Ashlie Hempstead, Portland OR

Ashlie is an incredible healer. Her approach is gentle and empathetic. She’s deeply intuitive and wicked smart. Out of the dozens of doctors I’ve seen over the years, none even come close to Ashlie’s caliber. If you have a chance to work with her- don’t hesitate.

Dr. Ashlie is a gifted and intuitive healer. She creates a wonderfully calming atmosphere and is incredibly knowledgable in her field. I saw her for 3 acupuncture visits this summer. Unfortunately, that wasn't quite long enough to really see results.

While I really enjoyed my visits and am sure she could help on my health journey, I decided to stop going because billing was always a big issue. It seems like that aspect of the businesses is not well sorted out yet, at least for UnitedHealthcare. The first visit was not billed in network, but the other 2 were. I had to sort that out with insurance myself to get it fixed. Her name was not entered in a way that matched their system when the claim was submitted.

She decided to stop taking United altogether, and I told her about the name issue. The billing issues and will I/won't I take United thing went on for over a month, and she never got back to me or made a decision. That was frustrating and made me feel like my health wasn't a priority.

A solve that they came up with was for me to pay out of pocket and try to get reimbursed from insurance. The out-of-pocket charge for a visit was actually a little more than what insurance was being charged, which seemed weird. This would be pretty unfavorable to me, since there's a plan discount through insurance, so I'd have to pay more than my deductible.

I dealt with her assistant for all billing issues. She kept reminding me in almost every communication that United still hadn't paid their part of the claim (even though they have a 90 day payment period). My health issues are stressful enough without them putting the burden of billing on top of this. I even got a vaguely threatening "if United won't pay, you'll be stuck with a big bill. " If YOU are not great at handling insurance, that shouldn't be put on me. I sorted my claim myself and paid my portions.

It's unfortunate that things didn't align because I really enjoyed seeing Ashlie. However, if things are not flowing, then it's not the right path. I'm sure many other people didn't have this experience. I'd still recommend her to people (as long as you don't have UnitedHealthcare).