Appointment: 90 minutes, $120, or insurance copay
• Acupuncture Follow Up: 60 minutes, $85, or insurance copay
• Acupuncture + Cupping or Tui Na Bodywork: 90 minutes, $140, or insurance copay + $40
• Acupuncture + Tui Na bodywork: 120 minutes, $225, or insurance copay + $95
• Mei Zen Facial Acupuncture: 90 minutes, $135 (single session) or $1250 (11 session series)
• Gua sha or Cupping Facial: 90 minutes, $175
Contactless Prepayment:
In an effort to adhere to restrictions regarding personal interactions in light of Covid-19, the office is now requiring pre-payment for all services. Upon scheduling your appointment, you will receive a confirmation email with a link to the website, where you can choose the service you have booked from a menu and pre-pay directly (this includes insurance copays). The password for this portion of the site is ewbooking. Please note, your appointment will not be considered booked until payment is received. If you need to reschedule your appointment, your payment will be applied to the next appointment. Any appointments cancelled with less than 24 hours notice will forfeit the deposited amount and any remainder of the cancellation fee will be charged to the card on file.
24 Hour Pre-Screen:
Each patient will be texted the day before their appointment in the morning to confirm that they have been symptom-free for a minimum of 14 days. If you have been symptomatic or have traveled outside of Rhode Island within the previous 14 days, please contact the office immediately. Patients scheduled on Monday will be contacted on Friday. If you are scheduled for a Monday session and develop symptoms over the weekend, please call the office immediately and leave a voicemail.
Before you arrive:
We kindly ask that if you live or work close to the office, please use an available restroom before arriving. While we still have the office restroom available and will always let patients use it if it’s an emergency, we must fully disinfect the restroom each time it’s used by someone other than office staff, and that process must be done immediately after use, meaning that it will also cut into precious treatment time. Additionally, please change into any clothes you would normally wear during your session before you arrive. This will maximize the amount of time your practitioner has with you for treatment.
Parking:
You may still park in the parking lot. Governor St. has partial barriers indicating “Local Traffic Only” as it was closed off to be a designated walking area, but you are still welcome to drive around and park in the lot.
When you arrive at the office:
In order to maintain strict social distancing, we will no longer be having patients wait for their session in the office. Please remain in your vehicle, and your practitioner will call or text you when s/he is ready to take you into your session. Please ensure that you apply your mask before entering the building. If you utilize public transportation or a ride-sharing service to get to your sessions, please let the office know ahead of time so that we may make accommodations to keep you comfortable while you wait. There will be hand sanitizer for you to use upon entering the office, which we ask that you use immediately. If you are receiving a face-up treatment, you may be asked to retain your mask for the duration of your session as long as it does not interfere with your breathing. If you are receiving a face-down treatment and the mask creates problems, you may be allowed to remove it as long as you have been symptom free for 14 days prior to your session.
When your session is complete:
Once your session is complete, you may schedule your next session. A confirmation email will be sent to you for your upcoming appointment with the prepayment link. We kindly ask that you pay within 24 hours of booking your appointment. Your appointment will not be considered confirmed until the invoice has been settled. If an invoice is not paid within 72 hours of the scheduled appointment time, the time slot will be released and given to a patient on the waiting list.
Restrictions for scheduling:
If you:
-Are currently experiencing symptoms of Covid-19
-have had symptoms or been diagnosed with Covid-19 within 14 days prior to your scheduled appointment, or
-have traveled by plane within 14 days prior to your scheduled appointment
you will be asked to reschedule to a time when you have been symptom free or quarantined-post-travel for no less than 14 days.
Late Arrivals and Cancellations:
The office has maintained a policy that any patient running more than 15 minutes late may be asked to reschedule, and that patients who need to cancel do so within no less than 24 hours notice. Given the new limitations on treatment times, it is extremely important that you be on time for your scheduled appointment, or reschedule with appropriate advance notice. Limited availability means that time is an even more precious commodity. In order to provide each patient with an effective treatment at a convenient time, these policies will be strictly enforced moving forward. We ask that you budget additional time into your regular travel schedule to accommodate any traffic or construction that you may encounter. If you are cancelling with less than 24 hours notice because you have developed symptoms of Covid-19, you will not be charged a cancellation fee. You will be able to reschedule once you have been symptom free for 14 days.
Practitioner Precautions and Cleaning Procedures:
All practitioners will wear a mask at all times. All contact surfaces (treatment table, face cradle, door handles, etc.) will be disinfected with biocidal wipes after each patient encounter. Antimicrobial covers have been applied to the treatment tables and pillows. Disposable face cradle covers will be used for facedown treatments. Hand washing will be required of all practitioners in the office before and after every patient contact, including multiple contacts within the same session. Practitioners may use gloves at their discretion depending on the treatment modality being utilized. Documentation of completed cleaning procedures will be visible on a chart attached to the treatment room door, to be initialed each time the office is disinfected. Air purifiers with HEPA filters have been placed in treatment rooms and are run continuously.
Scheduling and Appointment Changes:
Due to Covid’s social distancing restrictions, it is imperative that for the foreseeable future, each practitioner only use one treatment room and see one patient at a time. This will allow providers to effectively minimize cross-contamination that might otherwise occur if they were seeing two patients in two rooms at the same time, as had previously been the case. In addition, because of this limitation to flexibility, treatment times and offerings have changed slightly as well. Cupping and bodywork will now be booked in conjunction with acupuncture in their own sessions. Each type of appointment is separated on the online scheduler for ease of booking. The new list of services is as follows:
• Functional Medicine: 60 minutes, $300
• Acupuncture Initial Appointment: 90 minutes, $120, or insurance copay
• Acupuncture Follow Up: 60 minutes, $85, or insurance copay
• Acupuncture + Cupping or Tui Na Bodywork: 90 minutes, $140, or insurance copay + $40
• Acupuncture + Tui Na bodywork: 120 minutes, $225, or insurance copay + $95
• Mei Zen Facial Acupuncture: 90 minutes, $135 (single session) or $1250 (11 session series)
• Gua sha or Cupping Facial: 90 minutes, $175
Contactless Prepayment:
In an effort to adhere to restrictions regarding personal interactions in light of Covid-19, the office is now requiring pre-payment for all services. Upon scheduling your appointment, you will receive a confirmation email with a link to the website, where you can choose the service you have booked from a menu and pre-pay directly (this includes insurance copays). The password for this portion of the site is ewbooking. Please note, your appointment will not be considered booked until payment is received. If you need to reschedule your appointment, your payment will be applied to the next appointment. Any appointments cancelled with less than 24 hours notice will forfeit the deposited amount and any remainder of the cancellation fee will be charged to the card on file.
24 Hour Pre-Screen:
Each patient will be texted the day before their appointment in the morning to confirm that they have been symptom-free for a minimum of 14 days. If you have been symptomatic or have traveled outside of Rhode Island within the previous 14 days, please contact the office immediately. Patients scheduled on Monday will be contacted on Friday. If you are scheduled for a Monday session and develop symptoms over the weekend, please call the office immediately and leave a voicemail.
Before you arrive:
We kindly ask that if you live or work close to the office, please use an available restroom before arriving. While we still have the office restroom available and will always let patients use it if it’s an emergency, we must fully disinfect the restroom each time it’s used by someone other than office staff, and that process must be done immediately after use, meaning that it will also cut into precious treatment time. Additionally, please change into any clothes you would normally wear during your session before you arrive. This will maximize the amount of time your practitioner has with you for treatment.
Parking:
You may still park in the parking lot. Governor St. has partial barriers indicating “Local Traffic Only” as it was closed off to be a designated walking area, but you are still welcome to drive around and park in the lot.
When you arrive at the office:
In order to maintain strict social distancing, we will no longer be having patients wait for their session in the office. Please remain in your vehicle, and your practitioner will call or text you when s/he is ready to take you into your session. Please ensure that you apply your mask before entering the building. If you utilize public transportation or a ride-sharing service to get to your sessions, please let the office know ahead of time so that we may make accommodations to keep you comfortable while you wait. There will be hand sanitizer for you to use upon entering the office, which we ask that you use immediately. If you are receiving a face-up treatment, you may be asked to retain your mask for the duration of your session as long as it does not interfere with your breathing. If you are receiving a face-down treatment and the mask creates problems, you may be allowed to remove it as long as you have been symptom free for 14 days prior to your session.
When your session is complete:
Once your session is complete, you may schedule your next session. A confirmation email will be sent to you for your upcoming appointment with the prepayment link. We kindly ask that you pay within 24 hours of booking your appointment. Your appointment will not be considered confirmed until the invoice has been settled. If an invoice is not paid within 72 hours of the scheduled appointment time, the time slot will be released and given to a patient on the waiting list.
Restrictions for scheduling:
If you:
-Are currently experiencing symptoms of Covid-19
-have had symptoms or been diagnosed with Covid-19 within 14 days prior to your scheduled appointment, or
-have traveled by plane within 14 days prior to your scheduled appointment
you will be asked to reschedule to a time when you have been symptom free or quarantined-post-travel for no less than 14 days.
Late Arrivals and Cancellations:
The office has maintained a policy that any patient running more than 15 minutes late may be asked to reschedule, and that patients who need to cancel do so within no less than 24 hours notice. Given the new limitations on treatment times, it is extremely important that you be on time for your scheduled appointment, or reschedule with appropriate advance notice. Limited availability means that time is an even more precious commodity. In order to provide each patient with an effective treatment at a convenient time, these policies will be strictly enforced moving forward. We ask that you budget additional time into your regular travel schedule to accommodate any traffic or construction that you may encounter. If you are cancelling with less than 24 hours notice because you have developed symptoms of Covid-19, you will not be charged a cancellation fee. You will be able to reschedule once you have been symptom free for 14 days.
Practitioner Precautions and Cleaning Procedures:
All practitioners will wear a mask at all times. All contact surfaces (treatment table, face cradle, door handles, etc.) will be disinfected with biocidal wipes after each patient encounter. Antimicrobial covers have been applied to the treatment tables and pillows. Disposable face cradle covers will be used for facedown treatments. Hand washing will be required of all practitioners in the office before and after every patient contact, including multiple contacts within the same session. Practitioners may use gloves at their discretion depending on the treatment modality being utilized. Documentation of completed cleaning procedures will be visible on a chart attached to the treatment room door, to be initialed each time the office is disinfected. Air purifiers with HEPA filters have been placed in treatment rooms and are run continuously.