Patient Information
What to Expect During a Treatment Session | Patient Forms | Insurance & Billing | Testimonials
What to expect during a treatment session:
Try to wear loose and comfortable clothing during your treatments. We have towels and sheets to drape if you need.
Make sure you have eaten before receiving acupuncture (at least something that day).
Please be sure to have filled out the new-patient paperwork online prior to your appointment.
The first portion of the treatment is an in-depth health history discussion and conversation about current medical issues.
After this discussion there will be physical assessments, like feeling your pulse and abdomen.
Needles can be left in for anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes.
After your treatment we will talk about the treatment plan for the future, as well as dietary and lifestyle advice.
Office visits are scheduled for an hour.
Patient Forms
When you make your first appointment, you will receive an email confirmation with a link to all required new patient forms, which you will need to fill out online. If you have any questions about the forms, please call or email.
Insurance & Billing
In addition to seeing patients without insurance coverage, we also accept medical insurance, as well as Personal Injury Protection (PIP) claims from car accidents.
We are preferred providers for many health care insurance companies, and all car insurance companies for PIP claims. If your insurance is not listed here please call or email. Please note : Dr. Cutler is not in-network with First Choice or Kaiser. Neither Dr. Cutler nor Dr. Russell take Medicare.
List of Providers:
Aetna
First Choice Health Network
Kaiser (Access PPO and Options)
Regence
dozens of other smaller insurers
All PIP (car accident) insurances, including :
Allstate (PIP)
Farmer’s (PIP)
Geico (PIP)
Pemco (PIP)
Safeco (PIP)
State Farm (PIP)
USAA (PIP)
Before your first appointment, please confirm with your insurance company that you have acupuncture benefits.
For those patients whose insurance covers "out-of-network" practitioners, we can provide a receipt that you can give to your insurance company for reimbursement. Please contact your insurance for their guidelines.
Testimonials
Rash
" In the spring of 2001 I began to develop a rash on the backs of my hands and my along the backs of my upper arms. At first the rash was no worse than poison Ivy, and I assumed that I was having a small allergic reaction to something I had accidentally gotten my hands into. As the rash worsened, I began going to doctors and allergy specialists. For a year-and-a-half they all failed spectacularly at containing my rash, and it developed to the point that my hands would crack and bleed if I closed them into fists. Eventually I was given a strong course of oral anti-inflammatory steroids (prednisone) and I was told to apply cortisone cream to the affected areas twice daily. This suppressed the rash and, in the absence of a better solution, I kept it suppressed with daily applications of cortisone cream for the next FIVE YEARS.
Then I began seeing Andrea Kurtz. She was the first doctor to treat my rash as a symptom of a larger, systemic problem rather than a symptom to be masked and suppressed. After a few months of herbal treatments I was able to stop applying cortisone, which previously would have guaranteed an immediate flare-up of my rash. It has been six months now since I last used cortisone and my hands are perfect. Thank you Andrea for giving me my hands back!"
— Tom
Ringworm (tinea)
"I tried treating my ringworm with over the counter medications, but after a month, the rash was still dark and itchy. After a few acupuncture sessions with Andrea and applying an herbal tincture that she mixed specially for me, my ringworm cleared quickly and I was very pleased."
-Elyse S.
Menstrual Problems
"I've found Andrea's work to be both comprehensive and focused on my specific issues. Recently I'd been dealing with stress related amenorrhea [lack of period], which my MD had said would last several months yet. Not willing to accept that, I sought treatment from Andrea. In only two sessions, my body was back to normal and she's kept thing stable since."
-A. Mays
Autoimmune Disorder
"Andrea saved my life. When I met her I had developed a chronic inflammatory autoimmune problem that racked my body. I could barely walk a block, close my hands (neither write a check nor wash dishes), or string together a cohesive sentence. If I was sedentary for more than 30 minutes I was reeling in pain and consequently getting no sleep, not to mention severe hot flashes. My allopathic doctor couldn't figure it out, suggested "leaky gut syndrome," and said his last resort was prednisone which sent me searching for a way out.
Andrea was that way out. She patiently and thoroughly teased out the complexity of my problems – physically, mentally and emotionally – and gently and tenaciously set me on the path to healing, one step at a time. She was incredibly supportive and in 18 months I was hiking and swimming and gardening and had lost 40 pounds, which wasn't even part of the original plan.
One of the most important and endearing parts of her practice for me, besides being a very well-informed, intuitive and talented healer, is her gift as a non-judgmental, compassionate listener. She is genuinely interested in understanding my whole person, not just treating symptoms. And she makes the principles of Chinese medicine easy to understand.
I have now brought my entire family to her and highly recommend her to all my friends. She has worked wonders for us all."
-KS
Whiplash Injury, Sinus Infection
"Andrea treated me the day after a car accident. I had whiplash injuries as well as pain along my ribcage from a side-impact crash. The pain in my neck and ribs was an 8/10 and it was difficult to turn my head to the right. The morning after my acupuncture treatment I could easily move my neck and my pain level was a 2/10. I saw Andrea weekly for 6 weeks and my neck feels better than it has in years.
Andrea also treated me for a sinus infection and cough following a bad cold. I took herbs for 5 days, and all my symptoms resolved (without taking antibiotics!)."
-JB