Referral Providers

Nutrition Works, LLC welcomes referrals from health care providers throughout the State of Maine. We specialize in one-on-one counseling for nutrition-related medical problems.

Why should you refer your patients for nutrition counseling? We don’t have to convince you that lifestyle and weight changes can improve patients’ health in very dramatic and measureable ways. We would like to point out that referring to a dietitian can make your practice more effective by providing your patients with the tools, follow-up and support they need to carry out your advice. We know you have many important subjects to cover during your patient visits–studies have shown that physicians typically devote just 1-2 minutes to nutrition during medical encounters. Clearly, lifestyle change is a time-consuming and lengthy process, and the dietitians at Nutrition Works are here to help. In addition, we provide your patients with the most up-to-date, evidence-based information about nutrition therapy for their medical needs.

Providers are often pleasantly surprised to learn that patient referrals for nutrition counseling may be covered by insurance. Please ask your patients to check with his/her medical insurance company to determine eligibility for this benefit.

To initiate a referral for your patient, please use one of the following options:

  1. Fax your standard referral form to us at (207) 347-4281, and we will contact the patient to arrange an appointment. Ideally, referral information should include:
    1. The referring provider’s NPI number
    2. Number of visits
    3. Expiration date of the referral
    4. Brief medical summary or recent office notes
    5. Pertinent laboratory findings*
    6. Exercise clearance form if the patient has any restrictions on activity or exercise that we should be aware of
  2. Phone us at (207) 772-6279 to arrange the referral.

*Medicare referrals for Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) for diabetes and renal disease require specific laboratory findings to be present in our records. Please use our special Medicare Referral Form.

More about Medicare referrals:
Medicare rules state that a diabetes diagnosis must be documented in our files with FBGs of 126 mg/dL on two separate occasions in order for the patient to receive coverage for our services. If you have a patient with hemoglobin A1C in the diabetic range, but no available labs that meet this definition, please collect and forward self blood glucose monitoring (SBGM) results to meet this documentation requirement.

An alternative recognized by Medicare is documentation of a random blood glucose of 200 mg/dL, plus symptoms such as polydipsia and polyuria.

Medicare patients with the appropriate documentation are eligible for up to 3 hours of MNT per year.