FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Providing immunotherapy to patients with allergies is a potentially enormous field for Physicians who traditionally have not done this work. You have enough candidates for the therapy right inside your practice: One in 5 Americans has environmental allergies, and many are not aware of their condition, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Rather than just prescribing antihistamines that mask symptoms, Physicians could do their patients a real service by identifying allergies in patients through testing and providing immunotherapy that targets the underlying condition.

There is no up-front financial cost required from you. You medically supervise MDAllergy Solutions personnel within the allergy program and make all medical necessity decisions for your patients. MDAllergy Solutions only provides allergy services to the patients that you deem medically necessary for allergy testing and that you approve for immunotherapy. You provide space (roughly 100-150 sq ft for MDAllergy Solutions staff including a phone/internet access, sharps biohazard disposable service and access to a sink.

MDAllergy Solutions Services will provide all personnel, supplies, and equipment needed for your allergy program to function smoothly and efficiently. MDAllergy Solutions Services has also invested heavily in the training of our Allergy Technicians. Our Technicians are Advanced Life Support Certified and have an Anaphylaxis Training Certification from the Red Cross.

You, the provider, will manage all medical decisions and supervise the clinical aspects of the Allergy program and determine which patients are candidates for allergy testing and immunotherapy services, while a MDAllergy-staffed Clinical Allergy Specialist will help educate patients, administer tests and manage their mixed immunotherapy.

The typical immunotherapy patient suffers from seasonal environmental allergies. Further, the immunotherapy patient may have only experienced partial benefits or had unsuccessful experiences with OTC allergy medications and Corticosteroids that only mask the issue for a short period of time and leaving the patient with no hope for a long-term solution to their allergy symptoms. Finally, the patient needs to be willing and capable of complying with the requirements of an immunotherapy program.

All billing is done through the practice. You maintain total control of cash flow reimbursements. Insurance carriers will pay you in the same manner as they do currently. You will continue to receive insurance reimbursements and collect patient co-pays for services rendered. MDAllergy Solutions will then assist with the revenue cycle process and invoice you for services rendered to your patient.

Designing and implementing airborne allergy immunotherapy protocols is within the scope of practice for M.D.s and D.O.s. The Academy of Allergy and Asthma in Primary Care (AAAPC) reported that 15,000 MDs and D.O.s – more than 3 times the total number of allergists in the U.S. – are now billing under the CPT code for Immunotherapy.

Our goal is to not put any additional burden on your office staff. We ask, that your staff facilitate patient benefits verification, identification and scheduling of those established patients deem medically necessary for airborne allergy testing. During the triage process of that identified allergy patient, the allergy technician will collect the established patient data to confirm medical necessity.

MDAllergy Solutions provides training for your administrative and clinical staff. Training includes information about airborne allergy testing and immunotherapy science, and current regulatory requirements. We also do detailed training with the onsite providers. We will go over step-by-step what is required of you and how we will integrate it into your practice.

Under provider supervision, the allergy technician performs skin (prick) testing for seasonal and perennial allergens (including dust mites, weeds, trees, grasses, molds and pet dander). Skin (prick) testing creates an IgE mediated reaction on the surface of the skin that can be measured, and these positive results create the basis for a focused discussion of the correlation of signs and symptoms, diagnosis and the formulation of individualized allergen immunotherapy.

An ear, nose, and throat exam are performed by the provider and the provider determines if testing is medically necessary. If the patient is currently taking antihistamines, he/she should discontinue usage 3-5 days prior to testing based on the time it takes for the medication to metabolize out of the patient’s system and on the provider’s clinical judgment.

After the patient has tested positive for various antigens, the provider examines the test results for clinical significance. Then, if the provider and the patient choose, the Allergy Technician prepares the customized Immunotherapy specific to each patient. The Immunotherapy is administered subcutaneously either in the office or the patients can also safely self-administer at home if the provider deems it appropriate through MDAllergy Solutions guidelines.

Yes, Immunotherapy is very effective in greatly decreasing or even eliminating the symptoms of airborne allergies. Up to 85% of patients receive complete desensitization or a noticeable reduction in allergy signs and symptoms.

We at MDAllergy Solutions want to do our part in educating and assisting your practice in identifying, retaining, and effectively treating your patient population in this fight to treat the masses of Allergy sufferers and facilitate adding that new revenue stream to your practice