Frequently Asked Questions

Certicare offers four services: a $29 doctor's note for short absences, a $49 medical leave/FMLA form completed for your case, a $49 workplace accommodation form, and a $49 return-to-work form. A state-licensed provider reviews your submission and completes the documentation your employer or school needs.

No. Certicare is independent and not affiliated with Amazon, Walmart, or any employer or school. Your employer or school makes the final decision on whether to accept the documentation.

A state-licensed provider reviews what you submit and completes the documentation personally.

Yes. If what's submitted doesn't support the documentation requested, the provider may follow up for more information or decline the request. Payment does not guarantee approval.

No. Certicare's $49 medical leave/FMLA and accommodation forms work for any employer's leave process — we have guidance built specifically for Amazon's DLS process and Walmart's Sedgwick-administered process, but the service itself isn't limited to those two.

Your information is reviewed by Certicare (and, for the doctor's note, the reviewing clinician) and is not sent to your employer or school without your authorization.

Yes, Certicare is HIPAA-compliant. We use your information to provide your evaluation and documentation, handle payment, run the practice, and meet legal duties, as described in our Notice of Privacy Practices. You normally send documents to your employer or school yourself; we send them directly only with your separate authorization.

Feel free to reach out — we're happy to help. Phone: 518-254-8905. Email: hello@certicare.org. Replies are usually the same day; messages after 6pm ET are usually answered the next morning.

Each note contains:

• Provider's full name, credentials, NPI number, and signature
• Provider's direct phone number and email
• Evaluation date
• A brief reason for the absence (e.g., "illness")
• Up to 3 recommended excused days
• Anticipated date of return to work or school

We do not share sensitive health details or in-depth medical history, to protect your privacy.

Full refund any time before a clinician starts reviewing your request, or if the note can't be completed.

Usually completed within about an hour of your payment, once we have everything needed.

No video visit is required to start. You complete a short online questionnaire, and your completed note arrives by email. A provider may follow up for more detail and, in some cases, may ask for a phone or video visit before deciding.

Acceptance depends on your employer's or school's policy. If they have questions, they can contact the provider directly using the phone number and email listed on the note.

They can contact the provider directly, using the phone number or email printed on the note.

For mild conditions expected to improve on their own — common colds and respiratory viruses, stomach upset, and flare-ups of a previously diagnosed condition like migraines. Not a fit for medical emergencies or conditions needing an in-person exam.

No — pay-per-note. You're only charged once per note you request.

$49 covers one leave case: the clinical review, the forms that case needs, and any verification, clarification, or corrections your employer or leave administrator asks for afterward — no additional charges for that case.

Full refund if the form can't be completed.

Usually completed within 24 hours after we have everything needed.

If your employer asked for documentation but did not give you a form, a provider writes a certification letter instead.

Yes, if you ask us to — we can send it directly to your employer's leave administrator, such as Amazon's DLS or Sedgwick, on your behalf. Before we do, we ask you to complete a separate authorization naming the recipient and the information to send; your intake alone does not authorize this. You can also submit the document yourself.

FMLA can protect your job during leave for your own serious health condition, or to care for a spouse, child, or parent (plus certain military-family situations).

Usually one of three: the Health Care Provider Form, Leave as an Accommodation paperwork, or a Physician Statement. An RFI (request for additional information) can follow any of them and is handled at no additional charge.

Usually that your employer's leave administrator doesn't yet have everything it asked for — entries missing or vague, or a generic document instead of what was requested. Using the form they sent you is often the clearest way to provide everything and reduce follow-up.

Yes. Intermittent FMLA can cover conditions that flare — some shifts you work, some you can't — rather than one continuous block.

You don't have to sort this out — your employer's leave administrator decides once you open a case. FMLA is the federal law above. LOA means leave of absence: your employer or its leave administrator manages the request, and it may involve FMLA or other leave options (at Amazon, that process runs through DLS). An accommodation changes how you work — a schedule change, or leave used as the accommodation itself. More than one of these can apply to the same leave.

A change to how you work — like a modified schedule, or leave used as the accommodation itself — requested under laws like the ADA. Certicare completes the paperwork a state-licensed provider is asked to fill out.

No. Accommodation requests, including Leave as an Accommodation, don't require FMLA eligibility.

Full refund if the form can't be completed.

Usually completed within 24 hours after we have everything needed.

One return-to-work case: the clinical review, the forms that case needs, and any follow-up your employer or leave administrator asks for afterward. The price is shown before you start, and nothing is added later.

I already paid for my leave paperwork. Do I pay again for the return-to-work form?

Usually not. If we completed a $49 medical leave or workplace accommodation case for you, your return-to-work form for the same condition is included — as long as the leave we documented covered the entire period you were out. Just tell us at intake that you're a returning patient.

Full refund if we can't complete your request. Paying starts the review; it doesn't guarantee documentation.

Usually completed within 24 hours after we have everything needed — your questionnaire answers, and the form your employer issued, if they issued one.

Certicare can't take your case. Workplace injuries run through your employer's workers' compensation process, and the return-to-work paperwork has to come from that process. An illness, a surgery, a mental health condition, or a hospitalization are what the intake is for.

Yes. Upload it at intake and a state-licensed provider completes and signs it, field by field. If your employer just asked for a note clearing you, you get a signed return-to-work letter instead.

Yes, when the provider's review supports it. Paperwork can document full clearance, or a return with specific temporary restrictions — a lifting limit, less time on your feet, a modified schedule, a pause on safety-sensitive duties. Which of those applies is the clinician's judgment.

Mostly the same document under a different name. Employers and leave administrators also call it a work release form, a return-to-work letter, or a clearance. All of them mean a state-licensed provider's review and signature.