Are there any contracts or commitments? What if I decide to cancel?

Our goal is to have a long lasting relationship with our relationship with our patients. But we understand your needs may change. We do require members to sign for a at least a 3 month commitment. You can pay with direct deposit monthly, semi-annually or annually. However if you move out of our geographic area, please contact us 30 days in advance in writing to cancel your membership. If you decide to cancel and have a balance of prepaid membership fees remaining, a pro-rated refund will be given to you based upon date of cancellation. If your membership lapses and you would like to renew your membership with us there is a re-initiation fee of $100.

Are you a walk-in clinic? Do I need an appointment?

While we can always offer same or next-day visits to our members, we do require scheduling all visits beforehand. A quick phone call or portal messge to verify your appointment is usually all that is required. However, we want to be clear that we are not a walk-in or urgent care clinic. Our goal is to have long lasting relationships with our patients. We highly recommend the Porter Express Care (PEC) clinic at Porter Hospital. They are open 7 days per week and highly trained to assess and care for any urgent care needs.

How long are office visits?

We offer a wide variety of services from our primary care to integrative pain medicine. Because we are committed to giving you the highest quality care, office visits range from 30-60 minutes. We strive to offer high quailty, unrushed health care.

How do I know if Green Mountain Primary Care is right for me?

Come get to know us! Schedule a free, 30 minute visit to discuss your healthcare needs or give us a call anytime. It’s the only reasonable way to begin what we trust will be a long, productive, healthy relationship.

What if I need a procedure, referral or am diagnosed with a serious illness?

Should you need to see a specialist, we will refer you to one that we trust to handle your specific case, keep all involved parties in the loop, and make sure that your patient record stays up to date.

What if I need care on the weekend or at night?

If you have an urgent after-hours concern that you believe cannot wait for routine business hours, we will be available by phone or portal to assist you. We are not available in person for routine needs or matters that can wait until normal business hours on the weekends or night. We are here to assist you if you can not wait and need reassurance, advice, etc. Laura and Ania are dedicated to your care and to a healthy, cultivated provider-patient relationship.

What if I am sick and out of state?

We are available to consult with you by phone, text or telemedicine. We may advise you to be seen at an acute care facility in that area, but we are happy to help guide you through what ever the best option is.

What if I spend the winters in Florida or another state?

We offer telemedicine, portal, phone and text communication. We may advise you to see an acute care clinic for urgent needs while out of state, but we are available to consult and help guide you as needed. We can also coordinate presciption refills to pharmacies in Florida or another state you may be in for the winter.

Are you affiliated with Porter Medical Center? Do you care for patients in the hospital?

No. Laura and Ania own Green Mountain Primary Care which is a private medical practice. We do and will communicate with hospitals and specialists as necessary in order to provide the best continuity of care. Porter Hospital employs hospitalists, MDs/NPs/PAs specializing in hospital medicine, to admit and care for patients. We are available to communicate with these professionals as needed if issues or concerns arise. Also, we will continue to refer patients to Porter Medical Center for referrals to radiology (xray, mammogram, ultrasound, etc), specialists, emergency room, urgent care and other ancillary services.

How do I pay for the private care services monthly fee?

You can pay monthly, semi-annually or annually with automatic enrollment. We have a secure payment management system so you enter your information once (bank account preferred, but we do accept credit cards) and select which automatic payment works best for you!

What does my $50 monthly fee go towards?

Your monthly fee covers: 1. Yearly 60 minute comprehensive routine physical exam, regardless of medical conditon or necessity, that includes:

• routine screening labs (cholesterol panel, metabolic panel, diabetes screen, blood count).

Do I still need to have health insurance?

Yes. Although your Health & Wellness membership does cover a full physical , with select labs and follow-up as needed ( see details here), you still need insurance for routine, chronic and sick visits as well as emergency room visits, imaging, etc. We are credentialed with all major insurance plans as listed here.

Are our private fees eligible for HSA, FSA or HRA funds use?

We have worked closely with a professional who speciliazes in our type of practice to help frame and support the use of HSA, FSA or HRA funds for the private fee. That said, we strongly recommend you consult with your tax expert on this issue. Also, be advised that with respect to HRA and FSA funds use, an outside fiduciary must typically approve our private fees as eligible medical expenses and we cannot guarantee that fiduciaries will interpret our private fee structure the same way we do. We followed IRC Section 167(d) and IRS Publication 502 with respect to how our private fee servies were structured. Your plan fiduciary must comply with his or her own independent duty to interpret and follow these laws.

What if I am healthy and rarely need medical appointments? Why pay $50/mo?

Great question! In our view, the reason the US heathcare system's primary care model is failing to keep up with other country's outcomes is in part due to the failure of healthcare insurance plans (both public and private) to prioritize and reimburse for primary care guidance pre-condition, and, the failure to reimburse "pre-care" robustly. Our model involves patients investing in a more connected care model that annually screens patients AND provides ongoing annual physical health education and care support toward meeting annual exam-based health goals. If you feel healthy, and we hope you do, our model is designed to identify and (when possible) defer or avoid illness. We cannot implement such a model and remain dependent on healthcare insurance reimbursement, so we need and depend on all of our patients investing in this model--that allows us to provide the more extraordinary services that will make a difference in our patients' lives. Given the prevalence of high-deductible plans, with even Medicare only covering 80% of care costs (or MediGap plans, with extra premiums, covering that gap), it is not only uncomfortable but also expensive to be ill. We want our patients invested in illness avoidance, early detection, and prevention. And we believe that over time, that can generate actual cost savings for patients . Our primary focus is to keep patients well and to avoid more expensive "medical" care if possible.

Do you accept heath insurance?

Yes! Your private direct fees pay for the annual routine physical exam and related health guidance and support communication services, along with certain specific integrative services. All of those services are, as framed, outside of any plan coverage. For the insurance plans we are in-network which we will bill medically necessary services (we are (Medicare participatory).

Can I be be a patient if I have Medicare Insurance?

Yes! All of our private fee services (the annual routine physical, annual physical-related patient education and care support, and certain specific integrative healthcare services) are all outside Medicare coverage. You must not submit to Medicare for the private fee services we deliver. But, we can and will also provide other medical services that Medicare covers, and we will bill Medicare for those other services (and collect any co-payments or deductibles as reqiured). Also, as a Medicare eligible, you are entitled to a "Welcome To Medicare" physical, and the Annual Wellness Visit. Your private fees are not allocated to those services, and will be happy to provide you those Medicare-covered services and bill Medicare for those services (but neither of those services has the same features as our private fee annual physical exam and related annual-exam patient education and care support). Finally, if you as a Medicare eligible, have two or more chronic conditions, you may qualify for chronic care management (CCM) services that we will be happy to provide you for no additional private fee charges--Medicare covers and reimburses for CCM and CCM is different than our private fee services. You can choose any of the Health & Wellness or Integrative plans we have available! See here for more!

How do I become a patient?

Every patient must become a monthly subscriber. We are close to capacity with regard to taking on new patients. Please call or email us if you are interested in becoming a new patient.