A painful, swollen big toe or ankle? A clinician reviews your flare, orders uric acid labs if needed, and plans to prevent the next one.
Yes, for adults 18 and older in Texas. A painful, swollen big toe or ankle? A clinician reviews your flare, orders uric acid labs if needed, and plans to prevent the next one. Review is by a Texas-licensed Passion Health clinician, 24/7 on weekdays and 7 AM–9 PM CT on weekends. The flat price is $89, or use insurance. If labs are needed, your clinician usually orders Uric acid and Comprehensive metabolic panel, $53 including the $29 draw-and-review fee, through Passion Health Blood Work, drawn at a Passion Health clinic or any CPL patient service center in Texas; with insurance, the lab bills your plan directly. A prescription goes to the pharmacy you choose only if it's appropriate; controlled medicines are never prescribed online. If you have a first flare in a joint other than your big toe or the middle of your foot, you need to be seen in person today instead (at our Dallas–Fort Worth clinics, or urgent care near you), and you don't pay the online fee.
Medically reviewed by Dr. Anantha Chentha, MD, Chief Quality Medical Officer, Passion Health · October 22, 2026
Gout is a type of arthritis caused by uric acid crystals building up in a joint. It causes sudden attacks of severe pain, swelling, redness and heat, often in the big toe, ankle or knee, and often starting at night. It's more common in men, after menopause, and with kidney disease, high blood pressure, alcohol and sugary drinks.
If you have repeated flares, lumps under the skin called tophi, or joint damage on an X-ray, a daily medicine to lower uric acid may be recommended, with blood tests to reach a target level. These medicines are started low and adjusted over months, often with short-term flare protection. Staying on them long-term is what keeps flares away.
Not near one of our clinics? Online Care is open to adults anywhere in Texas; our clinics are in Dallas–Fort Worth. If the safety questions or your clinician show you need to be examined, we tell you what kind of care you need and how soon — an emergency room, an urgent care center, or a clinician near you. If you've already paid, the full fee is refunded and you get a written summary of your visit to take with you.
Also call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing, stroke signs, a sudden severe headache, fainting, a seizure, severe bleeding, new confusion, throat swelling, an overdose or thoughts of harming someone else — and call or text 988 for thoughts of harming yourself. If screening routes you before you pay, nothing is charged. If a clinician routes you after you've paid, the full fee is refunded.
Upload prior results or home readings if you have them.
If labs would help, the order goes to a Passion Health clinic, or to any CPL patient service center in Texas.
Your clinician reviews them and contacts you with your plan.
Check-ins and repeat labs timed to your condition; 30 days of messaging.
Shown so you know what to expect. The reviewing clinician decides what, if anything, is appropriate for you — a prescription is never guaranteed, and controlled medicines are never prescribed online.
Using insurance: we're in network with BCBS of Texas, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, Humana and Healthcare Highways, and we verify eligibility for every plan before review — you see your estimated cost-share first. New patients have a short video visit, because plans pay for a visit, not a form. Same-day review applies to self-pay visits; insurance visits begin once we've verified your plan, which is the next business morning if you submit overnight or on a weekend. Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP and TRICARE are billed to the program, and the cash rate isn't offered for covered services.
Full refund if your case isn't accepted: if the clinician doesn't accept your case for online care, for any reason, the full fee is refunded to your card within 10 business days, and we help you get the care you need: a same-day visit at one of our Dallas–Fort Worth clinics or, if you're not near one, clear advice on where to be seen and a written summary of your visit. With insurance, no claim is submitted for the online review. Paying the flat price yourself? You can ask for a written Good Faith Estimate before your visit.
Labs your clinician orders are priced through Passion Health Blood Work if you self-pay, or billed to your plan directly by the lab (CPL) if you use insurance; imaging is billed by the imaging center and medication is paid at your pharmacy. Passion Health doesn't sell, ship or mark up medication.
A 48-hour check-in, 30 days of secure messaging, and lab follow-up when labs were ordered.
48-hour check-in during a flare and 30 days of messaging. If you start a uric-acid-lowering medicine, expect repeat blood tests every few weeks until you reach your target.
Uric acid and kidney function guide treatment. Ordered only if your clinician decides it's needed — the visit price never includes a test you don't need.
| Uric acidGout and kidney stones | $12 |
| Comprehensive metabolic panelGlucose, kidney, liver, electrolytes (14 results) | $12 |
| Draw and clinician-review fee One per order of single tests; not charged when the order includes a Blood Work bundle | $29 |
Typical self-pay total: $89 visit + $53 labs = $142
Self-pay prices are billed by Passion Health. If you use insurance — including Medicare and Medicaid — the lab (CPL) bills your plan directly for the tests under your plan's lab benefits, and the prices above don't apply. Blood is drawn at a Passion Health clinic in North Texas or at any CPL patient service center in Texas; your clinician reviews your results and contacts you.
The flat cash rate is $89 for a standard evaluation, or use your insurance and pay your plan's cost-share — we show you an estimate before review starts. Labs and imaging are billed separately. Medication is paid at your pharmacy. If the clinician doesn't accept your case for online care, for any reason, the full fee is refunded to your card.
A Texas-licensed Passion Health clinician reviews every intake and decides your plan — not software. For gout, Texas law lets the clinician evaluate you from a condition-specific intake plus your photos and records, and they'll call or video you whenever something needs a conversation. New patients using insurance have a short video visit, because plans pay for a visit, not a form.
No. You're paying for a licensed clinician's evaluation and plan. Many visits end with a prescription; some end with a different plan, a test, or a referral. Controlled medicines — stimulants, benzodiazepines, opioids, testosterone, sleep aids like zolpidem — are never prescribed at an online visit.
If your clinician orders labs, they're priced through Passion Health Blood Work: for gout that's usually Uric acid and Comprehensive metabolic panel, $53 including the $29 draw-and-review fee, through Passion Health Blood Work (self-pay prices, billed by Passion Health). If you use insurance, including Medicare or Medicaid, the lab (CPL) bills your plan directly and those prices don't apply. You can have blood drawn at a Passion Health clinic in Dallas–Fort Worth or walk into any CPL patient service center in Texas with a photo ID; your clinician reviews your results and contacts you.
Treating flares eases the pain, but it doesn't remove the uric acid crystals that cause them. If flares keep coming back, crystals can build up and damage joints over time. A daily uric-acid-lowering medicine, taken long-term and adjusted with blood tests, can prevent flares and let crystals slowly dissolve. Your clinician will talk through whether it fits you.
They can. Beer and liquor, sugary drinks sweetened with fructose, and large servings of red meat, organ meats and some seafood can raise uric acid and trigger flares. Diet changes help, but for many people they aren't enough on their own to prevent flares. Drinking enough water and keeping a healthy weight also help.
For a flare, a clinician may consider an anti-inflammatory, colchicine or a short course of a steroid, if appropriate. Each has cautions. Anti-inflammatories can strain the kidneys and stomach and don't mix well with blood thinners or heart failure. Colchicine interacts with several common medicines, including some statins and antibiotics, and its dose depends on your kidney function. Steroids can raise blood sugar, which matters if you have diabetes. Before starting allopurinol, a daily uric-acid-lowering medicine, people of Han Chinese, Korean, Thai or African American ancestry may be offered a blood test called HLA-B*5801, because they have a higher risk of a rare but serious skin reaction. That's why the intake asks about your kidneys, other conditions and medicines.
A clinician may form a valid patient relationship online using store-and-forward technology — your condition-specific intake, photos and records — paired with a call or video when needed, as long as the in-person standard of care is met (Tex. Occ. Code §111.005(a)(3), §111.007). Your clinician gives you guidance on follow-up care and, with your consent, sends new patients' visit notes to their primary care physician within 72 hours (§111.005(b)).
Chief Quality Medical Officer, Passion Health · Texas-licensed internal medicine physician
Reviewed for medical accuracy by Dr. Anantha Chentha, MD, Chief Quality Medical Officer, Passion Health, on October 22, 2026. Pages are reviewed again when clinical guidance or our visit rules change, and the date shown here is updated each time.
Book a same-day visit at a Passion Health clinic in Dallas–Fort Worth, or call and we'll point you to the right visit — or, elsewhere in Texas, to the right kind of care near you.