What To Expect At Your First Dietitian Appointment
Whether you’ve seen a dietitian before, or this is your very first time, I want to share with you what to expect at your first appointment with me. Take a look below to learn about my intake process, how my virtual platform works, and what we talk about during your first appointment.
How can I help?
Before booking your first appointment, I like to schedule a quick 15-minute Meet & Greet Call with each new client to get a better sense of your needs and how I might be able to help. Send me a request here and I’ll give you a call!
Many of my clients are seeing a dietitian for themselves or their kids for the first time, and like to get to know me and see if we are a good fit for each other. We also talk through health insurance questions, and I can provide my out of pocket fees if your health insurance doesn’t cover nutrition services or if I’m not in network with your plan.
Not all dietitians have this introductory call, but I really enjoy it. By the time we have our first appointment together, we already know each other a bit and can really dive into your needs and goals. And, if for some reason your needs are outside of my scope, or if we think you could be served from someone with more of a specialty in your health needs, I can help guide you toward a dietitian that will be a better fit. Just like doctors, dietitians have specialities and areas of focus, and at times I might suggest seeking a dietitian that has extra training in a certain area so you can get the best possible care.
At the end of our Meet & Greet call, I’ll collect your information, create an account for you in my electronic health record system, and we can schedule your first appointment!
Checking your health insurance benefits for nutrition counseling
Are you planning to use your health insurance benefits to cover our sessions together? Many insurance plans cover nutrition counseling, often with no out of pocket expense to you!
It’s your responsibility to check with your health insurance plan to see exactly what your plan covers and doesn’t cover. I can offer some general insight as to what I’ve seen covered, but there is so much variability between plans, that you really want to check and see what your specific plan covers.
Here are some questions you can ask when you call your insurance provider:
Is Stephanie Van't Zelfden (NPI: 1801260401) in network with my plan?
Do I have coverage for CPT code 97802 Initial Nutrition Assessment?
Do I have coverage for CPT code 97803 Follow-Up Nutrition Assessment?
Are there any restrictions on the ICD-10 codes required for coverage? (Usually I bill with code Z71.3 because these are considered preventive services. You may have other diagnosis codes provided from your doctor or therapist)
Is a Doctor's referral required?
Is there any copay?
Do I have a deductible that needs to be met?
How many visits are covered per year? Is the “year” considered a calendar year (January - December) or a contract year (will vary based on your insurance plan)?
Are telehealth/video visits covered?
Getting ready for your first appointment
Everything you need to get ready for your first appointment will be available on my electronic health record system, called Practice Better. Within Practice Better you will send me a copy of your insurance card and photo ID, complete your intake forms, and upload any documents or referral information from your doctor. There is also a secure chat feature, so you can send me a message with any questions.
The intake process includes:
Sending me a copy (front and back) of your health insurance card, along with a copy of your photo ID.
Signing the HIPAA Privacy and Risk and Release form
Completing the Financial Agreement Form - this form explains my financial policies and asks for credit card information for your file to cover any copayments due, late cancellation fees, or if you are paying for sessions out of pocket.
Completing the Authorization to Release and Receive Records - this form lets you decide who I can receive and release your information to. Many times clients will list their doctor, specialist, or therapist to allow for coordination of care and communication. You can decide if you want to give that authorization, and if there are certain pieces of information about your care that you would like to be excluded.
Completing the Intake form - this gives you a chance to tell me more about your health history and goals. I ask for information about your current medical concerns, family history, medications or vitamins you take, blood work you’ve had done, digestive concerns, foods you like and don’t like, information about your eating habits and any history with dieting, and other important information.
To get ready for your first appointment, you can also get familiar with the client portal in Practice Better. Here is a quick video tour of the client portal:
Tour of the client portal
Let’s meet!
The wait is over! It’s time for our first appointment together. Put on your comfiest clothes, find a private place to sit, and log in to the client portal to join our video appointment. If your appointment is for your kids, make sure they are nearby so they can be present for our appointment as well.
Here is a quick video on how to join a video session from the client portal. If you have any technical issues or questions, you’ll be able to message me through the portal or call me directly.
How to join a video chat session
The first part of our appointment is really meant to help me get to know you better, understand your background and health history, and get a sense of your lifestyle and challenges you face. We talk about work, kids, family life, favorite hobbies, and current stresses and concerns.
Many of my clients describe our sessions as feeling more like nutrition counseling or therapy, rather than traditional nutrition education where you’re given a list of “good” and “bad” foods (I use the quotes because I don’t believe in these labels for food) or given a handout with the “right” way to eat. Many people are surprised to find that I don’t give meal plans or specific lists of what to eat. Everyone has different likes and dislikes, different cultural or family foods that are important to them, and I respect and honor that. You don’t have to give up or health-ify foods that you love in order to be healthy. If, for example, one of your goal includes having more vegetables to support good health, we talk about vegetables you enjoy, ones you might want to experiment with, new recipes you might enjoy, and how to make eating vegetables easier and tastier.
Another aspect of our appointment that many people find surprising is how little we talk about weight. The Health At Every Size® approach that I believe in means that my focus is on your overall health and well-being, rather than weight control. If you have concerns about your weight or your child’s weight, we definitely will talk through those concerns. But for my clients who live in larger bodies, I make no assumptions about your health based on your body size, and I do not promote dieting or food restriction (especially for children, who are at an even greater risk of developing disordered eating behaviors or an eating disorder). This approach is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (warning, this article uses words like o*esity, which I personally don’t use because of the negative stigma associated with them).
Throughout our first appointment together, we explore some methods that can help improve your well-being. For kids, this might include discussing some strategies at meal and snack times to make them more enjoyable, or ways to include play to help kids become more comfortable with trying new foods. For adults, we might dig deeper into how a history of dieting has negatively affected your relationship with food or your body image, or ways to improve the connection with your body so you can better honor your hunger and fullness. Everything I do is personalized for you and where you are along your journey.
As we get toward the end of our first appointment, we reflect upon what was discussed, and decide on a few action steps you’d like to take before our next appointment. This is truly customized to your needs. Some action steps for my clients may include:
Trying a new recipe
Exploring a new food with your kids
Trying a different approach at mealtime to help your kids try new foods
Reading articles
Starting a new vitamin or supplement
Journaling or thought exercises about your history with dieting
Observing your hunger and fullness feelings
Paying attention to your thoughts and feelings around specific foods.
Then, we schedule your next appointment, and I jot down any additional thoughts for what we want to cover at our next session.
After your appointment
After we’ve said good-bye and logged off, I finish up my notes and share them with you. I summarize what we spoke about and any action steps we decided on. I often include links to articles, recipes, or websites that you might enjoy. I’ll also send you information on any activities that we discussed to try. Until our next appointment, you’ll always have access to me through the message feature in the client portal. Share your successes, challenges, and any questions you have!
Here is a video tutorial on how to view your shared notes:
View shared session notes
Reach out!
If you would like more information on my services or are ready to talk and schedule your first appointment, reach out to me here using the Request for Nutrition Counseling form.
For any questions not related to my nutrition counseling services, please email me at stephanie@nutritionhungry.com