NORTHWEST AUTONOMIC CLINIC POLICIES

Erik Armitano, MD
13107 121st Way NE
Kirkland, Wa 98034
425-505-2200

Care management:

Welcome to the Northwest Autonomic Clinic where autonomic disorders such as Dysautonomia, POTS, and Autonomic Neuropathies are evaluated, diagnosed and managed. We understand that these disorders cause a large number of symptoms and that they may be severe and disabling, but they are chronic illnesses that take time, patience and trial and error to achieve improvement. Please note that our practice is designed to provide chronic disease management, not acute care. If you have a new symptom(s), you should be evaluated by your primary care provider in order to be sure that you do not have a new, unrelated problem. If you have worsening and/or acute symptoms you are concerned about, be evaluated by the nearest urgent care facility or emergency department. If you are having an exacerbation of your illness that cannot wait until your next scheduled appointment, we will schedule you for the next available appointment and/or add you to the cancellation list.

Please note that any general neurology symptoms or conditions such as numbness, tingling, headaches, migraines, back and neck pain, should be addressed with a general neurologist as Dr. Armitano will be addressing your autonomic symptoms only.

Messaging:

We always attempt to answer incoming calls whenever possible so, if you do get our voicemail, please know that we are either on the phone or helping a patient who is being seen in the office. Due to the high volume of calls we receive, we ask that if you do get voicemail to please leave a brief message and know that your call will be returned as soon as we are able. We also ask that you refrain from calling repeatedly during the day and leave just one voicemail in a 24 hour period as multiple messages will only slow response times.. Email is not always checked on a daily basis so if the office email has been provided to you, please only use this form of communication if it has been requested by the office. Please do not use email as a way to reach the office for things such as appointment scheduling or medication requests.

Labs and other testing:

Some of the labs we order are very specialized. We cannot guarantee that labs ordered will be covered by your insurance. It is the patient’s responsibility to verify if labs will be covered prior to completing them (you can ask the lab to check with your Insurance). We also do not obtain insurance authorization for labs that are not covered by insurance so it is up to the patient if they would like to proceed with completing them.

The autonomic testing done in our office does not require pre authorization and it is also the patient’s responsibility to verify if this test is a covered benefit for them. We will submit authorizations to insurance for other diagnostic testing, such as MRI as needed.

Any additional testing requested by the patient that was not addressed at your appointment will need to be discussed/requested from the doctor at your next visit. If it is testing for something other than what he is treating you for, please see your PCP or other specialist to request this.

Test results:

As follow up appointments are usually scheduled out several months, you can get test and lab results prior to your next scheduled visit. Please note that labs can take up to 3 weeks for results to come in and be reviewed. We will make an attempt to call as results come in to advise if anything is needed to be done based on results, but may not be able to reach out to patients with every “normal” test. You are welcome to call the office for test results if you do not hear from us first.

Medications:

Medications currently filled by another provider should continue to be filled by that provider unless it is for the condition that Dr. Armitano is treating you for, in which case he may take the prescriptions over if requested at your appointment. Any medications that can be managed by your primary physician or other specialist should be obtained from them. Note: Dr. Armitano does not prescribe narcotic/pain medications.

Forms and letters:

We ask that any letters, such as school or work accommodation letters, be written by the patient and sent to the office. We will put it on letter head and edit as needed and Dr. Armitano will sign it. This also applies to any forms that need completion, such as FMLA forms. Those will need to be completed by the patient, Dr. Armitano will review and sign them.

We sincerely want to help our patients through the very difficult process of managing symptoms and to help you live the best life possible. It is our hope that by outlining the office policies and procedures, we can set realistic expectations and avoid potentially confusing and frustrating interactions as we move forward. The doctor and staff will do their best within Insurance and resource constraints to care for each of you. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to help you.

With gratitude,

Dr Erik Armitano and staff