FAQ
Allergists are the only medical professionals exclusively trained to deal with allergies, asthma, and immunological diseases. When you or your child are seen by an allergist, you can rest assured that you are seeing the medical specialist most experienced and familiar with the issues you may be facing. Allergists undergo extensive training: one must complete medical school, residency (in pediatrics and/or internal medicine) AND an additional fellowship training in Allergy and Immunology. Only after nearly a decade of medical training can physicians sit for the Board exam.
Each and every one of our Northwest Asthma & Allergy Center’s allergists hold this highest standard of qualification; all are Board certified or Board eligible.
Our medical team treats a wide range of conditions including:
LUNG CONDITIONS
Asthma
Reactive Airway Disease
Exercise-induced asthma
Chronic cough
Shortness of breath
Vocal Cord Dysfunction
NASAL/SINUS CONDITIONS
Allergic rhinitis
Non-allergic rhinitis
Sinusitis
Nasal polyps
SKIN CONDITIONS
Eczema/Atopic dermatitis
Contact dermatitis
Urticaria (hives)
Angioedema (swelling)
OTHER
Food allergies
Drug allergies
Insect sting allergies
Anaphylaxis
Immune Deficiency
Immunological disorders
Yes! Northwest Asthma & Allergy Center serve the needs of food allergy patients – of all ages – and will be happy to work with you. We are extensively involved in food allergy research and the Seattle Food Allergy Consortium. Northwest Asthma & Allergy Center has also been designated a Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) Clinical Network Center of Excellence, only one of 31 centers in the country.
Yes, in many cases you can! Depending to what you are specifically allergic and how serious your symptoms, it’s safe to say you can likely do a lot about your environmental allergies. From basic lifestyle changes to medications (both over-the-counter and prescription) and desensitization treatments (allergy shots and others), there are a number of ways to combat environmental allergies.
Your healthcare provider will be happy to help you create a customized plan to manage your seasonal allergies.
The goal of allergy shots is to “desensitize” your body to a very small amount of whatever substance has been triggering your allergies. Over time, you receive gradually increased doses of the same allergen, building up your system’s tolerance to it. With increased tolerance, patients typically respond less strongly to their allergens and thus experience fewer symptoms.
Many people who undergo allergy shots find that they are desensitized to the point where they can reduce or even completely stop taking allergy medications.
Yes! We offer convenient, secure bill payment options online.
For billing questions, please call our billing department (206) 512-1150.
Please visit our LOCATIONS & SHOT HOURS page for this information, including up-to-date shot schedules for each location.
Please visit our LOCATIONS & SHOT HOURS page for more information on our shot hours, so you can plan at your convenience. This page also lists any modifications to existing shot hours.
DON’T FORGET to stop at the front desk to sign up for our Shot Hours Alerts mailing list to be directly informed of any changes to the schedule.
If you have a time-sensitive or urgent concern and would like to speak with the on-call provider, you may have her or him paged. Please note there may be a charge for this service, and your account may be billed directly.
If you have a non-urgent medical question that arises after-hours and can wait at least one business day for a response, you may leave a message by phone or send your question via the Patient Portal.
If you are requesting a prescription refill outside of office hours, please call your pharmacy.
Yes! We have partnered with Epion & AthenaOne Health to bring you a convenient and highly secured payment process. All financial information is fully encrypted.
Using a credit card on file allows you to:
- Pay balances and co-pays conveniently
- Make payments automatically using your credit card of choice
- Avoid writing checks to pay bills by mail
- Receive notifications and receipts sent via Portal
The Patient Portal is a convenient, secure online system that we offer to provide Northwest Asthma & Allergy Center patients with assistance with your non-urgent medical needs. You can use the Portal to:
- Review healthcare information
- Request forms
- Request refills
- Send non-urgent questions to our staff and more
Due to patient privacy laws, please note that the Patient Portal is not available for use by minors (children between the ages of 13-17 years old).
To sign up for the Northwest Asthma & Allergy Center Patient Portal, please send us an email to info@nwasthma.com, and we will assist you in establishing your account.
To cancel an appointment, please call the office 24 hours prior to your appointment, stating the patient name and date of birth in your message to assure that we can cancel the correct appointment. Thank you!
If you miss your appointment or cancel with inadequate notice, you may be charged a $75 cancellation fee. If you are being seen for a Vocal Cord Dysfunction appointment, we request 48 hours’ notice of cancellation, so that we can provide the appointment to someone on the waitlist. The late cancel/missed appointment fee for VCD appointments is $150.
We understand that circumstances may arise beyond your control and appreciate you communicating with our office as soon as possible. However, should you miss or late cancel twice within a year, we reserve the right to review and consider possible dismissal from the practice.
For new patients who are under 18 years old, for the first appointment, a parent or legal guardian (not a nanny, etc.) must be accompany the child. However, once a patient has been established, the minor does not need to be accompanied by a parent/guardian if we have a signed consent form on file allowing this. Please fill out the Consent to Treat a Minor form and provide it to us if you would like to authorize this.
We comply with the highest standards of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). We take your privacy and the protection of your health records very seriously. Our practice uses electronic medical records (EMRs) to guard your data securely. Please refer to our current privacy policies for more information, and you can access our entire HIPAA policy on this PDF.