Consumer Info

What You Should know About Meaningful Mobility

Meaningful Mobility (MM) is a private practice offering Direct Access Physical Therapy and Wellness Services to individuals in their homes. Heather Carrillo DPT is the owner and sole provider of services.

Direct Access means that the State of California allows licensed physical therapists to provide skilled physical therapy and consultation services without first receiving a physician's referral or prescription. Physical therapists in California do, however, at minimum need to have a documented medical diagnosis from a physician or other diagnostician to provide physical therapy. Please be aware, however, that insurance companies determine the circumstances under which physical therapy services are covered. Ms. Carrillo is a Direct Access, Private Pay Provider and Medicare Provider.

Medicare beneficiaries and other insurance beneficiaries do not have direct access to physical therapists. Medicare requires their beneficiaries to be under the care of a physician and a prescription from that physician prior to treatment for physical therapy to be covered. Read our Medicare Assignment of Benefits document for more information on this topic.
Note: Physical Therapists can provide wellness/fitness services to anyone without a documented diagnosis.

Rates

Physical Therapy Services: from $60.00 per visit after initial evaluation

Fitness/Wellness: from $39.00 per visit after initial evaluation

Service Area & Appointments

Service Area: Meaningful Mobiility typically provides services to residents of San Diego who live within a 20 mile radius from downtown Chula Vista. Travel to other areas are accepted on a case by case basis and may involve charges for travel outside of the designated 20 mile radius. (To determine if your home is within the 20 mile radius go to www.mapquest.com or similiar site and use 276 Fourth Ave, Chula Vista 91910 as a destination address from your home.)

Appointments: Appointments are currently scheduled between the hours of 8:30am-1:00pm Mon. and 8:30am-6pm Wed and Fri. Arrangements can be made for evening and weekend appointments to involve other family members, etc. on an as needed basis.

• Appointment/arrival times are a 20 minute approximation. Although I strive to meet our schedule appointment times promptly, traffic and driving distances can alter scheduled times. Client care is a number one priority and every effort will be made to arrive promptly on time.
• I do my best to keep appointments standing on the same day and at the same time, but this cannot always be guaranteed. Your understanding and flexibility is greatly appreciated on such occassions.

Cancellations: Please cancel 24 hours prior to appointment time. Two visits where the patient/client is not home and has not notified Meaningful Mobility in advance will likely result in discharge and a late cancellation charge.

PLEASE NOTIFY THE THERAPIST IF YOU WILL NOT BE HOME. IF YOU DO NOT ANSWER YOUR DOOR OR PHONE AT THE SCHEDULED TIME AND IT IS THOUGHT A FALL/INJURY HAS OCCURED, 911 WILL BE CALLED.

Payment Policies

Acceptable forms of payment include cash, check, visa, or mc.

Private Pay

• Payment for each visit is to be made at the time of or before service is rendered.
• Payment plans are available on a case-by-case basis where financial hardship is demonstrated.
• Discounts are available for clients purchasing wellness/fitness packages.
• Patients and clients will be invoiced for any charges accrued for bounced checks and will be charged a late payment fee.

Medicare Patients

Physician Referrals:

Please provide your physician with our physician referral form for signature. For your convenience, we can fax your phsyician this form for signature. Your physician, however, will likely request that your schedule an office visit before signing the referral.

Meaningful Mobility will need to verify that Medicare is your primary insurance company and will request the following pieces of information:
• Patient’s name and DOB
• Patient’s Medicare Number.

If a patient is unable to competently make medical decisions and sign consent forms, Meaningful Mobility will ask the responsible party for this information and to sign consent.

If MM believes that Medicare will not cover the services being sought for reasons of “medical necessity”, the patient or responsible party will be asked to sign an Advanced Beneficiary Notice which obligates the patient or responsible party to pay for unpaid services by Medicare.

Wellness/Fitness services are not a Medicare covered benefit. Clients with Medicare as their primary insurance will be provided a Notice of Exclusions of Medicare Benefits.

Other Insurance Beneficiaries

MM may be able to assist other insurance beneficiares obtain reimbursement for the physical therapy services paid for out of pocket. If you plan to seek reimbursement from your insurance company for the services you pay for, I strongly recommend that you first call your insurance company’s customer service representative and ask:
• If your policy covers physical therapy
• What percentage of the treatment fee is covered
• How many visits are allowable
• Whether a physician's prescription is necessary in order to determine “medical necessity.” If so, you will need to obtain a prescription from your physician. Be aware that your physician my require that you be seen in their office before providing you with a prescription. Your physician may allow MM to fax to their office a prescription for signature without an initial office visit. Physician Referral Form

Note: medical necessity is often a primary criterion for insurance reimbursement.

What you should know about Physical Therapy

1. Only a Licensed Physical Therapist (PT) or Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) can practice “physical therapy.” A PTA can only practice physical therapy under the supervision of a PT.

2. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE YOUR PT PROVIDER. Often times, patients think they can only receive physical therapy from the clinic or agency their physician has referred them to. Don’t hesitate to exercise your right to choose; kindly communicate to your physician your choice of provider and provide them with our Physician Referral Form.

Please call Meaningful Mobility at 619-454-2958 for more specific rate information

Meaningful Mobility

For You. For A Cause.