Harmony Women’s Health emphasizes patient choice in treatments. Towards that end, all options will be presented including some diagnostic and treatment methods that may be innovative or non-conventional, commonly referred to as complementary, alternative, or integrative medicine. Many of these services may not be recognized as standard medical practices and they may be considered ‘medically unnecessary’ by insurance companies. Medications that are approved by the FDA for one condition may be prescribed for an unrelated or ‘off-label’ use and laboratory tests may be unconventional in their use or interpretation. Your questions regarding your care relative to these issues will be answered as honestly as possible.

Our practice is EXCLUSIVELY AN OFFICE-BASED PRACTICE. Dr. Metzger does not have hospital privileges because her patients come from such a wide geographical area. For out of town patients, we require that in addition to our care, you maintain a relationship with a physician in your town. Local patients may elect to have Dr. Metzger serve as their primary care physician. We are happy to cooperate with any of your health care providers who are willing to work with us to improve your health.

We may make recommendations for supplements and other recommended products. Although we carry these products at competitive prices, you are free to purchase these products from any source that you choose. However, the products available to healthcare providers are of a quality that may not be found in over the counter brands. We do ship supplements for a small fee.

Our office hours are from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Thursday. Dr. Metzger sees patients all day Monday and Wednesday and Thursday. Adelene tests immune patients Monday through Thursday. The office is closed on Friday. Phones are answered from 9:00am to 5:00pm and appointments are available from 9 to 4:30pm. We take a lunch break from 12:30 to 1:30. Our office is closed for major holidays (i.e., Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, December 25 & 26 and January 1).

Dr. Metzger is available to her patients 24/7 for urgent problems (this means that the problem can not wait until regular office hours) by calling 800-620-8321. Potentially life-threatening emergencies should be handled by calling 911 or immediately going to the emergency room.

Major medical insurance plans cover the majority of the costs associated with treatment at Harmony Women's Health. However, we do not have contracts with insurance companies, which allows us to offer a range of services that in-service providers are not able to.

Running a practice designed to offer in-depth, comprehensive care of patients involves a complexity of care rarely seen in the primary care setting. Accordingly, our overhead and staffing requirements are higher and our fees must reflect this level of service. Only a portion of the fees you are charged are for direct care from Dr. Metzger. Our fees also reflect all the time spent on your behalf between visits.

This may include:

• Reviewing records and questionnaires before your initial visit
• Reviewing and interpreting multiple reports (lab, x-rays, consultant reports, etc.) during the course of your treatment.
• Making and receiving calls at all hours of the day and night from other health care providers, insurance companies, laboratories, pharmacies, home care agencies, etc. all of whom may be involved in your care.
• Preparing paperwork that is required by insurance companies for precertification of treatment or for non-formulary medications.
• Office fees also act as a “retainer”, in that Dr. Metzger is available to answer calls 24/7 from patients with urgent problems.

Unfortunately, insurance companies have different ideas about usual and customary fees and may even determine after-the-fact that a treatment was not medically necessary. We can provide you with the necessary CPT codes so that you can find out ahead of time if and how much of a test or procedure your insurance will pay for. In addition, our office staff may be able to help with pre-authorizations and billing issues.

Many of our patients appreciate the convenience of pre-scheduled telephone appointments. These are billed based on the amount of time utilized. There is no charge for short (less than 5 minutes) telephone calls from established patients. Unfortunately, insurance usually does not cover phone appointments (although this appears to be changing), so we will require a credit card number prior to the appointment.

Dr. Metzger sometimes has other health professionals or medical students observing her care of patients. This office is also involved in clinical research in an effort to advance the state of the art in this area. We may, from time to time, collect data from patient charts for tabulation and statistical analysis. If this is done, no names or other means of identification are recorded. Instead, a random computer-generated number is assigned to the data, in keeping with the current recommendations from the federal government and leading medical organizations. If you have specific questions or concerns, please speak to us.

Our office is most easily reached from Interstate 280, which runs between San Jose and San Francisco. Los Altos is about 15 miles from San Jose and 45 miles from San Francisco. It is equidistant from both the San Francisco (SFO) and the San Jose (SJC) airports.

From Interstate 280, take the Magdalena Ave exit east. Go about a mile until you cross Foothills Expressway, which is a four lane divided highway with stoplights. Immediately (about 20 yards) after you cross Foothills Expressway, turn right on Fremont which parallels Foothills Expressway within a few feet of it. Follow Fremont about a half mile (go past the fire station and rehabilitation center) and then turn left into the 851 Fremont parking lot, before you get to the sign for the building. The office by the middle entrance with the handicapped parking.

From the mid peninsula on 101, go south to 85 and then turn right at the Fremont Ave. exit and follow Fremont two miles to 851 just past Loyola Corners. From Mountain View or Los Altos, go to the intersection of Foothills Expressway and Springer. Turn left onto Fremont from Springer just opposite the Rancho shopping center. Go half a mile to 851 Fremont and turn left into the parking lot.