FAQ

Currently, Naturalist Nutrition is an online-only, paperless practice. All interactions are held via HIPAA-compliant teleconferencing, secure messaging, and phone.

Naturalist Nutrition believes in upfront pricing for nutrition counseling. You will know exactly how much you’ll pay when you book the appointment and when you receive the invoice. No surprises, no added fees, no worries. Just sales tax, which nobody can avoid and I sadly must charge. My rate is $120/hour for all forms of counseling, which includes taxes/plus any legally mandated taxes in your state. There are some exceptions – if your employer has contracted with me to pay a portion of your visit, those hourly rates as well as the percentage covered by the employer are individually negotiated. Rates for other services, such as workplace visits and speaking engagements, are also individually negotiated. I also reserve the right to change the hourly counseling rate at any time and for any reason. All existing clients will be informed of rate changes at least one week prior to the change and certainly before their first appointment after the change. If a service or product was booked or purchased at a certain rate, I will honor the price at the time you booked or purchased it. 

There is no fee or penalty for canceling your appointment more than 24 hours prior to the scheduled time. If you cancel within 24 hours or do not show up for your appointment, you will incur a $40/hour fee for the original planned length of the appointment since I can no longer schedule that time. I’d rather not have to charge this fee, which is why you will receive automated appointment reminders via email or text, whichever you choose when booking the appointment. You can also confirm appointments through text, email, or the client portal.

Yes. Rescheduling can be done within the Practice Better Client Portal, which you will have access to once you have scheduled an appointment.

In the interest of devoting the most attention and care I can to my clients, I unfortunately do not accept insurance. Working with insurance is a full-time job in and of itself, which would detract from the quality of the service you get. Naturalist Nutrition services are self-pay only. However, I will gladly provide you with a coded superbill with which you can seek reimbursement from your insurance company if you wish. (Nutrition services from a licensed practitioner are also often tax-deductible and fall under the umbrella of healthcare expenses, so your invoices can back up your deductions. They are also payable with HSA/FSA accounts, but sometimes a Letter of Medical Necessity is required from your doctor.)

Credit card payments are processed through the Client Portal (where you can choose to keep the card on file or set up auto-pay) and are powered and secured by Stripe. I also take Venmo and PayPal (as well as cash and check if your appointment is in-person and you pay at the time of service). Payment is due within 14 days of service. See complete Terms on payment here. I upload your invoice by the end of the business day each day which is immediately payable within the Client Portal – I recommend paying day-of so you don’t forget! (Of course, I’ll send a secure message when your invoice is ready for viewing and payment.) I also accept Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flex Spending Accounts, but you’ll likely need a Letter of Medical Necessity from your doctor for dietitian services to be payable with these accounts. In fact, I recommend this over credit card payments because (1) paying interest on credit cards sucks, (2) FSAs and HSAs are tax-advantaged – you contribute pre-tax income to your account and then pay your bill with this pool of money. If you normally pay 20% of your income as taxes, you’re essentially saving 20% on my services! (3) I get paid my full rate but you effectively pay less, which I call a win-win, (4) if your HSA/FSA is “use it or lose it”, you can pay your bill with money you might lose anyway, especially if the end of the year is approaching. This essentially getting my services for free if you were going to lose the money soon anyway. This is an even bigger win-win. Last but not least, (5) the money you save by using your FSA/HSA is money that doesn’t end up in the hands of the government. That’s a whole lot of positives for just using a different payment method. I can charge FSA/HSA accounts directly from the Client Portal using the 16-digit card number and other card details (as long as your account provides you with a card you can use as a debit card to pay for medical expenses), or I can provide you with a superbill that will allow you to seek payment from your FSA/HSA after an appointment has taken place

Yes, lots of them! For any verified Google business review, Facebook review, or review/testimonial-like Instagram post that tags @naturalistnutrition (with at least one sentence, not just a 1-5 star rating), I offer 5% off your next visit, and for a NaturalistNutrition.com testimonial, I offer 10% off your next visit. Do all four and you would get a total of 25% off as a one-time offer. See Terms and Conditions for these reviews (don’t worry, they’re short).

                I also offer referral bonuses for any existing client who successfully refers a new client who books an appointment, fulfills the appointment, and pays their bill. The referral bonus is 30% off your next visit. I also offer 20% off a subsequent visit if the person you referred makes and keeps a second appointment and pays their bill, and 10% off a second subsequent visit if the person you referred makes and keeps a third appointment and pays their bill. If you successfully refer several people and ask nicely, I reserve the right to increase these percentages just for you. *smiley*

                I also offer a 25% discount to any active-duty military personnel, reserves, and any Veterans of any branch of the United States Armed Forces. Naturalist Nutrition honors your service to our country. I won’t check your military records or anything, this discount is just based on your word when submitting payment. Any form of service counts - past or present, active duty or reserves, combat or otherwise.

See complete Terms and Conditions for these discounts – they all stack additively!

Other discounts include visits under corporate wellness accounts (rates and percentages covered are individually negotiated) and first 15 minutes free of initial appointments. I also offer a free one-time 15-minute exploratory consult.

Fat loss, type 2 diabetes and prediabetes, fasting (both intermittent and extended), cardiovascular health, pre-bariatric (in the sense that I will steer you away from it), autoimmunity, body composition optimization and athletic performance, animal-based nutrition, ketogenic metabolic therapy, carnivore diets, digestive disorders, anxiety & depression, skin disorders

I want to be honest with all my clients, and I want to provide the best care I can. If that care would best be provided by someone else, I will refer you to that person. I wouldn’t want to do you a disservice by providing sub-par care outside my field of expertise. I don’t advocate for a vegan diet, so if you want help with that, I’d be happy to direct you to plant-based dietitian who would love to work with you. I also very selectively accept clients under 18 years old, so any pediatric clients will need a parent present for each visit who is a part of the nutrition care plan and a complete evaluation of both parent and child, as well as filling out special forms, before counseling can begin. I’m also not your best choice if you have an eating disorder, especially one which is restrictive in nature, and I will refer you elsewhere if that's what you need help with. Complex and severe cases involving enteral nutrition, parenteral nutrition, kidney disease requiring dialysis, liver failure or cirrhosis, HIV/AIDS, end-of-life care, or several chronic diseases, especially in older age, are best handled by other dietitians specialized in those fields, and I will refer any such cases out to other practitioners. I reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason, just as you as the client are free to terminate the services you receive from me at any time for any reason. I have no contracts, obligations, deposits, or debts for private nutrition counseling. You, as the client, are hiring me to be your dietitian, and just like “at will employment”, you can fire me as well.