» Practical Consideration
Dr. David A. Edwards and the certified staff of Bio Health Center electively limit their practice to Homeopathic Integrative Medicine as allowed under Nevada State Law and Nevada State Regulations. The following general information includes Bio Health Center's policy statements: requesting all patients acknowledge that fact in writing before being seen, a disclaimer regarding federal insurance anti-fraud laws, Medicare patients acknowledgment of the "non-covered" status of Homeopathic Integrative medicine, a summary of the 2001 Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), matters of payment, informed consent, medical records policy, a blank medical records release form and our policy on inpatient, hospital medical services.
I have been informed/understand that David A. Edwards, MD, HMD and Jean Malik, AHP practice Homeopathic, Nutritional, Orthomolecular, Neural Therapeutic, Herbal, Neural Integrative and Preventive Medicine under licensing authority of the Nevada State Board of Homeopathic Medical Examiners. I have been informed and understand that under current Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) licensed Homeopathic physicians are PROHIBITED from practicing allopathic medicine and their prescribing authority is LIMITED to methods approved in NRS 630A.040. I have been informed and understand that Homeopathic medicine is currently NOT available at any Nevada hospital, and that due to this our practitioners do NOT practice at any area hospital, including emergency care. I understand that Homeopathy, medical acupuncture, electro-acupuncture, herbal therapy, neural therapy, neuro integrative therapy, chelation therapy, bio-oxidative therapy and some instrumentation may not be accepted by some insurance companies, the FDA, or the AMA. I have been informed and understand that the Ninth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads (in part): "the enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by people." I hereby notify the federal and Nevada state governments, agencies, boards, courts and the FDA that I reserve following rights under the Ninth Amendment to the US Constitution: the right to 1. the physician of my choice, 2. an informed choice of all options for personal health care, 3. a drug-free, surgery-free existence, 4. use nutritional supplements based on my own opinion of their need and action, 5. prevent illness and disease using methods of my own choice and 6. self-determination in all matters of health and medical care.
I have been informed and understand that Dr. Edwards and the staff of Bio Health Center practice Homeopathic, Nutritional, Orthromolecular, Neural Therapeutic, Herbal, Neuro-Integrative and Preventive Medicine under licensing authority of the Nevada Board of Homeopathic Medical Examiners. I understand that the determination as to whether any and all medical/health services provided are "covered" by my private insurance/health plan will be made after these services have been provided. I understand that I am fully responsible for payment for any and all medical/health services provided by Edwards/Malik and I will attest in writing to this at each visit. I understand that payment is due at the time of service unless specific arrangements were made in advance and that credit can be obtained by using Mastercard™ or Visa™. I understand that any outstanding balance owed will be subject to a 1.5% monthly interest charge.
I have been informed that MEDICARE™ does NOT COVER ANY SERVICES provided by Edwards/Malik, including medical acupuncture, homotoxicology, nutritional therapy, electro-acupuncture, chelation therapy, neural therapy, bio-oxidative therapy, and/or preventive medicine. Although I will not be reimbursed for the above medical services, I agree to said services and agree to pay for these services. I understand payment is due at the time of service unless specific arrangements were made in advance, that credit can be obtained by using Mastercard™ or Visa™ and that any outstanding balance owed will be subject to a 1.5% monthly interest charge.
FEDERAL HEALTH INSURANCE PORTABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT (HIPAA) AND GENERAL AUTHORIZATION FOR RELEASE OF MEDICAL INFORMATION - ACKNOWLEDGMENT: David A. Edwards, MD, HMD, Ltd does NOT transmit ANY health care claims information electronically. Therefore, we do NOT "qualify" as a "covered entity" under the provisions of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA or PL104-191). However, we do agree with protecting the absolute privacy of ALL personal-private health information in our custody, and we do fulfill ALL mandated federal requirements of HIPAA in our handling and care of ALL personal-private health information. An outline of HIPAA mandates is provided on the reverse side of this form. I authorize the release of any and all medical information to my insurance/health plan administrator, any and all physician(s) I may be referred to and/or any person(s) legally designated by me.
Initial Homeopathic-Integrative consultation and review of previous medical records is required before Homeopathic Integrative treatment may be provided. The office appointment for initial consultation lasts one hour. Regular office visits last half an hour. Our charges for initial consultation, regular office visits and other services are available upon request. Our charges for laboratory tests are standard. Itemized costs are also available upon request. To schedule a consultation with Dr. Edwards or Jean Malik, AHP, call to speak with our receptionist at (775) 828-4055, from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Thursday, or 8:00 am to 12:00 noon on Fridays.
Dr. David A. Edwards and the Bio Health Center do not participate in any Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) or Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs), nor are we Medicare or Medicaid providers. We expect full payment for services at the time services are rendered. While we do not bill or accept insurance payments for our services, we do use the "superbill" system for coding all consultations, office visits, treatments, testing and diagnosis codes. That is all any insurance carrier or other third party payer legally requires for reimbursement, depending on the specific terms and language of your insurance or third party payer contract. In order to prevent any "cost shifting" by some less then reputable insurance carriers, any additional forms, records requests, summaries, etc. required by any third party payer will be completed and promptly returned upon receipt of full payment for our costs of providing any additional clerical services. If any request for additional paperwork is received from any third party payer an estimated cost for providing the requested additional paperwork will be forwarded to that party with an explanation of our office policy that the request will be filled immediately upon receipt of payment for the estimated charges for preparation, copying and postage/fax costs.
Ideally, patients should bring documentation of all previous relevant diagnostic and therapeutic procedures at the time of their initial consultation. What we would like to see are pathology reports, radiologic imaging reports, and all available laboratory tests, and - if relevant to your history - any operative procedure reports and hospital discharge summaries. Good copies of your records are important for the initial evaluation of any problems. Should you be missing any of the important pieces of paper or radiologic films by the time of your scheduled visit, this is not reason for delaying anything. In our contemporary "e-world" arrangements can always be made to have necessary materials faxed, e-mailed, or delivered by courier all in good time. There is a "Medical Records Release" form located below this section. This form may be printed and filled out and delivered to your previous physician(s) so that you may collect a copy of any previous relevant medical records and bring them with you to your initial consultation. We highly recommend that you pick up the copies and hand carry them with you to your initial consultation in our office. If they are sent ahead of time they may be misplaced or misfiled. By keeping the records with you this will be prevented. Our office will make copies of the information we require from your copies if you wish to retain them.
Relevant past medical records can be very helpful when seeing a new physician. Past treatment information and medical testing results done within the recent past can save time, money and often reduce the need for additional procedures. Dr. Edwards and the staff of Bio Health Center encourage perspective patients to obtain their relevant medical records and bring them for the initial consultation. To obtain a copy of your medical records simply print out the records release at the end of this section, fill out the information and present it to you current treating physician(s). If you are seeing or have seen several different physicians or surgeons you should obtain a copy of the records each has in their possession. The most important information are copies of any and all laboratory tests (two years old or less), X-ray and/or scan reports (two years old or less), operative or procedural reports (five years old or less) and consultations with all specialists. Bio Health Center's policy is to provide each patient a copy of any test done by our office for their personal records. We encourage patients to keep personal copies of their medical records for future reference.
> Print the Medical Records Release Form.
"No matter how skillful one becomes, the great mysteries of Life will always hover just out of reach. One can never know all the answers. In the reality of everyday medical practice, no one can guarantee any clinical result... but I and my certified staff can and do promise to try to help each individual patient to the best of our abilities, by using all our knowledge, skill and compassion. Having been trained as a 'medical scientist,' I can bear witness to the simple fact that statistical science and individual reality do not share the same experience. The Quantitative 'eye' of the scientist perceives a different Reality than the Qualitative 'I' of the patient. And yet modern statistical science dismisses individual patient experience as 'anecdotal' and 'biased.' Such dangerous nonsense has caused much suffering and harm. Individual patient experience is the only true measure of the Quality of care. Relief of suffering, not statistical significance, is the patients real quest, their only quest... and the true physician's ultimate goal. I believe it was in Plato's Phaedrus that Socrate's ask's, 'do we really need anyone to tell us what is right?' Homeopathic Integrative medical practice provides the patient and practitioner with simple, non-toxic methods of treatment for relief of suffering... a natural union of clinical Art and Science... the true essence of medical service."
- David A. Edwards, MD, HMD
