Patient Information

Before you meet with Dr. Means for the first time you will fill out a comprehensive health questionnaire which will gather key facts about your past medical history, lifestyle, and current symptoms. In your first 45 – 60 minute visit she will listen closely to your current health concerns and goals, discuss your personal health history, and do a review of your basic organ systems.

A general physical exam will be performed, and she may make recommendations for blood work for a more thorough evaluation. All labs are interpreted with a naturopathic lens to an ‘optimal’ zone designed to point out early signs of nutrient deficiencies, immune imbalances, hypoglycemia, liver, kidney, and adrenal stress. In addition to blood work, Dr. Means incorporates functional laboratory testing when appropriate.

You will leave the first visit with a customized treatment plan that incorporates: homeopathic, herbal, and nutritional supplements, therapeutic diet & lifestyle suggestions, mind/body practices to relieve stress and support your body’s innate healing wisdom. She may also make recommendations for a future visit for acupuncture or other services when appropriate.

Treatment will be most effective if the patient is engaged and actively involved; this includes family members of children and adolescents seeking treatment. Dr. Means believes in working together toward treatment goals. It is important to ask questions if you are unclear about any aspect of treatment plans or goals.

At the time of your appointment, please bring to the office:
1. A picture ID
2. Your insurance card
3. Any recent lab work that is relevant to the issues you will be discussing
4. Your current medication list
5. Write down any questions that you have ahead of time. We will do our best to address as many of your health concerns at your initial visit.

Please download a copy of our intake form:

Your insurance policy is a contract between you and your insurance company. We cannot guarantee payment of your claims by your insurance. Please bring your current medical insurance card to every visit and notify us if there is a change in your insurance coverage.

It is the patient’s responsibility to know what their insurance will cover. Please make sure you have Naturopathic/Acupuncture coverage on your specific insurance plan. Some insurances list these as Alternative Care. Although Dr. Means is contracted with the insurances listed below, she is not contracted with every plan under each insurance. Please contact your insurance directly to get coverage details and confirm that Dr. Means is a contracted provider on your plan.

Aetna Choice POS II
Moda (Not contracted with Medicare Advantage Plans)
Providence
Providence OHP (Oregon Health Plan)
Providence Medicare Advantage
Regence BCBS of Oregon
Regence Medicare Advantage
Yamhill Community Care Organization
Oregon DHS / Open Card

We cannot bill traditional Medicare plans. We are only contracted with the Medicare Advantage plans listed above.

If we are not contracted with your insurance, we require payment at the time of service. We can provide you with a visit summary that you can submit to your insurance provider for potential reimbursement. Visits are billed based on complexity of care, time spent with the doctor, and procedures done in the visit whether you are using insurance or are a self-pay patient.

Insurance often covers your office or telemedicine visit and basic lab work, however, there are many services that they do not cover as “not medically necessary”. We strive to make these treatments affordable and give you the best information we can regarding costs that will be out of pocket for such treatments as specialty labs and evaluations, injection therapy, IV therapy, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Ozone Therapy, supplements, and homeopathic remedies.

At Singing River Natural Medicine, we are excited to take part in the telemedicine phenomenon occurring right now. Telemedicine offers a convenient solution to ease the burden of travel, childcare, just not feeling well and all those things that just make it difficult to get in the office to see your provider.

​During a telemedicine appointment, you can expect to discuss all your challenging health symptoms just as you would if you were in the office.

​How it works:

• On the day of your appointment, you will receive an email with a link to our Doxy.me portal.You do NOT need to download anything.
• Click the link in the email which will open the portal. It will ask for basic information such as your name and will ask for permissions to use your microphone and camera. That will open a meeting and put you in a virtual waiting room.
• When your provider is ready to start the visit, she will join your meeting and the video and audio will connect.
• At the end of the appointment, you will be asked to call the office back to speak with the office staff to collect payment in full if you are self-pay and for co-pay balances if you are using insurance.

​Contact our office today to learn more about how you can benefit from telemedicine. New patients will be asked a series of questions to help decide whether telemedicine appointments will be able to provide the necessary level of care. Established patients are welcome to schedule follow up visits via telemedicine for most concerns. It is important to note that a telemedicine visit is just like an office visit in terms of time, scheduling, cost, and care.

Emergencies

For any medical emergency or any after-hours emergencies, please call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. Emergent situations include serious medication reactions or risk of harm to oneself or someone else. For urgent issues after regular business hours, please contact Dr. Means at 503-701-8182. This phone number is for urgent issues only. Please see the Phone /Email Communication below for non-urgent issues.

Phone / Email Communication

If you need to leave a message for Dr. Means, you may do so through the patient portal (Patient Ally) or by leaving a phone message at her office extension 503-641-6400 #104. Please keep in mind this type of communication should be for quick, simple issues and questions and not for an emergency issue. Please allow 24 – 48 hours for a reply. If the issue is complex, please call to schedule an appointment.

​Lab Results

Many of the laboratory tests Dr. Means orders are integral to diagnosing complex conditions. Results of these labs will be discussed at your next office visit. Any lab results that do not need interpretation will be available after Dr. Means has reviewed them. Please note that our office staff will not have access to your lab results until they are reviewed. We appreciate your patience and will get results to you as soon as possible.

Lab Billing Questions

As a convenience we provide lab services / sample collection in the office. Samples are collected and processed for shipping to specialty labs or picked up by local labs. We will provide you with instructions prior to your collection and instructions regarding how you will submit and be billed by the lab to process your samples. Please contact the lab directly with any billing questions as we do not have any access to lab billing information.

Prescription Refills

Please contact your pharmacy when you need a prescription refilled. They will fax a refill request to Singing River. Refills are not considered an emergency and will be handled within 48 business hours. If the medication you need refilled is a controlled substance, please call the office and leave Dr. Means a voicemail describing what medication you need and what pharmacy to send it to. If an emergency refill request does arise, please contact the office.