Frequently Asked Questions

We strive to take care of you as a whole patient and offer you all health care options when you need it and however you need it.  In addition to taking care of any short term health issues that arise, we particularly want to prioritize a focus and goal of getting and keeping you healthy in the long term.  Taking care of your health is a daily investment, not something that should only be discussed once a year at a physical.  Our goal is to see you in person once every quarter (every three months) to help you build the tools to make progress towards your own unique health goals and your optimal wellbeing.  The current health care system is designed to profit from you being unhealthy requiring the chronic use of pharmaceuticals, hospitalizations and surgeries.  We want you to be healthy, to thrive in life, and we believe that together as a team, we can help you achieve this without unnecessary medications and interventions. 

There are so many reasons that doctors change but the most important is that they want to take the best possible care of their patients.  The average Family Physician has approximately 200 patients that they take care of and some have over 3,500 patients with more being added each month.  Most physicians are not opposed to hard work and but they need to be able to provide quality care not quick care, provide value not volume.  You, as the patient, deserve better.  So many patients pay so much for insurance but can never actually use it because they can’t get in to be seen.  In some hospital systems, physicians at times have been prohibited from discussing certain medical options with their patients while at the same time being given incentive to prescribe certain medications such as statin medications.  No one should have any type of influence on your care like this.  Your care is up to you.  The Direct Primary Care physician wants to be able to guide and advise you on every possible option.   

Direct Primary Care focuses on quality rather than quantity and to do this they limit the size of their practice.  The average DPC practice has 413 patients which allows the provider to spend more time with each patient and still have plenty of openings to get patients in when they need to be seen.

Direct Primary Care practices accept patients with or without insurance however they do not bill insurance plans and they are not contracted with any insurance plans.  Unfortunately, at this time, Washington State is one of only a few states who have laws in place which prohibit submitting receipts from any Direct Primary Care provider to insurance for reimbursement.  

Most patients feel that the benefits they receive in the higher quality of individualized care, the benefits of the ease of being seen by the provider they choose at the time they choose, and the benefits of the expanded healthcare options that they see with Integrative Medicine are more than worth the investment in their health.  

With DPC, it is strongly encouraged that every patient still have insurance to cover the costs of services not provided by DPC like prescriptions, labs, xrays, specialists, surgeries, and hospitalizations. 

Direct Primary Care use a monthly membership system.  Most practices have an initial one-time enrollment fee,  The amount varies from practice to practice but a typical cost would be $100 per person or $300 per family.  This is followed by a monthly membership fee billed each month.  There are no copays.  There are no deductibles.  There are no additional fees for basic services.  

The monthly fee covers physicals, well child checks, sports physicals, medication visits, sick visits, visits for injuries, lifestyle counseling visits, followup visits all with no extra costs.  It covers in person visits and virtual visits.  The monthly fee covers brief questions by email or text as well.  

One of the goals of DPC is that you won’t have to go to an Urgent Care Clinic or Walk-In Clinic if it is something that the DPC provider can handle, all with no additional fees.  Really the hope is to see you before things get bad so that you won’t need to go to an urgent care.  In the traditional system, some patients will wait to be seen until things get severe.  With DPC you no longer have to worry about which urgent care to go to, who you will see (will it be the best or the worst doctor) and how much it will cost.  There is no extra cost with DPC for urgent issues.

Planned procedures like skin lesion removals and ingrown toenail removals are typically the only things that have an additional fee and that is typically discussed when the procedure is being scheduled.  Many DPC practices offer durable medical equipment (ankle braces, elbow braces, etc.) and generic medications at discounted prices.  The membership doesn’t cover things outside of basic services provided by the physician. For these things (labs, xrays, specialist, surgeries, and hospitalizations) you can use your insurance.

The average monthly membership fees for DPC range from $50 to $150 (some as high as $400-$500).  Typical monthly membership fees are:

- $90-$100 for the first adult
- $85-$95 for every additional adult
- $75-$85 for each child/adolescent (under age 18)
Or
- $300-$350 for a family (2 adults and all dependents under age 26)
There are NO additional fees. 

With Direct Primary Care labs can be done at any laboratory like Labcorp, Quest, Evergreen or wherever is most convenient for you.  Similarly for xrays and specialists you can also go anywhere that works best for you. 

With DPC the goal is to make scheduling easy.  For routine visits you shouldn’t need to schedule any more than a few weeks in advance.  For urgent and acute visits, if you contact the practice before noon we will try to see you that day and if you contact us after noon they will try to get you in on the next business day.

Current patients can schedule appointments through the patient portal. https://app.elationpassport.com/passport/login/

Not all DPC practices are the same. Some offer healing modalities in addition to typical medical services at an additional charge. These modalities may include Reiki, Therapeutic Touch, Meditation, Breathwork, and Intuitive Counseling.  Some practices may also offer ear acupuncture.  Many practices also offer durable medical equipment - DME (ankle braces, elbow braces, etc) and generic medications at discounted prices.

Minerva is the Roman goddess representing wisdom, intelligence and understanding. She is often depicted with her Owl representing knowledge and insight as well as, intuition and change. She was known to change into different forms to communicate with different people. She is also depicted as being the goddess of strength and strategy in the face of conflict.  

We offer you our training and experience to help you achieve all of your health goals. We appreciate that every patient is distinctly different and our hope is to meet you where you are at and through partnership guide you. We see a health care system that is collapsing and you as a patient are suffering the costs. There is another way, a better way, a way where you are the focus. Rather than hospital administrators, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical companies dictating the focus.  Our commitment is to you.  

We are located at 302 Maple Avenue in Snohomish, Washington inside Snohomish Natural Health. 

Our fax number is (425) 264-4102

Current patients who have not received an invitation for the patient portal can email us @ info@minervamedicine.com to have an invite sent to you.