MoonlightOrtho® is an online, telemedicine technology platform offering concierge-style orthopedic medical services only. WE DO NOT OFFER EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES. YOU SHOULD NOT UTILIZE THE SERVICES OF A MOONLIGHTORTHO® PROVIDER IF YOU HAVE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:
(1) an open wound more than a superficial scrape, with or without exposed deep tissue or bone, or a deformity of a joint or extremity at the area of pain or concern;
(2) a red/hot joint or extremity with or without swelling;
(3) acute onset of numbness or tingling at the area of pain or concern;
(4) significant pain or excessive swelling of a joint or extremity;
(5) if you sustained a fall from a height above ground level or were involved in a motor vehicle accident or other high-speed injury;
(6) if you sustained a penetrating type trauma, such as a stab or gunshot wound;
(7) if you have ANY additional injuries, such as abdominal or head pain or trauma;
(8) if you are running a fever, have chills, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or other signs or symptoms of infection or a generalized illness;
(9) if you have experienced night sweats or unintentional weight loss;
if you have any other significant medical issues or conditions that may complicate your orthopedic problem(s); such as a history of cancer, uncontrolled diabetes, uncontrolled rheumatologic disease or inflammatory arthritis, or any history of chronic infections;
if a reasonable person would otherwise seek in-person medical care with their Orthopedic Surgeon, Primary Care Physician, or their local Emergency Department
If you have any of the conditions described above you should go directly to an Emergency Room, Urgent Care center or your local Primary Care Physician or Orthopedic Surgeon, as appropriate. If you are not able to get to one of the facilities listed above, you should call 911 from your home or mobile phone.
Additionally, at this time we are not able to see patients with Medicare or Medicaid due to governmental restrictions of fee-for-service telemedicine practices
MoonlightOrtho® users are evaluated solely via telemedicine, and no in-person examination is performed. Thus, some orthopedic conditions and pathology may be difficult or impossible to sufficiently diagnose or treat. All assessments and recommendations, including but not limited to studies, such as lab and imaging, as well as any prescriptions, are ordered remotely based on each individual patient’s response to a medical questionnaire and asynchronous video telecommunication. For difficult or unusual orthopedic problems, a thorough physical exam, by a qualified orthopedic surgeon, may be needed.
Certain soft tissue pathology such as sprains, strains, tears, contusions or injury to nerves, arteries, veins, or tendons, as well as limb threatening compartment syndrome (severe swelling of an extremity that may lead to amputation of the limb) may not be easily diagnosed via a telemedicine process alone, and an in-person office or Emergency Department visit, with a healthcare provider, is recommended. Additionally, occult fractures, certain bone tumors, and other bony pathology may not be easily diagnosed via a telemedicine encounter and an in-person office visit or emergency department visit with a healthcare provider is recommended. This may be especially true for certain pediatric fractures where there may be a fracture through the physis (growth plate) which is not visible on X-ray alone.
For all imaging studies interpreted as "negative", when patients experience pain, MoonlightOrtho® recommends an in-person follow up visit with your healthcare provider to rule out occult fracture or other bony or soft tissue abnormality that may have been “missed” by the imaging modality, or under read by the radiologist. For all lab studies interrupted as “normal”, when patients are symptomatic, MoonlightOrtho® recommends an in-person follow up visit with your healthcare provider to rule out pathologic conditions not detected by the lab, for various reasons, not limited to lab error.
It is the responsibility of the patient to arrange for follow-up care after an imaging or lab study is preformed, as our providers may not routinely have access to the results and may not be able to call patients with normal or abnormal findings. Follow-up may be with the provider of your choice, including your MoonlightOrtho® provider, your local Orthopedic Surgeon, or your Primary Care Physician.
If medications are prescribed by a MoonlightOrtho® provider it is the patient’s responsibility to take the medications responsibly and as prescribed. If you have an adverse reaction to medication prescribed by MoonlightOrtho® provider, MoonlightOrtho® recommends that you go immediately to your local Emergency Department for an in-person evaluation and treatment with a healthcare provider. Please understand that prescribing restrictions vary by state, and in some states a prescription my not be possible via telemedicine.
This short list of potential problems that could arise, or pathologic conditions that could go undiagnosed or improperly treated, when utilizing the services of a MoonlightOrtho® telemedicine provider, is meant to serve as a WARNING to patients to use our services responsibly, it is by NO MEANS an all-encompassing list.
Please do your due diligence when choosing a MoonlightOrtho® provider. Most of our providers are board-certified Orthopedic Surgeons in a private or group practice within the state they are seeing MoonlightOrtho® patients. However, some surgeons may be locums or military and be licensed in the state that they are seeing MoonlightOrtho® patients, yet not have a physical address or clinic in that state. If in-person follow-up care is anticipated after the New Patient MoonlightOrtho® visit, please research your provider’s physical location by reviewing their Bio & Practice Location. Additionally, some of the MoonlightOrtho® Sports Medicine physicians may be Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Primary Care or PM&R Sports Fellowship trained, and as such, can not provide surgical services. Podiatry services are offered by our MoonlightOrtho® providers with a Doctorate of Podiatric Medicine (DPM).
Be aware that your MoonlightOrtho® provider has the right to “Decline” any visit with any patient, solely at the MoonlightOrtho® provider’s discretion. In this instance a full refund will be made to the patient and the patient may seek care with another MoonlightOrtho® provider in their area, or choose to be seen by their local provider of choice in an office-based setting. Please understand that this is typically because the MoonlightOrtho® provider feels that the patient may be a poor candidate for telemedicine services, and that the patient may be better suited for an in-office visit.
If you wish to proceed, please click the button below to let us know that you have read AND understand this disclaimer. Thank you for choosing MoonlightOrtho® for your orthopedic care.