General FAQs
Dr. Orona is a Cigna Provider. No other insurance companies have naturopathic benefits or doctors as providers. If you are a Cigna member, please confirm you have naturopathic benefits and that Dr. Orona is listed as a provider under your plan.
Dr. Orona is considered a specialist; however, for most of her patients, she acts as a primary care provider. This means that you can not list her as your Primary Care Doctor with Cigna but she can still see you for your preventative visits, acute illnesses, medication refills, etc.
No. Dr. Orona is a naturopathic medical doctor; also called an NMD or ND in the state of Arizona.
Naturopathic medicine accomplishes health care using holistic diagnosis in conjunction with the following therapies:
- clinical nutrition
- botanical medicine
- homeopathic medicine
- physical medicine
- lifestyle counseling
- pharmaceutical medicine
- minor surgery
All modern licensed Naturopathic Physicians have Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine degrees from federally recognized medical schools. Their education includes:
- the same premedical undergraduate coursework required by other schools of medicine
- a competitive application and admission process
- graduation from a four-year, federally recognized, naturopathic medical school
- two full years of supervised clinical internship
- optional residency programs
Naturopathic medical students study the same basic and clinical sciences as do other medical students, and in addition, a full spectrum of natural medicines and therapies.
As primary care providers, naturopathic physicians use:
- standard medical diagnostic techniques such as extensive health history, physical examination, blood tests, radiology, and other standard laboratory procedures.
- holistic interpretation in order to find the underlying cause of the disease process.
- natural medicines and therapies as the first line of treatment, and rational use of drugs and surgery
We are located on the northeast corner of McClintock and Elliot in the Infinity Plaza. Our building is in the back part of the property behind AutoZone and Freddy’s. When you get to our building, you will go through the glass double doors in the front of the building, go all the way down the hallway, and we are the door directly in front of you.
Your care with Dr. Orona will start with your initial visit which is typically spent with Dr. Orona taking a history, doing an exam (when an appointment is in office), and giving you tests that she would like to have you complete. Once completed, we will schedule your second appointment to review all this information with Dr. Orona in detail. During this visit, she will show you your results and explain them to you. Then, she will customize a treatment plan which will include how often you will need to be seen to access your progress.
Yes!
You have a few options:
- You could wait until your appointment to see what records Dr. Orona feels are pertinent to your care and needed in your chart. Then, we can have you provide those or we will request them from the practitioner who originally ordered them
- You could scan your documents in advance and add them to your patient portal. Send these as a document or as an email with an attached document.
No.
Not at this time. Should I feel you need IV treatment I will refer you clinics I work with.
No.
We have a full medicinary where you can purchase your supplements. However, you can also shop around for those products online or at your local health food stores. We would, of course, appreciate your support by purchasing through our office.
Unfortunately, there are many fraudulent companies that will try to sell you a product that is not really what you think you are getting. The bottle may look exactly like what you have bought from us but contain something totally different. Also, supplements are not regulated so you may not even be getting what the label says. Worse of all, you may be taking a product that you are trying to avoid. Also, remember fills are where companies will save money. In some cases, we have also found that some online companies store supplements in warehouses without the proper conditions and so the supplements have lost their efficacy.
Please know that we are helping the patient who is here in the office when we are unable to answer your call. The best times to call are Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9AM to 3PM as that is when 2 staff members are in the office to answer calls. Additionally, if you want faster service, please leave a message. You can also email Dr. Orona directly or any specific staff member using your ChARM patient portal. This portal is HIPAA Compliant and therefore you can ask specific health questions.
- HSA cards are accepted at our office. They can be used for office visits, lab fees, prescription medications, and supplements.
- It is the patient’s responsibility to know the HSA card balance and if there is a hold on your account. The cards will decline payment if we attempt to use it for an amount greater than the available balance. Our office has no way of checking the available balance.
- Your receipts are usually sufficient to submit when proof of purchase is necessary, but in case further information is needed, please contact our office.
1. Make sure all the parts you need to have filled out are filled out on the form prior to your appointment.
a. All medical history and patient demographics must be filled out completely and signed by the patient or patient representative.
2. Forms:
a. Physical: Dr.Orona will fill it out during your visit to perform the physical
b. FMLA or other: Fill out the areas where it requests information from Dr. Orona according to what you would like for it to say. Then, upload to ChARM as a document for Dr. Orona to review and sign or turn in a physical copy to our office
3. If you would like Dr.Orona to fill out your form, you will be charged $200/hour. If you do the work and Dr.Orona just has to read through the form and sign, there will be no charge.
4. Please note that Dr.Orona’s time at the office is primarily devoted to patients with office visits and other urgent matters pertaining to patient care. You can expedite the completion of your form by filling out the form yourself and sending it to Dr.Orona for review and signatures.
- If you would like Dr. Orona to write you a letter, you will be charged $200/hour. If you do the work and Dr. Orona just has to read through the letter, put it on letterhead, and sign it, there will be a minimal charge based on the time spent on the letter or no cost if less than 10 minutes.
- Please note anything you are asking in this letter must be something you have reviewed with Dr. Orona within the last year.
- Dr. Orona’s time at the office is primarily devoted to patients with office visits and other urgent matters pertaining to patient care. You can expedite the completion of your letter by filling out the form yourself and sending it to Dr. Orona for review and signatures.
ChARM FAQs
ChARM EHR is the Electronic Health Records (EHR) used by our office to provide you with online web based, HIPAA Compliant access to your health. You can use it to email Dr. Orona and our staff, see your lab results, review your health information and treatment plans, and much more.
You certainly can however we can easily request records that are needed. If you have had lab tests done in the last year, it would be helpful to bring them in for review. Please bring in a printed copy (we can make a copy for our records if needed) and not on a electronic device as we will be unable to print it.