Frequently Asked Questions About Our Allergy Treatments
It depends. We take all major insurances, but some have restrictions on what they allow to be done on the first visit. This is something that can be discussed at the time of scheduling.
At San Tan Allergy and Asthma, we have capabilities of skin testing to most foods. Some of the more uncommon foods we can either ask for you to bring a sample to the appointment OR we can always order bloodwork to test for it.
The skin test application can sometimes make the little ones feel uncomfortable. Although it is not a painful procedure, and is done quickly, children often have a fear of it being painful. Please watch our video on this website as a reference!
Antihistamines are medications (allergy medications) that are to be held 7 days PRIOR to your new patient visit if you plan on having skin testing done. These medications can interfere with your skin testing results. Please refer to our skin prick testing page to get some more information on the medications that should be avoided.
During your first visit, you should always expect the provider to sit down and get a detailed medical history. Once this is established, the provider will then determine what testing would be most beneficial for your care plan. As long as there are no restrictions with your insurance for certain procedures, the testing can be done on the same day, and we also will get results on the same day to ensure you leave here with some answers. IF your insurance does have restrictions on testing, then the provider will still see you and establish your history, but the difference is our office will have to get an authorization through your insurance and have you come back on a different day to have the testing done, once the authorization has been approved by the insurance.
There are certain nasal sprays that contain antihistamines in them that we advise our patients to hold off on 7 days prior to their appointment. These medications are also listed on our skin prick testing page for your reference.
Chemical patch testing is a different kind of testing, and all steroids (both oral and topical) need to be held 7 days prior to coming in for a chemical patch test. These medications are listed on our patch testing page.
At this time, our office is following a strict COVID policy, which means that most of our same day sick visits are being offered a telemedicine appointment.
We do skin testing on our patients based on clinical need, which is evaluated during the patient history process. We have skin tested infants, but this is also dependent upon the need.
Our providers treat all age groups.
During a provider visit, if the provider deems allergy injections as a medical necessity for your treatment plan, you will be given a handout that includes ALL of the necessary CPT codes that we bill the insurance. We do ask our patients to contact their insurance company independently and supply them with the listed CPT codes that apply to them specifically to understand what the responsibility is on their part. This process helps all our patients better understand their specific benefits so there is not confusion as the allergy injection treatment can be up to a 5-year treatment sometimes.
We do offer Oral Immunotherapy for children. Please refer to our OIT page on our website as it is a lengthy process!
