Frequently Asked Questions
Insurance
Unfortunately, at this time, we do not accept Medicare or Medicaid.
We are currently in network with Blue Cross Blue Shield and United HealthCare. We will confirm that we are in network with your specific plan before your first visit.
If you are concerned about coverage, please call your insurance company’s Member Services department. Click here for tips on the questions to ask.
Please note that insurance never guarantees benefits over the phone. If a claim is denied, we will attempt to reprocess the claim. However, if the information that was provided to you was incorrect, then you will be responsible for the balance of the service.
Blue Cross Blue Shield and United HealthCare include preventative diet counseling in most of their PPO plans. Because of this, your sessions may be 100% covered – no deductible to be met, no copay, and no doctor referral. However, with United HealthCare, the preventative diet counseling benefit typically has qualifiers including family history of CVD and BMI > 25. We suggest calling your insurance company to ask about your coverage.
Our self-pay rate is $150 per hour. You can choose a 30-minute for $75, 45-minute for $112.50 , 60-minute appointment for $150, or 75-minute session for $187.50.
How We Work
All of our Dietitian Coaches have outpatient medical nutrition therapy experience and are passionate about delivering a high-touch, coach-focused program to help manage a variety of health goals and conditions including, but not limited to: Diabetes, Pre-Diabetes, Gestational Diabetes, Eating Disorders, Food Relationship, Functional Relationship, General Wellness, Mental Health Nutrition, Women’s Health, PCOS, Prenatal & Postpartum Nutrition, Men’s Health, Heart Health, Hypertension, Digestive Health, Allergies & Intolerances, Vegan & Vegetarian, Healthy Aging, Autoimmune Conditions, Thyroid Health, Kidney Disease, Cancer, Sports Nutrition, Injury Recovery, Weight Management, Bariatric Surgery, Fertility, and Obesity Medicine.
We accept clients in 19 different states nationwide to comply with state licensure laws. We currently can work with clients in the following states: AK, AZ, CA, CO, FL, IL, IN, MI, MO, MT, NC, NY, OK, OR, PA, SC, TX, VA, WI
You do not need a referral from your doctor unless you are located in California due to state licensure laws. If you do have a referral, we can still see you and are able to coordinate care with your doctor if needed.
Dietitian Coaches will work with you to determine labs that would be helpful for you if necessary, but are unable to order the labs for you.
Typically, your initial call will be the first time speaking with your Dietitian Coach. You will be able to go over what you are looking for and your goals. In select cases we can set up a 15 minute call with the Dietitian Coach you are considering working with before your first visit. If you are interested in this, please reach out to info@allaccessdietitians.com.
If you would like to switch to a different Dietitian Coach, please email info@allaccessdietitians.com or call 312-664-3456 and we will be happy to work with you to make the switch.
Unfortunately, at this time, we are not seeing children under the age of 18.
Medical records are not required but are welcomed if you have them. You will talk about your medical history with your Dietitian Coach in the first session.
Dietitian Coach Approach
Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RD or RDN) have completed coursework from an accredited dietetics program, completed a 1200+ hour supervised practice program and passed a national registration examination. They have maintained extensive continuing education requirements for licensure.
On the other hand, anyone can call themselves a nutritionist or nutrition coach. For example, non-RD health coaches, holistic nutritionists, nutrition therapy practitioners, personal trainers with “certifications” in nutrition may have little to no formal training in nutrition. If they are not a registered dietitian, they are not allowed to assess or prescribe dietary recommendations to those with any disease or health conditions. Insurance companies cover nutrition counseling from registered dietitians, not nutritionists.
A Dietitian Coach is like a sports coach that can help an athlete develop and excel at a sport. A Dietitian Coach can help anyone excel at living better, even if they have chronic medical conditions. The coaching process is similar to talk therapy because it involves two people discussing ideas and issues. That said, the person who is being coached is in the driver’s seat, having full autonomy and creating their goals and the strategies on how to realize these goals. While your Dietitian Coach can provide ideas and personalized education, they will not be telling you what to do. You will collaboratively brainstorm goals and only set goals that you feel confident in and that align with your personal wellness vision.
Our team of registered dietitians also have intensive training as health coaches. Health coaching is a client-led and empathetic approach. The intention is to allow you to be self-directed, autonomous, and confident in your own health journey. At defined parts of the program you will have sessions where your Dietitian Coach puts on their “dietitian expert hat”, but the majority of the program they will be wearing their “health coach hat”.
A key technique utilized by our Dietitian Coaches is motivational interviewing. You will be asked open-ended questions intended to help you elicit your own reasons for change. Instead of saying, “You need to eat better,” your Dietitian Coach might ask, “How might your life be different if you changed the habits that you’ve been trying to change?” This approach, which has been proven effective in many research studies, is so that you are changing for your own reasons, on your own terms, and are far more likely to succeed when compared with someone telling you what to do. That old approach is less motivating and is more likely to instill resistance to change, and therefore, no change.
According to a recent study in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, health coaching “results in clinically relevant improvements in multiple biomarker risk factors (including systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose, body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, and cardiorespiratory fitness) in diverse populations.”
Our coaching program is ideal for individuals who resonate with any of the following:
- Are prevention-focused
- Value their health and want to find something that works for them
- Are looking to improve their whole well-being
- Value the power of a coach to make sustainable changes
- Are highly motivated to change
- Are able to commit to consistent visits for at least 3 months
Our Dietitian Coaches help with a broad variety of health issues to prevent, treat and sometimes reverse chronic health conditions. This includes healthy aging, general wellness, weight loss, stress reduction, the management of chronic conditions, improving diet and exercise, and adjusting to a life-altering health event, like a heart attack, surgery, or new diagnosis.
Appointments
You can cancel your scheduled visit at any point free of charge if it is more than 24 hours in advance. If the cancellation is less than 24 hours prior to your scheduled visit, you will be responsible for a $150 late cancellation fee.
If you do not show up for your scheduled appointment time and do not contact us, this will result in a no-show fee of $150. We understand that things can come up that are out of our control, so we will waive the late cancellation and no-show fee for the first time it happens. Subsequent incidents will be charged at the rates listed above.
If you need to cancel or reschedule your visits, we respectfully ask for 24 hours notice. You can cancel or reschedule your visit free of charge at any time if it is more than 24 hours in advance of your scheduled appointment. This can be done in your secure client portal. If you need to cancel or reschedule less than 24 hours in advance, please call or text our office at 312-664-3456. If the cancellation is less than 24 hours prior to your scheduled visit, you will be responsible for a $150 late cancellation fee. If the reschedule is less than 24 hours prior to your scheduled visit, you will be responsible for a $25 late reschedule fee.
We do not offer any in-person visits at this time. All visits are virtual via a HIPAA-compliant Zoom session.
We offer a 12-vist program with weekly visits with your Dietitian Coach. Maintenance visits are conducted after the initial 12 visits, as often as you find helpful to reaching your goals.
No problem! Though the program is structured for weekly visits, you can work with your Dietitian Coach to come up with a schedule that works best for you.
We are not seeing patients on the weekends, but have Dietitian Coaches available in the evenings. We offer visits as late as 7pm!
Your appointment schedule will be available to you in your secure client portal. You will also receive notification emails and appointment reminders. Feel free to email info@allaccessdietitians.com if you have any issues accessing it.
Your New Client Packet must be completed 48 hours before your first visit. If the packet is not completed, we will need to cancel and reschedule your appointment.
Get started here or call 312-664-3456 and a member of our team will help you and answer any questions.
Communication
Please call 312-664-3456 to speak with a member of our team!
We love working with others! If you are interested in a partnership or collaboration, please reach out to jenny@allaccessdieitians.com and she would be happy to connect with you.
You can message your Dietitian Coach through your secure client portal. If you are having trouble accessing this, please reach out to info@allaccessdietitians.com.
Yes! You are able to message your Dietitian Coach anytime between visits via our HIPAA-compliant messaging in your secure client portal.