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Active Release Technique
Chiropractic
Payments and Insurance
Massage Therapy
Hours of Operation
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Active Release Technique

What is Active Release Technique (A.R.T.)?
- Active Release is a patented manual hands-on therapy that corrects soft tissue problems and injuries. Muscles, tendons, fascia and nerves can all benefit from this therapy. Many types of injuries are treated using this technique. Some of the specific injuries that are treated include repetitive strains, nerve compression, muscle pain and joint dysfunction.
- The ART® practitioner finds the exact tissue that is injured or causing the problem and then physically works that tissue back to its normal texture, tension and length.
- The ART® practitioner also finds muscles and other tissues that have developed adhesions within or between them. An adhesion, which is basically like scar tissue that builds up between the muscle layers, can act like a glue restricting the normal sliding motions of the various tissue layers. ART® is used to break apart these adhesions and allow the muscles and nerves to move freely once again. Restoring proper nerve and muscle movement allows the body to perform at its most efficient level.
- The manual technique used by the ART® provider is not invasive, it is very specific, and provides excellent results.

How many treatments will I need with ART® to get better?
- The best thing about ART is that if it is going to work it will usually work quite quickly. Usually a patient will see significant results within just a few visits…typically reaching resolution within 4 to 6 visits. However, the actual time to become fully healed will differ between each patient. A good rule of thumb is that the more chronic or severe the problem is the more treatments you will need to reach resolution.

Is ART® like a massage?
- ART is hands on like a massage but is a very specific method that utilizes patient motions. Massage can be very beneficial if done by a good provider as well though. Due to the differences between the techniques, we will sometimes combine ART with massage methods done by one of our certified massage therapists, or with other myofascial release techniques.

Do the doctors at Active Body Chiropractic have much experience doing ART?
- All of our doctors are full body certified ART providers and have taken Master's courses in ART.
- Dr. Heddles and Dr. Drynan are also Biomechanics certified and Elite Provider Network certified practitioners of ART.
- Dr. Heddles and Dr. Drynan have been practicing ART for more than 10 years.
- Dr. Verchota has been doing ART for more than 3 years and has a great natural touch and intuition with the technique.

Do ART treatments hurt?
- The treatments are very deep and can be intense, but most people find that they actually feel good.
- Treatments are always done to the tolerance level of each individual to maximize their benefit in the quickest possible time-frame.

What kinds of things can ART help?
- ART is great at helping hundreds of different soft tissue problems throughout the body. The doctors have treated muscle and nerve injuries in all regions of the body. Whether it's a nerve impingement in your arm (such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome), a chronic tension headache, or Plantar Fascitis…ART can help it.

Chiropractic Care

What type of treatments do the chiropractors do at Active Body Chiropractic?
- All of the chiropractic physicians at our clinic use traditional chiropractic manipulations of the joints. These manipulations or 'adjustments' help restore normal joint function throughout the spine and body.
- The actual adjusting technique used by our chiropractors is 'Diversified Technique'
- All of our chiropractors combine their adjusting techniques with ART® and other techniques

Isn't it dangerous to get your 'bones cracked', especially in the neck region?
- Chiropractic manipulations are extremely safe and incredibly effective at relieving pain. Our doctors are very specific in the joints they target to improve joint motion and they use the minimum force necessary to achieve the adjustments.
- A good example that shows the safety of Chiropractic manipulations is by looking at the malpractice insurance levels that chiropractors pay compared to other medical providers. The malpractice insurance companies make providers pay premiums based on how risky the procedures are that they perform and those companies are very effective at measuring the risks associated with procedures. Chiropractors pay the lowest malpractice insurance of any medical providers…they only pay around a quarter of what the average Dentist pays!

What exactly is that 'cracking noise' when someone gets manipulated by a chiropractor?
- The chiropractor finds the joints that are not moving correctly in your spine and then uses a gentle manipulation to restore normal joint motion. That 'popping or cracking' noise is simply the sound of the pressure being released from a joint that is being moved. It is similar to a champagne bottle being opened…there is a lot of pressure in there and when the pressure is released it makes a little 'popping' noise.

Where did the Chiropractors at Active Body go to school and receive their training?
- Dr. Drynan and Dr. Heddles are graduates of the National University of Health Sciences (formerly the National College of Chiropractic) in Lombard, Illinois. Dr. Verchota is a graduate of Palmer Chiropractic College in Davenport, Iowa.

Payments and Insurance

What is the cost of treatment at Active Body Chiropractic?
- The cost of treatment depends on the services that are rendered that day and whether the patient is self-paying, using their health insurance, or has been in a personal injury case involved with either an automobile or litigation. Please see which of the following sections below best describe your circumstances within our payment policies and :

PAYMENT POLICIES:

Self-Paying Patients and our Time of Service Discount:
Active Body Chiropractic is pleased to offer EVERYONE (both insured and uninsured) a time of service discount. Our time of service discount is a 25% discount off of our standard insurance fee schedule. This discount is available to any and all patients making payment at the time of service. Payment can be made via check, cash or credit card. There are many administrative costs and extra tasks that must be completed when processing insurance claims. A patient paying at the time of service greatly lessens this workload which allows us to pass a significant savings on to both the patient and their insurance company. If you are choosing to utilize this plan you will need to agree to and sign our ‘Time of Service Discount Program Agreement’ form (ask receptionist for this). Please click here to see our Time of Service Discount program page for details.

Synopsis of Common Insurance Companies (for details see below):

• NOTE:
  • 'In' or 'Out' of network refers to whether Active Body has a signed agreement with the respective company.
  • 'Accepting Assignment' means that we would accept direct payment from an insurance company. A patient is only responsible for a copay at the time of service if we accept assignment. If we do not accept assignment payment is due in full at the time of service.
    

‘Out-of-Network’ Insurance:
If you have insurance coverage where we are not an in-network provider, you can contact your insurance company to see if they will reimburse you for visiting an out of network provider. As a general policy, we do not accept assignment from out-of-network insurance companies (we do make exceptions for certain United Health Care plans). This means that you will be responsible for providing payment at the time of service and ABC can assist you in submitting these charges to your insurance company for direct reimbursement. ABC can provide a superbill with diagnosis and procedure codes directly to you for claim submission. Alternatively, ABC can send all claim forms directly to your out-of-network third party payer on your behalf for a one time setup fee of $10. This is the extent of the aid ABC can be expected to give in helping to bill any out-of-network insurance company. If ABC is required to spend any time or effort in the future, in any manner, to assist in the reimbursement process other than submitting a claim or providing a superbill, an additional compensation must be paid by the patient to ABC. Compensation for the additional times spent are at the rate of $25 per hour and $1 per page for medical record printing.


‘In-Network’ Insurance:
ABC is currently ‘in-network’ with Blue Cross Blue Shield (PPO), Cigna, and Multiplan/PHCS affiliates. We are also ‘in-network’ with Medicare but this is a special case (see Medicare section below). We will make a copy of your card and collect any CO-pay that is due. We will submit your claims and assist you in any way we reasonably can to help ensure that those claims are paid. Your insurance company may need you to supply certain information to them directly. It is your responsibility to comply with their requests. After hearing back from your insurance company, we will send you a statement if there is a balance that we are entitled to collect. We strongly advise that you contact your insurance company to discuss your benefit coverage for chiropractic services (such as CPT code 98941) and physical medicine services (such as CPT 97110). Knowing your insurance benefits is your responsibility. Insurance coverage for these services varies greatly from plan to plan. We are always happy to help you in determining your coverage but ABC cannot be held responsible if ultimately the insurance does not pay for services or provides the clinic with false benefit information. Please be aware that some insurance companies require pre-certification for chiropractic care and some may also require a referral from your primary care physician.

*Insurance Deductibles and Co-Payments:
A ‘deductible’ is a prearranged dollar amount on your insurance plan that you must pay out of pocket before your insurance benefits take effect. Your insurance company will instruct us when to bill you for this by patient statement. A ‘CO-pay’ is a payment that ABC is required to collect at the time of service. These arrangements are part of your contract with your insurance company. Failure on our part to collect co-payments and deductibles from patients can be considered medical fraud and thus payment of these is expected in a timely manner.

*Medicare:
Medicare patients have very limited insurance coverage at ABC. Medicare does not cover or pay for initial exams even though they require by law that these procedures are performed prior to the beginning of care. Medicare ONLY PAYS FOR CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTMENTS to the spine and NOTHING ELSE. You will be required to pay for any non-covered services (such as Exams, ART, Graston, Myofascial Release) but you are entitled to the time of service discount we offer all patients for these services. We do accept assignment for the chiropractic portion of your visit (covered at 80%) but all other services will need to be paid at the time of service. Medicare supplemental insurance may cover the other 20% of the covered Medicare charge but will still not cover Medicare non-covered procedures. If you have a true secondary insurance you may have coverage for other Medicare non-covered procedures though you should be aware that most people do NOT have secondary insurance, supplemental insurance is the much more common type.

*Insurance Non-covered Services and Payment Denial:
Please be aware that depending on the rules outlined by your insurance company, some – and perhaps all – of the services you receive at our clinic may not be covered or deemed medically necessary. ABC has no way to control this type of judgment by your insurance company. You are responsible for payment of these services and are expected to pay for them in full.

*Insurance and ‘Wellness / Maintenance Care’:
Please note that insurance companies may not pay for wellness / maintenance care. Insurance companies only want to pay for a limited amount of your acute treatment visits with a symptomatic diagnosis. Insurance may also deem care to be unnecessary if therapy is not progressing at what they consider to be a satisfactory rate and will label this as maintenance care. In this case you are entitled to our Time of Service discount if your insurance company refuses payment. You may speak to our billing manager about this.

Collection Process for Non-Payment:
Please be aware that if your account is over 90 days due, and if we have sent more than 3 bills with no response from you, your account will be subject to an in-house review. If at that time satisfactory payment arrangements have not been established, your account may be forwarded to a collection agency. At that point, any further appointment scheduling will not be allowed until the collection balance is paid in full.

Missed Appointments:
We reserve the right to charge for missed appointments that are not canceled within 24 hours of the time of treatment. We utilize a ‘3 strikes’ policy on late cancellations and ‘2 strikes policy’ on no-shows: on the third late cancellation in less than 24 hours or on the second no-shows you may be charged. These charges will be your responsibility and will be billed directly to you (insurance does not cover missed appointments). Currently our missed appointment charge is $50 PER HALF HOUR OF SCHEDULED TIME. (i.e. missing a half hour massage and a half hour slot of time with a doctor will incur a $100 missed appointment fee). Missed appointment fees must be paid prior to continuing therapy at ABC. If you miss your first appointment, depending on the circumstances we may require a credit card to pay in advance for your next rescheduled appointment. We are understanding and do make concessions for special circumstances. Please help us to serve you better by keeping your regularly scheduled appointment.

Insufficient Funds Checks:
Our policy is to attempt to secure funds from all checks written to us. If they fail then we will charge the patient the fees that were incurred by that check bouncing. If we are not contacted within 3 weeks of a check bouncing, we reserve the right to forward the account on to a collection agency in order to procure payment.

If my insurance company refuses payment, what happens?
- We will gladly work with you and your insurance company to try to rectify any problems that arise.
- If ultimately the insurance company does not pay, however, you are responsible for your medical bills at Active Body.

I was in an auto-accident; do you take personal injury (PI) cases?
- We do accept certain personal injury cases and will gladly work with your lawyer and/or insurance company to attain payment for our services.

I was in a work related injury; do you accept worker's comp cases?
- We do accept certain workers compensation cases. Contact us to find out more.

Massage Therapy

What about massage therapy, how much does that cost?
- Our massage therapists charge $60 for a half hour and $105 for an hour. Each additional half hour in a single session is another $45. We do also have special rates for patients that combine a massage with a visit to one of our doctors, ask the receptionist for more details.

Can I use my insurance to cover my massage?
- Depending on your insurance company and your benefits, you may have coverage for massage. You must, however, first be a patient of one of the clinic's chiropractors to be eligible since massage is only covered if it is part of a therapeutic treatment plan. Ask one of our billing specialists or one of our doctors about eligibility for coverage of massage therapy.

What type of massage do the therapists utilize at Active Body?
- Our massage therapists are myofascial release specialists. They all excel at therapeutic deep tissue and sports massage but can also do purely relaxation massages as well. Each of their styles are very different but all of them are deep. You will not be disappointed!

Clinic Hours

When is the clinic open?
- Currently our general weekly hours are as follows:

** PLEASE NOTE: Each doctor at our clinic has their own specific hours that vary from these general clinic hours. Phones are generally answered between 9 am and closing time. If you call before or after those times we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Online Bill Payment

How does the online bill payment system work for paying my Active Body medical bills?
- You can pay your Active Body bill directly through our Paypal account. Our website will direct you to the Active Body Paypal account. Paying your bill online through our website/Paypal is very quick, convenient and secure. Enter your patient ID and press the 'click here to pay' button and you will be transferred to a Paypal® secure server for the transaction. Once there, just enter the amount you would like to pay and then choose your payment method. To pay by credit card you can use your Mastercard, Visa, American Express, or Discover card. If you have a Paypal® account you can use that to make your direct payment as well.

What is my 'patient ID' number? Do I need this to make a payment?
- Your patient ID is a 4 digit number listed on your bill that you received in the mail. This is not critical to payment since you will be entering your name with your payment on the Paypal website. However, if you have the same name as another patient in our clinic it ensures we apply the payment to the right person! (Don't worry, an error like this is easily fixed later)

Do I have to have a Paypal® account to use the online payment feature?
- No, you do not have to have a Paypal® account. If you wish to pay by credit card you do not need to worry about a Paypal® account.

Does Active Body Chiropractic keep my credit card information or other payment information?
- No, we do not see any of your private credit card information. The only information that is sent to us is that you have made a payment in a certain amount of dollars. Paypal.com is the only company that deals with your credit card details. Paypal is considered to be one of the most reliable internet financial transaction institutions and they ensure the security of your information.

Are there any extra fees for using this feature?
- There are no extra fees. This is just a convenient and secure way for patients to make a payment.

Clinic Forms

Can I download the forms I will need to fill out on my first visit to fill them out ahead of time?
- Definitely! This will help to speed up your first visit.

DOWNLOAD ACTIVE BODY INITIAL VISIT FORMS (PDF format)

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