FAQs
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FAQs
Frequently asked Questions
Our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section provides clear and concise answers to the most common inquiries we receive. If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact our office directly.
Acute and non-acute clinic visits are included as well as easy convenient access to Dr. Alvarez or Nurse Practitioner Terri Alvarez via phone, secure text messaging and telemedicine virtual visits. Minor procedures, some non-blood lab tests that can be done in the office and certain treatments administered in-office are also included. Labs and imaging through select vendors are heavily discounted. See our detailed listing below for more information on what is currently included with membership.
- EKG
- Monthly Inbody analysis included for members
- Nebulizer treatments
- Ear Lavage
- Fingerstick blood sugars
- Urinalysis / Urine dip stick testing
- Urine pregnancy testing
- Simple laceration repair
- Skin Tag Removal
- Incision and drainage of minor abscesses (Lab analysis of any samples collected is not included)
- Pap smears (Lab analysis of samples collected is not included)
- Give us a call for more details
Traditional insurance will not cover your membership fee but it may pay for labs, imaging, medications, and hospitalizations you need.
They can be billed though your insurance or paid for out of pocket. We offer deeply discounted wholesale pricing on labs and imaging services through select vendors. Labs fees will be collected in our office at the time of service and you will always know the cost before labs are drawn with our transparent pricing. Imaging fees are usually collected at the imaging facility at the time of service, with payment plans available at some imaging locations. Patients with PPO insurance may have the option of using their insurance to pay for their labs and imaging. However, they may find that it is more cost effective to get their labs and imaging through our select vendors especially if they have a high deductible plan.
You can and should contact us with any issues that come up when you are out of town. We will evaluate the issue in the best way possible via phone, text or a virtual visit and depending on the issue, you may be able to receive treatment without needing to be seen in the office. However, if more extensive care is required, we will help coordinate your care to ensure you receive the most appropriate evaluation and treatment where you are.
The membership fee allows us to provide primary care in an innovative way for a simple, fixed price. It allows members to better budget their health care expenses and helps our practice provide the services we offer at affordable prices. It also allows us to spend majority of our time taking care of you rather than dealing with red tape and paperwork.
The membership fee is better thought of as a more affordable and efficient way to access primary care. Most members will actually save money by combining Luxe Primary Practice with a high-deductible health insurance or medical cost sharing plan when compared to traditional insurance models where co-pays and co-insurance expenses can really add up. For example, with a typical high deductible insurance plan, multiple trips to your primary care physician, urgent cares, imaging and lab can easily add up to be thousands of dollars which you would have to pay out of pocket. With DPC, you would only be responsible for your monthly membership fee and your labs and imaging would be heavily discounted leading to significant savings.
No, Direct Primary Care is not Concierge medicine. Concierge care doctors bill your insurance in addition to charging you monthly membership fees. Unlike Concierge care, the goal of DPC is to help most of our patients save money on their health care expenses. Unlike concierge care, we work to find patients the least expensive options for their care. We also do not require any long-term commitments. In addition, since we accept only a limited number of patients, do not accept insurance and therefore do not deal with insurance red tape, we are better able to focus only on taking care of patients. With Concierge care, you pay a lot more money, you have to sign a long- term contract and your doctors still have to deal with insurance red tape which distracts from their focus on you.
All acute and non-acute visits are included in the membership fees. However, for tests that are not included in the membership fees, we are always transparent with the pricing. If we recommend outside services, we try very hard to find you an upfront, reasonable price.
Usually Dr. Alvarez will still be available via text or phone. However, we may make arrangements so that you are cared for by a covering physician or you may be asked to go at the closest urgent care center. If you are seen at an urgent care, you will be responsible for the services billed but this can be submitted to your insurance.
No, we think of our business model as an alternative to managed care. However, we are not “alternative” in in the way we practice medicine. We provide evidence based medical care.
Passing the Family Medicine Boards means that the doctor has taken and passed standardized testing at a national level covering a broad spectrum of topics from kids, adolescents, adult, woman’s health and geriatric disciplines. This includes both acute and chronic illnesses.
We provide routine women’s care including routine gynecological exams, pap smears, birth control, breast exams, menopause management, evaluations and treatments of routine gynecological conditions, referrals for breast imaging, etc. Gynecologic exams can be done by a male or female provider, which ever you feel more comfortable with.
No, we do not see patients in the hospital. However, we can easily obtain your records and coordinate your care with your hospital doctors if needed. However, we hope to decrease hospitalizations to a minimum through excellent preventative care.
At this time we are only seeing adults. We do however have a pediatrician who is also doing direct primary care in the same office space that sees newborns to 17 year olds.
At this time we are not taking Medicare patients as we need to “opt out” of Medicare billing to be able to bill Medicare patients directly. However, we are putting patients on a wait list to be notified when the “opting out” process has been completed.
Since Direct Primary Care only covers what is done in the clinic, we recommend you obtain insurance coverage for anything handled outside of the clinic such as medications, imaging, hospital based care and specialist care. Coverage plans that pair well with Direct Primary Care are high deductible plans, HSA, and Health share plans.
Yes we do offer some one time visits. For the most updated information please contact the office at (713)-571-4214 or at [email protected]
No, we do not require any long-term commitments. You can terminate the agreement at any time with a 30-day written notice. However, if your membership lapses and you would like to renew, your renewal would be subject to availability. Also, there is a membership re-initiation fee of two times the initial administration fee in addition to the monthly fee due at the time of service.
Your care will be coordinated with specialists with as much detail as possible so that they are aware of your health history and the reason for the referral. We will also work to make sure you are seen in a timely manner. Specialist fees can be billed to your insurance.
Yes, absolutely, and often these are the members who see the most benefit from our services. Our memberships are not based upon any existing medical issues or conditions. However, we will inform you if there are any conditions you have that are outside our scope of practice and appropriate referrals will be made if needed. You may also contact us at [email protected] with any questions prior to enrolling.
That is great! Our primary focus is to keep members well. As such, we can dedicate more time to prevention and lifestyle issues to continue to keep you away from the expensive, cumbersome health care system. However, when you do need care, we are available to help get you back on track. An unexpected trip to ER or urgent care that would have emptied your pocketbook can easily be covered in a same day visit with us often saving the member enough to justify the cost of a year worth of membership fees!
No, we require scheduling all visits beforehand. However, we are able to accommodate most patients the same day or next day. A quick phone call is usually all that is required.
For the time being, insurance companies do NOT recognize our membership fees as a reimbursable expense but some members are able to use FSA money to pay for membership fees.
In most cases, yes, your insurance plan will continue to operate as usual at other doctor’s offices, hospitals and pharmacies etc. However, it depends on the type of plan you have: PPO plans do not require a designated primary doctor for referrals, medications, tests, etc. so Luxe Primary Practice physicians can order or refer just as any other doctor would do and you can use your insurance to pay for those services. However, HMO plans require an in-network designated primary doctor for access to other services. In this case, you will not be able to use your insurance without electing an in network primary doctor through the HMO. This is something to keep in mind. Many times, we are still able to offer HMO patients affordable cash pay options for tests and procedures. Traditional Medicare patients will be able to use their Medicare elsewhere for services we order or referrals. Patients with Medicare Advantage plans may in some cases require an in-network primary care doctor for orders and referrals and so are advised to check with their plan.
We are able to treat acute pain without any reservations. For chronic pain, we have a cautious and conservative approach to using narcotic/opiate medications. In general, if patients are on chronic narcotic pain medications, we will refer patients to a pain management physician as needed. That said, each patient’s needs are assessed and addressed on an individual basis.
We are comfortable managing depression and anxiety including prescribing medications related to these conditions. However, we generally have a conservative and careful approach when using certain medications to treat anxiety or depression and will refer patients to a psychiatrist if we feel it is needed.
Your payment method will be billed for the membership and registration fees at your first visit after you have signed our patient agreement. The membership fee will continue monthly after that.
what we do?
Luxe Primary Practice
Luxe Primary Practice was founded by Dr. Adan Alvarez with the sole purpose of providing primary care the way it is supposed to be. Our priority is the doctor-patient relationship which is the key component of the direct primary care model (DPC).
With the DPC model, you will have a direct relationship with your physician and pay a low monthly membership fee for primary care services with no insurance involvement. In addition, DPC doctors work to save patients money by finding them the least expensive options for their care. Also, by separating patient care from traditional insurance, DPC eliminates insurance red tape and allows doctors to focus solely on taking care of their patients. DPC will allow you to receive excellent, timely and convenient medical care while saving you money.
A membership in Luxe Primary Practice is for everyone including people with great insurance who want better access to high quality healthcare, people with no insurance, people with high deductible health insurance plans, small business owners/self-employed people who want to lower their healthcare costs or the healthcare costs of their employees.
