Terms & Conditions
Effective date: July 19, 2026. This page combines Certicare’s Terms of Use, Telehealth Informed Consent, Medical Documentation Services Policy, Fees/Cancellations/Refunds Policy, and Communication, Accessibility, and Language Assistance Policy into one document. By submitting an intake form, completing the required acknowledgments, or using a paid service, you agree to the version shown to you at that time.
Terms of Use and Patient Service Agreement
Effective date: July 19, 2026
These Terms govern your use of the Certicare website and any online clinical, documentation, or related service offered by Rebecca Martel, APRN, FNP-BC, doing business as Certicare (collectively, “Certicare,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). By submitting an intake form, completing the required acknowledgments, or using a paid service, you agree to the version of these Terms shown to you at that time.
1.1 Eligibility and New York physical presence
You must be at least 18 years old and physically present in the State of New York when you submit the intake form. You do not have to be a New York resident. By submitting the form, you attest that you are physically located in New York at that moment and that the location information you provide is accurate.
You must remain physically present in New York when clinical services are delivered unless Certicare expressly confirms that another location is legally permitted. Tell us immediately if you leave New York before the request is completed. We may ask you to reconfirm your location at any time. If you are outside New York when you submit, we will decline the request and provide a full refund of the Certicare service fee.
1.2 Nature of the service
Certicare provides a clinician-reviewed asynchronous online evaluation, also described as an online medical eVisit, for adults. This is a clinician-performed medical evaluation—not a form-completion or automatic-certification service. Services may include evaluation of a request for work documentation, completion of employer forms, limited treatment, short-term non-controlled prescriptions when clinically appropriate, management of some ongoing non-controlled medications, and orders or referrals for laboratory testing, imaging, or specialist care. Available services may change.
For an asynchronous encounter, you submit a clinically appropriate structured history. The clinician personally reviews the information, performs and documents medical decision-making, asks individualized follow-up questions when necessary, and provides a personalized assessment, plan, documentation, referral, or other disposition. The clinician uses the asynchronous method only when the available information is medically sufficient.
Submitting the form or paying a fee does not guarantee that Certicare will accept the request or issue documentation. Payment purchases clinical review and the applicable service process. It does not buy a predetermined diagnosis, prescription, work restriction, leave duration, accommodation, referral, or signed document. Every clinical decision is made using independent professional judgment.
NO EMERGENCIES
Urgent and emergency conditions are excluded from Certicare’s asynchronous service. Do not wait for an email response if you may have a medical or psychiatric emergency. Call 911, call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or go to the nearest emergency department. For an urgent but non-emergency problem, use an appropriate urgent care service.
1.3 When a clinical relationship begins
Submitting an intake form or paying does not, by itself, establish a patient-clinician relationship. A relationship begins only when a Certicare clinician accepts the request and sends the first clinical response or otherwise begins the clinical encounter. Certicare may decline a request before that point.
The clinician decides whether the submitted information is medically sufficient. The clinician may send individualized follow-up questions or require a meaningful telephone or audio-only encounter, live audio-video encounter, identity documentation, outside records, testing, an in-person evaluation, or referral. If the information remains insufficient or online care is not appropriate, Certicare will not complete the requested service asynchronously and may direct you to another setting.
1.4 Your responsibilities
- Provide complete, current, and truthful information, including your identity, date of birth, symptoms, medications, allergies, medical history, current physical location, contact information, and relevant records.
- Use your own identity and current contact information. Keep your telephone number, email address, physical location, and emergency contact information accurate throughout the encounter. Do not submit a request for another person or alter a Certicare document.
- Read and answer follow-up questions promptly, use a private setting when possible, and tell us if another person is present during a clinical interaction.
- Seek in-person or emergency care when advised or when symptoms worsen. Do not treat email availability or an estimated turnaround time as continuous monitoring.
- Review completed documents for factual or clerical errors and notify us promptly. Do not change the document yourself.
- Submit documents to your employer unless you separately authorize Certicare to transmit a specific document to a specific recipient.
1.5 Identity and fraud prevention
Before care is completed, we verify your identity, age, physical location at the time of care, and current contact information. We may request a government-issued photo ID or other evidence if information is inconsistent or fraud is suspected. We may pause, decline, terminate, or invalidate a service or document if we reasonably suspect impersonation, material misrepresentation, document alteration, or misuse. A refund is not available after clinical review begins when the request involved fraud, impersonation, knowingly false information, or alteration of a Certicare document.
1.6 Timing and follow-up
If a service is described as having a 24-hour turnaround, this means 24 calendar hours, including weekends and holidays. The clock begins only after we receive the completed intake, payment, all required forms, and all information needed to start review. The estimate pauses while we wait for information, an appointment, records, testing, identity verification, or another action from you.
If you do not answer a clinically necessary follow-up request within seven calendar days, we may close the request. If clinical review already began, the service fee is retained because professional time was used. A new request and fee may be required to restart the matter.
1.7 Prescriptions, orders, and referrals
A prescription, refill, test, imaging order, or referral is never guaranteed. Some visits may include a short-term non-controlled prescription when appropriate. Certicare does not prescribe controlled substances. A clinician may limit quantity, require monitoring, decline a refill, or require in-person care based on safety, available information, professional standards, and law. You are responsible for pharmacy, laboratory, imaging, specialist, and other third-party charges unless expressly stated otherwise.
1.8 Medical documentation
You may explain your needs, correct facts, and request particular documents, but you may not dictate a diagnosis, date, restriction, frequency, duration, or wording. We will document only what the clinician can support. Certicare does not guarantee that an employer, leave administrator, insurer, government agency, school, or other recipient will accept a document or grant leave, benefits, accommodations, reinstatement, restored unpaid time, or job protection.
1.9 Communication and document delivery
Email is the current routine communication and delivery method. By separately accepting the Email Communication Consent during intake, you authorize Certicare to send clinical messages and completed documents to the email address you provide, subject to the risks described in Section 8. When a secure portal becomes available, you may be offered a choice between email and portal delivery.
You normally deliver documents to your employer. Certicare will send documents directly to an employer or leave administrator only after receiving a separate, case-specific authorization that identifies the recipient and information to be sent. The standard intake does not authorize employer disclosure.
1.10 Fees, cancellations, refunds, and estimates
Payment is collected after intake and before clinical review. The price displayed at checkout controls. If asynchronous review is insufficient, Certicare may convert the encounter to an available telephone or video method without an automatic refund. If Certicare cannot safely complete the requested service asynchronously or through an alternative method it offers, the full-refund rule in Section 4.4 applies. If you decline or do not complete required follow-up after clinical review begins, Section 4.5 applies. Current prices, cancellations, other refund rules, duplicate-payment handling, and good-faith-estimate rights appear in Sections 4 and 7 and are incorporated into these Terms.
1.11 Website use
You may use the website only for lawful personal purposes. You may not probe or interfere with security, use automated tools to scrape or overload the service, upload malicious code, impersonate another person, or use website content or documents to mislead a third party. Certicare names, branding, website text, and original materials are protected by applicable intellectual property laws. Your medical records and documents about you remain subject to your legal access rights.
1.12 Third-party services and availability
The website may rely on service providers or link to third-party websites. Third-party services have their own terms, privacy practices, availability, and charges. We use reasonable efforts to maintain service but do not promise uninterrupted or error-free access. If a technical problem affects care, contact us and use an appropriate alternative care setting when needed.
1.13 Disclaimers and limits
General website content is educational and is not a diagnosis or individualized medical advice. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Certicare is not responsible for a third party’s independent decision, a patient’s inaccurate or omitted information, or a patient’s failure to follow clinical or emergency instructions. Nothing in these Terms waives a right that cannot lawfully be waived, lowers the applicable professional standard of care, or limits liability where a limitation is prohibited by law.
1.14 Governing law, severability, and changes
New York law governs to the extent it is not preempted, without applying a rule that would select another jurisdiction’s law. If a provision is unenforceable, it will be limited or removed only to the extent necessary, and the remainder will continue unless applicable law requires a different result.
We may update these Terms prospectively. The website will show the effective date. Material changes will be posted, and you will be asked to accept the current version each time you submit a new intake. Changes to the Notice of Privacy Practices are handled as described in that notice.
1.15 Contact
Certicare | 418 Broadway, Albany, NY 12207 | 518-254-8905 | hello@certicare.org
Asynchronous Online Evaluation and Telehealth Informed Consent
Effective date: July 19, 2026
This consent explains Certicare’s clinician-reviewed asynchronous online evaluation, also described as an online medical eVisit, and any telephone or video care used when needed. It supplements the Terms of Use and does not replace a clinician’s discussion with you. Ask questions before agreeing.
2.1 How an asynchronous encounter works
An asynchronous encounter does not require you and the clinician to communicate live at the same moment. It is still a clinician-performed medical evaluation—not automated form completion. The workflow includes:
- You submit a clinically appropriate structured history and any requested records.
- The clinician personally reviews the submitted information and performs and documents medical decision-making.
- The clinician sends individualized follow-up questions when necessary.
- If the information is medically sufficient, the clinician provides a personalized assessment, plan, documentation, referral, or other disposition.
- If the information is insufficient, the clinician converts the encounter to a meaningful telephone or audio-only, live audio-video, or in-person evaluation, or requires records, testing, or referral.
The clinician—not the questionnaire—decides whether the asynchronous method is clinically adequate. Completion of the form does not guarantee acceptance, medical certification, documentation, a prescription, or another requested outcome.
2.2 Potential benefits
- More convenient access to a licensed clinician while you are in New York.
- The ability to submit a structured history without scheduling a live appointment when the clinician determines that asynchronous review is appropriate.
- Faster exchange of forms, records, and written instructions.
- Reduced travel and the ability to participate from a private location you choose.
2.3 Material risks and limitations
- A written questionnaire may be incomplete, misunderstood, or insufficient, and individualized follow-up may delay completion.
- A remote clinician cannot perform every physical examination or observe every detail available during an in-person visit. Important information may be missed or delayed.
- Technology may fail, messages may be delayed or misdirected, and unauthorized persons could gain access despite safeguards.
- Your surroundings, device, network, and email account may not be private. Others near you may overhear or view information.
- A prescription, document, order, referral, or requested outcome may be declined. Telephone, video, in-person examination, testing, outside records, or specialist care may be required.
- Online care is not continuous monitoring. Urgent and emergency conditions are excluded from the asynchronous service.
2.4 Your location, identity, and privacy
At submission and before care is completed, you must accurately confirm your identity, age, current physical location, telephone number, email address, and emergency contact information. You consent to reasonable verification of that information. Because the clinician may review an asynchronous request after you submit it, you must report any change in location immediately and respond to a time-of-care location check when requested. Use a private setting and a device you control when possible. Tell the clinician if anyone else is present. Certicare will tell you if an observer or trainee is present and will obtain any consent required by law.
2.5 Alternatives and right to stop
Alternatives include telephone or video care when available and in-person primary, urgent, emergency, occupational health, or specialist care. You may decline or withdraw consent before or during an encounter; withdrawal does not undo care already provided. A required conversion does not automatically trigger a refund. Section 4 provides a full refund when Certicare cannot safely complete the requested service through an asynchronous or offered alternative method. Certicare may end remote care when unsafe, inappropriate, unreliable, or unlawful.
2.6 Prescribing and follow-up
Some visits may include a short-term non-controlled prescription when appropriate, and some ongoing non-controlled medications may be managed. Controlled substances are not prescribed. You agree to provide accurate medication and allergy information, use medication only as directed, obtain recommended monitoring, and seek care for adverse reactions. You remain responsible for establishing and maintaining appropriate ongoing care outside Certicare when advised.
2.7 Emergency and technology plan
Urgent and emergency conditions are excluded from Certicare’s asynchronous service. If technology fails, Certicare may contact you, reschedule, or direct you to in-person care. Call 911 for an emergency and call or text 988 for a suicide, mental health, or substance use crisis. For a serious and imminent threat, Certicare may use your location and emergency contact information, contact emergency services, or disclose information as law permits.
2.8 Consent statement
By selecting the Asynchronous Online Evaluation and Telehealth Consent checkbox, you voluntarily consent to clinician-reviewed asynchronous evaluation and any needed telephone or video care. You understand its benefits, risks, alternatives, privacy limits, and emergency instructions; that the clinician decides sufficiency; that follow-up or conversion may be required; and that submission does not guarantee documentation. You may ask questions before agreeing.
Medical Documentation Services Policy
Effective date: July 19, 2026
This policy explains how Certicare evaluates and prepares work notes, employer forms, leave documentation, accommodation documentation, and related clarifications. All documentation must be clinically supportable and is subject to independent professional judgment.
Submitting a questionnaire is a request for a clinician-reviewed asynchronous online evaluation, not an order for a completed form or medical certification. The clinician decides whether the structured history and other information are medically sufficient, may send individualized questions, and may require telephone, video, in-person evaluation, records, testing, or referral. Completion of the form does not guarantee that documentation will be issued.
3.1 Standard work note service
The standard doctor’s-note service is $29 and generally covers up to three consecutive missed-work days for a clinically supportable condition. The same $29 price applies to returning patients. A note may confirm an evaluation, recommended absence, return date, or restrictions that the clinician can support. The service name does not promise that a physician will sign the note; documentation may be completed by Rebecca Martel, APRN, FNP-BC, or another appropriately licensed Certicare clinician.
A recurring or predictable pattern of absences is not handled as repeated standard work notes when an employer form, intermittent leave evaluation, accommodation process, or other ongoing-care pathway is more appropriate. The clinician will determine the appropriate service.
The standard doctor’s-note service covers up to six missed-work days in any rolling 30-day period. Patients who need more than six days off in a 30-day period should consider applying for medical leave or a workplace accommodation instead of a standard work note.
3.2 Employer forms and Amazon DLS documentation
The employer-form and Amazon Disability and Leave Services documentation service is $49. One initial employer-form fee covers all forms for the same condition, date range, and underlying request, including later forms that are reasonably required for that same request. Continuous leave and an ongoing accommodation for the same condition are treated as one combined service when they arise from the same underlying evaluation.
Reasonable employer verification and clarification of accurate documentation are included. A materially new condition, new date range, new leave episode, extension, or substantially different request requires a new intake, updated evaluation, and the applicable current fee. There is no separate $29 additional-form fee.
3.3 Dates, duration, and extensions
- Retroactive documentation has no fixed cutoff, but the clinician must be able to support the dates using the history, available evidence, and professional judgment. Records will be requested when clinically necessary.
- Continuous leave has no fixed maximum under this policy. The supported duration depends on the condition, functional impact, treatment plan, job information, and need for reassessment.
- Intermittent leave and accommodations may be certified for no more than six months at a time under Certicare’s service policy.
- An extension always requires a new intake, updated evaluation, and the applicable current fee.
3.4 Mental-health-related leave
For mental-health-related leave, Certicare requires the patient to be actively engaged in behavioral health treatment. When clinically appropriate, Certicare may certify up to 30 days while the patient arranges treatment. Further or longer certification requires evidence of active treatment and any additional assessment the clinician considers necessary.
3.5 Patients whose employment has ended
Certicare will consider documentation for a former employee only when there is an active appeal or reinstatement process and the requested facts and dates are clinically supportable. Certicare cannot determine legal entitlement to reinstatement or employment benefits.
3.6 Employer submission and authorization
You normally submit the completed document to your employer, leave administrator, or other recipient. If you want Certicare to send a document directly, we will provide a separate authorization form for that particular disclosure. The authorization must identify the recipient and the information to be sent and may be revoked as permitted by law before the disclosure occurs. Employer authorization is not part of the standard intake.
3.7 Corrections, clarifications, and recipient decisions
Tell us promptly if a completed document contains a clerical or factual error. We will correct an error and provide reasonable clarification of accurate, complete documentation for the same underlying request without an added fee. A request to change a clinical conclusion, unsupported date, diagnosis, duration, frequency, restriction, or wording is not a clerical correction and may be declined.
An employer or administrator makes its own eligibility and approval decisions. There is no refund merely because accurate and complete documentation is rejected, additional evidence is demanded, a deadline is missed outside Certicare’s control, unpaid time is not restored, or employment, leave, accommodation, benefits, or job protection is denied.
Fees, Cancellations, and Refunds Policy
Effective date: July 19, 2026
4.1 Current base prices
| Service | Base price | What the fee covers |
|---|---|---|
| Standard doctor’s-note service | $29 | Clinical review and, if supportable, a work note covering up to three consecutive missed-work days. |
| Employer form / Amazon DLS documentation | $49 | Clinical review and forms for the same condition, date range, and underlying request, plus reasonable verification or clarification. |
| Extension or materially new request | Current applicable price | A new intake and updated clinical evaluation. |
The price displayed at checkout is the price charged and controls if it differs from this summary. Promotions and prices may change prospectively. We do not provide a retroactive adjustment after purchase merely because a later promotion or price is lower. Third-party pharmacy, laboratory, imaging, specialist, employer, delivery, and similar charges are not included unless checkout expressly says otherwise.
4.2 When payment is collected
Payment is collected after the intake form and before clinical review. A charge does not guarantee acceptance, documentation, a prescription, or another requested result. It pays for the clinician-reviewed asynchronous online evaluation and applicable service process, subject to the refund rules below.
4.3 Cancellation before clinical acceptance
You may cancel for a full refund until a Certicare clinician accepts the request and sends the first clinical response or otherwise begins the clinical encounter. To cancel, email hello@certicare.org immediately with your name, date of birth, and request email. A cancellation message is not effective before receipt merely because it was sent while clinical review was beginning.
4.4 Full-refund situations
- You were physically outside New York when you submitted the intake and the request is declined.
- The clinician determines that the requested service cannot be completed safely or appropriately through asynchronous review, and Certicare cannot complete it through an alternative telephone, video, or other method Certicare offers.
- After review or necessary follow-up, the clinician concludes that the requested documentation or service cannot be clinically supported.
- A duplicate payment is confirmed.
- Certicare approves cancellation before clinical acceptance under Section 4.3.
A conversion to a telephone or video encounter offered by Certicare does not by itself trigger a refund; the existing fee continues to cover the evaluation and service process. If Certicare instead determines that it cannot safely complete the requested service and directs you to outside or in-person care, the full-refund rule above applies.
4.5 Situations that do not qualify for a refund
- You change your mind after clinical acceptance and the first clinical response or encounter has begun.
- You do not respond to a necessary follow-up request within seven calendar days after review has begun.
- After clinical review begins, you decline or do not complete a required telephone, video, or in-person evaluation, identity or location check, records request, testing, or other clinically necessary follow-up.
- An employer or other recipient rejects accurate, complete documentation or makes an unfavorable independent decision.
- You requested a particular outcome, wording, diagnosis, date, restriction, frequency, or duration that the clinician does not support, except that a full refund applies if the service itself cannot be supported as stated in Section 4.4.
- The request involves fraud, impersonation, knowingly false material information, misuse, or alteration of a Certicare document after review has begun.
4.6 Refund timing and payment disputes
Approved refunds are initiated within one business day. Your bank or card issuer controls when the credit appears. Contact hello@certicare.org about a duplicate charge or billing concern so we can investigate promptly. Nothing in this policy removes any nonwaivable right you have under payment-card or consumer-protection law.
Communication, Accessibility, and Language Assistance Policy
Effective date: July 19, 2026
8.1 Routine communication
Email is Certicare’s current routine method for support, clinical follow-up, and document delivery. Messages are reviewed daily, but Certicare does not promise fixed live-support hours or immediate responses. A 24-hour service estimate does not mean that email is continuously monitored. When a secure portal becomes available, patients may be offered a choice between email and portal delivery.
8.2 Email communication consent and risk
Email can be misaddressed, forwarded, accessed through a shared device, stored by service providers, or intercepted despite safeguards. By accepting the separate Email Communication Consent, you authorize Certicare to send clinical messages and completed documents to the email address you provide. Use a private account you control, check the recipient address, and tell us promptly if your email changes or may be compromised.
You may withdraw email consent for future clinical communications by contacting hello@certicare.org, but this may require portal, telephone, postal, or other arrangements and may delay or prevent an online service. Withdrawal does not affect messages already sent. We may still send notices required by law or reasonably necessary for security and account administration.
8.3 Emergencies and urgent needs
Do not use email for an emergency or time-sensitive deterioration. Call 911 for an emergency. Call or text 988 for a suicide, mental health, or substance use crisis. For urgent but non-emergency care, contact an appropriate urgent care service or established treating clinician.
8.4 Help with intake, accessibility, and reasonable communication needs
Help with the intake is available by email or telephone. If you have difficulty accessing the website, forms, or documents because of a disability or technology barrier, contact us and describe the format or assistance you need. We will discuss a reasonable available alternative and will not require you to waive privacy rights to request help.
8.5 Languages
Certicare offers services in English, Spanish, and spoken Mandarin. Written Chinese assistance and materials are provided in Simplified Chinese when available. Language availability can depend on the service, clinician, and complexity of the material. Tell us your preferred language before clinical review so we can confirm whether appropriate assistance is available.
Español: Para solicitar servicios o ayuda en español, escriba a hello@certicare.org o llame al 518-254-8905.
8.6 Nondiscrimination
Certicare does not unlawfully discriminate in access to services based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, or another status protected by law. Eligibility and clinical decisions may appropriately depend on age, physical location, licensure, scope of service, safety, clinical appropriateness, available information, and legal requirements.
8.7 Complaints and contact
Send service or accessibility concerns to hello@certicare.org. Send privacy or medical-record concerns to privacy@certicare.org. Certicare acknowledges complaints within one business day; a complete response may take longer while we investigate. You may also contact an appropriate licensing, civil-rights, privacy, or consumer-protection agency. Certicare will not retaliate for a good-faith complaint.