Frequently Asked Questions

Please complete your patient forms before your visit and bring your photo ID, current insurance card, medication list, and preferred pharmacy information. If another physician has performed a relevant biopsy, pathology evaluation, or treatment, having those records available can also be helpful.

Your visit will begin with a review of your concerns, relevant medical history, medications, and skin history. Your provider will perform the examination appropriate for your visit, discuss findings and treatment options, and develop a plan with you. If a biopsy, cryotherapy, or another minor procedure is appropriate, it can often be performed during the same visit.

We want to give each concern appropriate attention. Depending on the number or complexity of issues, we may recommend a separate appointment to address additional concerns. Full-body skin exams are dedicated skin cancer screening appointments and are scheduled separately from visits for concerns such as acne, hair loss, rashes, or rosacea.

Your provider will examine your skin for concerning moles, skin cancers, precancers, and other abnormalities. Be prepared to change into a gown so that areas normally covered by clothing can be examined. Avoid wearing makeup and nail polish when possible. Please point out anything that is new, changing, bleeding, painful, or otherwise concerning.

A full-body skin exam is a dedicated skin cancer screening visit focused on evaluating your skin for suspicious moles, precancers, and skin cancers. Concerns such as acne, hair loss, rashes, rosacea, or other dermatologic conditions require a separate appointment. This allows us to give you the time and attention needed for a thorough evaluation and treatment plan. If you have both a skin cancer screening and another dermatologic concern, our team will be happy to help you schedule the appropriate visits.

Capital Skin & Laser participates with select insurance plans for medically necessary dermatology services. Because participation and individual benefits vary, please contact your insurance carrier with questions about your specific coverage. Cosmetic services are elective and are not submitted to insurance.

Generally, no. While breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screenings are recognized preventive services, routine skin cancer screening is not currently designated as a preventive service by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Your regular insurance benefits will generally apply, including any copay, deductible, or coinsurance. Please contact your insurance carrier for details about your specific coverage.

Your insurance carrier is the best source for information about your individual benefits, deductible, copay, and coinsurance. We can help verify benefits when possible, but benefit verification, prior authorization, and cost estimates are not guarantees of coverage or payment. Your insurance carrier determines your final responsibility after processing the claim.

Capital Skin & Laser bills for performing the biopsy. The tissue is then evaluated by a pathology laboratory, which will bill you or your insurance separately. The same principle applies to bloodwork and certain other testing performed by outside laboratories.

A copay is a fixed amount you may owe for a visit or service. A deductible is the amount you generally pay toward covered healthcare services before your insurance begins paying according to your plan. Coinsurance is the percentage of the allowed cost you are responsible for after applicable deductible requirements are met.

The amount collected at your appointment may represent only your known responsibility at that time. Your final responsibility is determined after your insurance carrier processes the claim and applies your specific benefits.

Insurance often does not determine your final responsibility until after your visit. A securely maintained payment method allows remaining balances to be collected after the claim is processed. You will receive electronic notification at least three days before a post-insurance balance is charged to your card on file.

Some insurance plans require authorization from your primary care provider before you see a specialist. If your plan requires a referral, you are responsible for obtaining it before your appointment.

Some medications, procedures, and treatments require review by your insurance carrier before coverage is considered. We will make reasonable efforts to assist with prior authorizations, but your insurance company determines approval and processing time. Prior authorization does not guarantee payment.

For questions about your specific benefits, contact the members services number on the back of your insurance card. Capital Skin & Laser can help with questions about charges or claims from our practice, but your insurance carrier is the best source for information about your individual plan and coverage.

Please provide at least 24 hours’ notice when cancelling or rescheduling medical appointments, and at least 48 hours’ notice when cancelling or rescheduling surgical or laser appointments. Because we are closed on weekends, Monday appointments must be cancelled or rescheduled by noon Friday. Late cancellations and missed appointments will incur a fee. Please review our complete Office & Financial Policies for details.

Please call us if you are running late. We make every effort to run on time and respect the appointment times of all our patients. If you arrive more than 10 minutes late, or if there is not sufficient time to address your concerns in the time remaining in your appointment, we may need to shorten your visit, move your appointment to later in the day if availability allows, or reschedule your appointment. This ensures we have enough time to provide your care without delaying patients who arrived on time. If your appointment must be rescheduled due to late arrival, the missed appointment fee will apply.

Please submit routine refill requests through the patient portal whenever possible and allow up to three business days. You must have been evaluated by Capital Skin & Laser within the previous 12 months to receive prescription refills. Some medications require more frequent visits or laboratory monitoring. A refill may be limited or declined when continued treatment is not medically appropriate, required monitoring has not been completed, or recommended follow-up appointments have not occurred.

Once a prior authorization is submitted, your insurance carrier controls much of the review process. We will provide requested clinical information when appropriate, but we cannot control the insurer’s processing time or guarantee approval.

Results are communicated after they have been reviewed by your physician or physician assistant. Timing varies depending on the test and laboratory. If you have not received your results within two weeks, please contact us.

Every new cosmetic relationship at Capital Skin & Laser begins with a dedicated consultation to evaluate your skin, anatomy, concerns, and goals and develop an individualized treatment plan. Your consultation may include advanced skin imaging to evaluate your skin, establish a baseline, and help guide treatment planning and track your progress over time. You will then meet with Dr. Leah Spring, a fellowship-trained Cosmetic Dermatologic Surgeon, for a comprehensive assessment. Rather than evaluating a single treatment or concern in isolation, Dr. Spring can consider skincare, injectables, lasers and energy-based devices, resurfacing, and surgical options to determine what makes sense for your skin—and what doesn’t. A cosmetic consultation at Capital Skin & Laser is a patient consultation, not a sales appointment. You will leave knowing what makes sense for you, in what order, and what you don’t need. An initial cosmetic consultation is required before receiving cosmetic services. Cosmetic consultations are $150 and are not billed to insurance. $100 of your consultation fee will be applied toward a cosmetic procedure performed within 60 days.

Healthy skin and cosmetic concerns aren’t separate disciplines. Dermatologic expertise allows us to evaluate the medical and aesthetic factors contributing to changes in pigmentation, texture, redness, scarring, volume, laxity, and aging before recommending treatment. Advanced dermatologic and cosmetic training allows us to determine what to treat, how to treat it, how different treatments should be sequenced—and when not to treat.

Cosmetic dermatology at Capital Skin & Laser is physician-led and grounded in the science of skin, aging, anatomy, and wound healing. Dr. Spring completed advanced fellowship training in both Cosmetic Dermatologic Surgery and Mohs Micrographic Surgery & Cutaneous Oncology. Her training spans lasers and energy-based devices, injectables, resurfacing, scar treatment, dermatologic surgery, and facial reconstruction. This breadth of expertise allows us to evaluate your concern beyond any single device or procedure. We invest in advanced technology, but technology does not determine your treatment plan. Clinical judgment does. Our approach is simple: the right treatment, for the right patient, at the right time.

Sometimes. Same-day treatment depends on the recommended procedure, treatment time, whether topical numbing is necessary, and availability. More involved treatments are generally scheduled separately.

Some treatments require approximately 45 minutes of topical numbing before the procedure. When numbing is required, your arrival time will be earlier than your actual procedure time. Please arrive at the time provided by our team so your treatment can begin as scheduled.

No. Cosmetic consultations, procedures, and skincare are elective and are not submitted to insurance. If a medical condition is evaluated or treated during a cosmetic appointment, the medically necessary portion may be separately billed to insurance.

No. For safety and quality-control reasons, all skincare and product sales are final.

After completing dermatology residency, some dermatologists pursue an additional year of dedicated fellowship training in cosmetic dermatologic surgery. An ASDS-accredited Cosmetic Dermatologic Surgery Fellowship provides intense, hands-on training in advanced cosmetic procedures, including lasers and energy-based devices, injectables, skin rejuvenation, resurfacing, scar treatment, and other cosmetic techniques. Accredited fellows participate in hundreds of procedures and receive extensive exposure to cosmetic dermatologic surgery under the direct supervision of experienced faculty. Dr. Leah Spring completed an ASDS-accredited Cosmetic Dermatologic Surgery Fellowship at SkinCare Physicians in Boston, giving her advanced training in the science, safety, and appropriate use of cosmetic procedures and energy-based devices.

No. To protect the safety, privacy, and confidentiality of our patients and team, photography, video recording, and audio recording are not permitted within Capital Skin & Laser without prior authorization from the practice.

The patient portal is the preferred method for routine medical questions, prescription requests, and non-urgent concerns. Messages are addressed during regular business hours and are not routinely monitored after hours, on weekends, or on holidays. For a medical emergency, call 911 or proceed to the nearest emergency department.

Board certification and fellowship training are different credentials. Fellowship training is formal advanced training completed after dermatology residency. Dr. Leah Spring completed fellowship training in both Mohs Micrographic Surgery & Cutaneous Oncology and Cosmetic Dermatologic Surgery, which represents the highest level of training across skin cancer surgery, reconstruction, lasers, procedural dermatology, and cosmetic treatment.

Capital Skin & Laser was built around a physician-led, team-based approach to dermatology. We bring comprehensive medical dermatology, skin cancer treatment, Mohs surgery, dermatologic surgery, scar treatment, lasers, and cosmetic dermatology together in one practice, allowing your care to evolve as your needs change. Our physicians and physician assistants work as a closely integrated clinical team. You may see either clinician for your dermatologic care, with ongoing communication and collaboration when your diagnosis, treatment plan, or clinical course warrants additional input. This model allows you to benefit from the accessibility and continuity of a team while maintaining the expertise and oversight of a physician-led practice. We also believe expertise should be matched by restraint. We invest in advanced technology and offer a broad range of medical, surgical, laser, and cosmetic treatments, but having a treatment available does not mean it is the right treatment for you. Your recommendations are based on your diagnosis, anatomy, skin, goals, and the available evidence—not on a predetermined treatment package. The result is dermatology that is collaborative, evidence-based, and personal—and the foundation of a relationship that evolves with you and your skin over time.

Physicians who perform Mohs surgery may have very different levels of formal surgical training, and the terminology can be confusing--even for well-informed patients. Fellowship-trained Mohs surgeons complete dedicated, intense, supervised hands-on surgical training after dermatology residency. In an accredited Mohs fellowship, physicians spend one to two additional years treating skin cancers, examining microscopic margins, managing challenging tumors, and learning reconstruction of surgical defects--including those involving the nose, eyelids, ears, lips, and other cosmetically and functionally important areas. Board certification is a subspecialty certification offered by the American Board of Dermatology. It recognizes dermatologists who pass a comprehensive written examination covering Mohs surgery, skin cancer management, pathology, and reconstruction. When the Micrographic Dermatologic Surgery board certification was introduced in 2021, dermatologists could qualify to take this exam through a temporary pathway, even if they had never completed an accredited Mohs fellowship. Beginning in 2026, that pathway is no longer available (all applicants are now required to complete a Mohs fellowship prior to board certification). This creates an important distinction for patients: a physician can be board-certified in Mohs surgery today without having completed an accredited Mohs fellowship. Board certification tells you that a physician met the certification requirements and passed the examination. Fellowship training tells you how that surgeon was formally trained. If fellowship training matters to you--particularly when choosing someone to treat a skin cancer on your face or the face of someone you loved, ask specifically Did you complete an accredited fellowship in Mohs Micrographic Surgery & Dermatologic Oncology after residency? At Capital Skin & Laser, Dr. Leah Spring is both fellowship-trained and board-certified in Micrographic Dermatologic Surgery & Cutaneous Oncology.