. s s s s ss s Welcome to Haven Medical

Haven Medical is a holistic family practice offering primary care, consultations, and medical chart reviews for children and adults. Sonia Rapaport, MD provides patient-focused care at Haven Medical, which is centrally located in Chapel Hill, NC.

Our Vision

Haven Medical embraces the vision of accessible, holistic medical care that places the individual at the center. Our goal is to assist you in finding your optimal health through the integration of complementary and traditional medicine, combining the art and science of healing to address the whole person, within a nurturing and educational environment.

 

What this means:

One of the most important aspects of optimal health is learning to nurture yourself: body, mind, and spirit. We recognize the importance of nurturing, and at Haven Medical, you’ll find many ways in which we strive to help you with this goal. From the moment you enter the lobby, you are surrounded by beautiful art, comfortable furniture, and soothing music. Fiction, poetry, and magazines that encourage you to think and question line the bookshelves. The massage chair can help you let go of outside stresses, and our offering of teas and coffee can help you relax. Children will find wooden toys, books, and award-winning magazines.
           

Walk down the hall to the library, and take all the time you need to peruse books on alternative or complementary medicine as well as medical textbooks. Dr. Rapaport believes that education and knowledge are essential for taking charge of your health.

You won’t find any advertising here: Haven Medical does not welcome pharmaceutical representatives. We buy our own pens, sticky pads, and lunches because we believe the pharmaceutical industry should work to make medications affordable rather than giving doctors freebies. If Dr. Rapaport prescribes a medication, it is because it is the most appropriate medication, not the drug last marketed to her. Her time is best spent with patients, not sales reps.

When you are seen at Haven Medical, you will find no high-charge therapies or supplements sold for profit; just old-fashioned medical care. Your visit is about you, and Dr. Rapaport will work with you to find the best plan for optimal health, providing health care in the way that works best for you.

 

About Dr. Rapaport:

Sonia Rapaport, MD is Board Certified in Holistic Medicine and received her Board Certification in Family Practice in 1994. She is an Usui Method Reiki Master and integrates complementary medicine in her practice, including the use of nutrition, nutritional supplements, and herbal remedies, energy medicine, hypnotherapy, homeopathy, body-mind-spirit medicine, and cultural awareness.

In 1988, while at the University of Virginia medical school, she founded “Alternatives: Perspectives in Medicine,” a medical student organization aimed at exploring alternative and complementary medicine. She completed her residency training in Family Medicine at St. Margaret Memorial Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA, a traditional program with weekly Ballant seminars on mind-body connection.

Dr. Rapaport helped to organize and presented a lecture at the NIH conference on Inherited Dysautonomias. She has lectured for physician and patient audiences on family-centered care, nutrition, and energetic healing. The mother of two children with special needs, she has practical experience in gastrostomy tube management and understands the need for continuity of care in our fragmented medical culture. In 2001, she helped found Familial Dysautonomia Hope, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to find a cure for Familial Dysautonomia. She provides bilingual (Spanish) medical care. Dr. Rapaport worked for several years as a lactation consultant and has lived and worked as a family physician in North Carolina since 1994.

Education:

• MD, University of Virginia School of Medicine, 1991. Awarded “Best Medical Student” by Alumni Association; Fellow, American Association of University Women.
  St. Margaret Memorial Hospital, Residency in Family Medicine, 1994.
  Devon School of Homeopathy, 2000.
  Reiki Master, Traditional Usui method, 2000.
  MFA in Creative Writing, Spalding University, 2007.
  MA in Anthropology, American University, 1986. Focus in Medical Anthropology.
  BA in Anthropology and Religious Studies, University of Virginia, 1983.

Fee Schedule

Haven Medical believes that health care should place health before profits, and the patient at the center. Unfortunately, when physicians enroll in insurance companies, insurance profits become the bottom line. In the current system of the medical insurance business, insurance companies pay physicians only a percent of the physicians’ “customary charges”, and this discount is determined by the insurance company. Typical discounts mean that insurance companies pay only 60% of a physician’s fees, and often at a rate below Medicare. Because everything is based on customary charges, doctors have to set artificially high fees in order to be paid a reasonable amount by insurance.  Payment is not made at the time of service; it often takes months to receive payment, a process that requires a full time staff position for filing and appeals.

By choosing not to participate in any insurance plan, Medicare, or Medicaid, Haven Medical is able to offer reduced fees for all patients, regardless of insurance status, because customary charges are not negotiated. This results in lower overhead costs by not having to hire billing staff.

At Haven Medical, we ask that you pay your fees at the time of service, by cash, check, or credit card. You will be given a receipt with the ICD-9 and CPT codes for the visit (these are the codes physicians use to bill insurance companies). If you have traditional health insurance, you can use your receipt to file with your insurance company for out of network services, just as most people do for their dental insurance. Unfortunately, Haven Medical cannot guarantee reimbursement from any insurance company, but many companies offer an 80% reimbursement for out of network providers. Given our reduced fees, this means that your out of pocket expense will likely be close to the same amount as co-pays at other offices. The difference is the care you receive at Haven Medical. If you have a Health Savings Account (HSA), Haven Medical may be the ideal practice for you.

Services are offered on a fee for service schedule and a monthly retainer schedule. For more information, please call our office at 919.969.1414.