Chiropractic Patient FAQ

Chiropractic & Massage Therapy FAQs:

What are your hours of operation?

By appointment only. Click here to book online, or call/text 734.335.0212

Chiropractic Hours:

M 9AM–5PM   Tu 11PM–6PM   W Closed   Th 12PM–7PM   F 11AM–3PM

Massage Therapy Hours:

M 12:30PM–5PM   Tu 1PM–7PM   W Per Request   Th 12:30PM–6PM   F 10:30PM-3PM

By request, special accommodations are considered for extenuating circumstances.

What should I expect at my first visit?

Your first visit with Dr. Burr & Israel is for 60 minutes.

  • First visit details are outlined in your New Patient Apppointment‘s confirmation email (MUST READ)
  • We will perform a thorough history taking, physical examination & assessment, and treatment (if necessary)
  • Visits are 1-on-1 with the Doctor
  • Our assessment is a scientific problem-solving process to understand the problem, why it’s there, how to resolve it and teach you how to maintain your success
  • If the doctor determines they can help, they’ll discuss a plan of action and treatment options
  • Our average is six visits (combination of both simple and complicated cases) to resolve your problem, regardless of how long the problem has been going on
  • You are not obligated to begin a plan of treatment — no pressure or sales tactics

Your first visit with Kristin Szlinis depends on the service you choose.

  • Bodywork sessions are 60-minute & 90-minute sessions; Rolfing is 100 minutes
  • A completed electronic health history intake form is needed before your appointment (linked in your email confirmation)
  • For bodywork, either wear activewear or undergarments which allow access to work on your entire body
  • For Rolfing, wear comfortable “activewear” or loose-fitting clothing and be prepared to play an active role
  • You will discuss health history, goals, and expectations of treatment to cater to your needs

 

What are follow-up visits like?

All appointments are 1-on-1 and hands-on with your Doctor the entire length of your visit, every visit. We don’t see you for a few minutes then hand you off to someone else!

We are always evaluating and reevaluating. As we go through the process of “peeling away the layers of the onion” to get to the core of the problem, we’re constantly modifying your treatments, strategies and the recommendations we make accordingly. You and your frustrations are unique to you and ever-changing, so your treatment should never follow a strict, cookie-cutter protocol.

We will ask questions, test, re-test, recommend strategies, offer advice, employ hands-on treatment, and coach rehabilitative & performance exercises. You will have to move around, answer questions, pay attention, follow instructions and provide detailed feedback — this is an active approach! We are eliminating possibilities to get a clear understanding of the primary issue and how to solve it.

Ultimately, a treatment plan is a team effort. We have to work together to not only get you moving and feeling better, but understand why the problem occurred in the first place, how it changes, and how to maintain your results with simple self-strategies. Only then can you achieve a solution, so you can get back to what you love doing most, and keep it that way!

How long is an appointment?

We are a low-volume practice for better, more personalized care, which means excellent results for you. We help you understand what the problem is, what it isn’t, how to get better, and learn how to maintain your success.

Whether you’ve had your first bout of muscle, joint, and nerve pain or you’re sick of the chiro farms and PT factories, you get 1-on-1 personal attention from your clinician. We never hand you off to a technician or have you by yourself with a therapy machine. 

What makes us different?

Why choose us over other chiropractors in the area?

At REACH, we utilize traditional chiropractic care (adjustments), along with manual therapy and physical therapy techniques to dramatically speed up your recovery. We’ve discovered through years of practice when you combine all of these approaches, you get better, faster.

Traditional chiropractic relies exclusively on adjustments to get you better. The problem is, what if adjustments don’t help you, or what if that’s not the treatment you need at that time. The adjustment is like the hammer in the toolbox. It’s a really useful tool, but it’s not the only tool required to get a project done. Plus, if you only use one tool to get a project done, it’s going to take a lot longer to complete it. That is why we use a combination of tools (services) to get the job done more efficiently.

Are you accepting new clients/patients?

Yes. We may not always fit you in right away, but are always scheduling new patients and clients.

  • We are a low volume practice for better, more personal care yielding faster results
  • Treatment plans are “active” and teach you “self-care” to produce faster and lasting results
  • We don’t have a repetitive “book of business” because we discharge patients and clients when they’ve met their goals

Because of consistent patient/client turnover, we rely on word-of-mouth referrals to afford the ability to help more people.

If you or someone else you know could benefit from our approach, we would greatly appreciate the recomendation!

Why are your reviews so good?

Yes, we have a lot of 5-star reviews on Google and other platforms.

No, we did not pay for them!

If you take the time to read some, you’ll get a similar perspective from them. That is, we’re not your average chiropractic clinic. We don’t just adjust you and send you right out the door in less than 10 minutes!

We take the time to listen to you, so we can understand and properly diagnose what you’re dealing with. This allows us to better utilize a combination of traditional chiropractic care (adjustments), manual therapies, and physical therapy to get you better, faster.

Getting your current symptoms under control is half our job. The other half is making sure you are properly educated about your condition(s) and making sure we set you up with a long-term prevention strategy to keep them from coming back.

Will you X-Ray me?

No, we do not have an x-ray machine in the office, nor do we utilize it for “alignment” purposes.

  • If you suffered trauma, e.g., slip-and-fall, referral for imaging (x-ray, MRI, CT) may be needed
  • If a “reg flag” pops up in your health history where imaging is needed, we will discuss why and offer appropriate guidance
  • Early imaging is not ideal in most cases because x-ray, MRI, and CT scans alone cannot diagnose pain
    • Imaging findings often show “false positives”
    • An MRI is like a portrait: it shows you what you look like but not how you feel
  • Chiropractic x-rays to diagnose “reverse curves” to guide treatment has poor scientific evidence of effectiveness, so we don’t use it

You don’t take a picture of a door’s hinge to see how the door opens & closes. We don’t need a picture of your spine to see how you move and function. We test your movement and function to determine where the problem is located and how to correct it.

Are you going to make my joints crack/click/pop?

It depends. A chiropractic adjustment which is associated with a “snap-crackle-pop” can be helpful but not absolutely needed.

  • The crack/click/pop you hear is simply gas leaving the joint
    • Like the sound a suction cup makes when you pull it off a glass window
    • The sound is associated with a relieving feeling but does not have to happen for the adjustment to work
  • The adjustment is meant to get joints not moving well to move better.
  • Stuck joints cause other joints above and below to have to move more which can lead to pain and injury
  • There are other ways to get your joints moving better including mobilization, soft-tissue, work, and active exercises
  • Chiropractic adjustments are great for musculoskeletal health, not an as an alternative for medical necessity

What if I just want my back cracked?

We are chiropractors, so yes, we perform spinal and extremity adjustments.

However, that is not the only service we provide.

Whether you are a New Patient or an Existing Patient, we take the time to properly evaluate you during each visit to determine the best treatments that day. You’ll also receive a movement prescription (simple exercises or stretches) to take home with you. This helps to hold your treatments for longer, as well as gives you the strategies to treat yourself long-term.

The one thing we don’t do at REACH is adjust someone and hope they get better over time — “Pop & Pray,” as they say. Our evaluation process helps us determine personalized treatments and exercise strategies to best suit you.

No “cookie-cutter” treatments here. We always meet you where you are at.

Ultimately, if you just want to get “cracked” (adjustment), we’re likely not a good fit for you.

Do you accept my health insurance?

Insurance is, unfortunately, complicated.

There’s a complete disconnect between what insurance providers will cover and what’s best for you. It’s still much easier to get opioids or back surgery paid for by insurance than a manual therapy or exercise program reimbursed.

We accept most major health insurance carriers. Also, we can accept plans with out-of-network coverage (not all have out-of-network coverage). We strive to help you understand your options to make the best decision.

In-network

  • Blue Cross Blue Shield
  • Aetna
  • Cofinity
  • Auto Insurance
  • Personal Injury (PI) Claims
  • Worker’s Comp
  • Meritain Health
  • Other subsidiaries of the above networks

Out-of-network

  • HAP (Cigna)
  • Blue Care Network
  • Priority Health
  • Medicare/Medicaid
  • Medicare supplemental plans

We are out-of-network with the above insurances because they don’t cover our services outside of a basic chiropractic adjustment. They do not cover the physical therapies coding we utilize in our process.

Just because you have health insurance does not mean everything is covered. It’s your responsibility as the policyholder to understand your benefits.

As a scheduled new patient, we will make a complimentary benefits check to help you make the best financial decision. We cannot do a check before you decide to make an appointment — call your insurance provider. Below are the codes we use.

  • Chiropractic treatment codes: 98940, 98941, 98942
  • Therapies codes: 97112, 97110, 97140
  • Exam codes: 99203, 99202, 99212, 99213

Because of high deductibles and out-of-pocket costs with certain policies, many people with coverage elect to go with our all-services-included private-pay rate:

  • We cannot legally offer discounts or waive rendered therapies when billing insurance
  • We can accept Health Savings Accounts (HSA) & Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) under our private-pay rate
  • We can offer you a detailed medical receipt (superbill) that you can directly submit to your insurance for possible reimbursement

Why would I consider paying out-of-pocket for chiropractic care?

$70 out-of-pocket per visit may cause hesitancy, but consider the cost of an insurance claim ($100-120) when paying toward your deductible.

If you have a low deductible or know you’re going to meet your deductible, it makes sense to bill insurance. 

When you have a high deductible plan or no insurance coverage at all, our private pay rate is the most cost-effective, and there are no barriers to getting the care you need.

Let’s pretend you’re healthy, so you rarely see the doctor. You have a $5000 deductible (what you pay 100% out-of-pocket until met) which you didn’t meet last year, and you need our average of six visits to solve your problem. Billing insurance toward a deductible would cost between $500-$840, whereas utilizing a $70 private pay rate would cost $350-490.

Either way, you get the same excellent service, so why not ditch the insurance confusion and pay less to get better?

We accept credit cards for health savings and flexible spending accounts.

The chiro down the road is cheaper -- why would I see you?

Yes, it may appear cheaper in cost on a per-visit basis. But considering the time you spend with your chiropractor and how often you have to see them, it paints a different picture.

Here’s the breakdown:

Other chiropractors:

  • $40 per visit
  • 5-minute appointment (adjustment only)
  • Visits 3x/wk two weeks, 2x/wk for six weeks, then 1x/wk for four weeks
  •  About $880

REACH chiropractors:

  • $70 per visit
  • 15-30-minute appointments (adjustment, therapies, guidance, and all our chiropractic services)
  • Learning how to maintain your correction rather than a lifetime of “wellness” care
  • Visits 2x/wk for the first week, then 1x/wk for five weeks
  •  About $490

Even though the chiro down the street appears cheaper, you will spend more time and money if you sign up for their long-term treatment plan. At REACH, we take pride in getting you better as efficiently as possible, while educating you about long-term prevention strategies.

Insurance Billing Questions

Third-party servicer, Professional Billing Specialists, handles our insurance claims and benefits verifications.

For insurance billing questions, please contact Kendra.

Insurance is confusing. Kendra will help you understand your bill. If there’s a possible mistake on our end, she will contact us to solve the problem.

Any credit or overpayments will be sent out as a refund check on a quarterly basis.

CLICK HERE to make a payment online at anytime.

Have a Question?

Drop us a line below

Or call/text 734.335.0212