Who is the best candidate for functional medicine?
  • The “best” patient for functional medicine is one that:
    • Wants to decrease reliance on pharmaceuticals
    • Wants to do more for their health beyond pills (for example, modify habits such as avoiding coffee on an empty stomach)
    • Wants to be an active participant in his/her health
    • Wants an investigative provider
    • Wants longer appointments 
    • Wants to set an example for their family (or transfer what is learned in a functional medicine visit to support the health of his/her family)
  • Functional medicine is best for those that:
    • Want to understand their body, be educated.
    • Understand that there is no magic pill or quick fix for a chronic illness or symptom.
    • Want to optimize health for the long-term, to improve overall quality of life.  

Functional medicine:

  • PROMOTES health and feeling good on a daily basis
  • Is a model best suited for addressing/reversing CHRONIC diseases/symptoms or PREVENTING chronic disease states.
  • Functional medicine is a MODEL – not a specialty.
  • PERSONALIZED medicine. There are no treatment algorithms in functional medicine (algorithms often imply a “one-size-fits all approach”).

Mainstream/Conventional Medicine:

  • Focused on TREATING DISEASES (over improving overall health and resiliency)
  • Great at addressing ACUTE healthcare needs. 
  • Great for those that don’t want a lot of time with a practitioner, or who don’t want to understand the “why” behind a treatment recommendation or presence of a condition/symptom
  • Great for those that don’t want to put the work into improving lifestyle or mindset, and prefer a convenient pill or procedure.
  • There is no license or degree in functional medicine.  Some training institutions offer certifications (but not required for practice).
  • Functional medicine practitioners are trained via a variety of organizations, with the most popular programs via the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM), School of Applied Functional Medicine (SAFM), and the American Academy for Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M).
  • When you see a functional medicine practitioner who has education in mainstream medicine (MD, DO, PA, NP), we are obligated to address the “standard of care” as well as functional medicine services.  For example, if someone has really high cholesterol, a statin is the standard of care (pros and cons of which will be discussed during a visit).

However, anyone can call themselves a “functional medicine practitioner,” even without training, since there are no licensing or certifying organizations that regulate this model of medicine.  This can make it very confusing for both patients and practitioners!

To see a list of the 16+ organizations where I have received training (in addition to being IFM certified), click here.

I realize that functional and integrative medicine can be cost prohibitive, and my services take this into account (while also reflecting my 12+ years of experience, wisdom, and countless hours of education).

My fee schedule is as follows:

  • Introductory consultation (60 min): $300
  • Comprehensive lab panel through Quest: $300
  • Planning session (to review labs, 60 min): $300
  • Transformation Program (6 months): $229/month [includes 4 follow up visits]
  • Refine Program (6 months): $129/month [includes 2 follow up visits]

Any functional medicine tests are not marked up, and patient pays the lab directly.

High quality supplements can be purchased at 20% off through Fullscript.  Any products not available on Fullscript I will try to obtain an affiliate discount.

I am not contracted with or bill insurance companies directly for services.  

I do not profit from any labs I order, and can generally provide costs for these before completing them.  If you wish to send labs through insurance, I cannot guarantee a price or how much insurance will cover.

At your request, I can provide a superbly for services (which you can take to your insurance to see if they will provide out-of-network reimbursement).

Why don’t most functional or integrative medicine clinics take insurance?  Traditionally, insurance companies dictate what can or cannot be ordered (and thus covered), and do not like to reimburse for time spent with patients (and time is a significant factor in healing!).

If you are a new patient, please proceed with an initial consultation before signing up for a membership. This will help me determine which membership will be best for your goals and concerns.

No, I am not registered with Medicare or Medicaid so I cannot participate in these options (and if a patient has either of these, lab testing cannot be submitted for reimbursement).

I accept all major credit cards and HSA/FSA cards.

I require payment be made prior to your appointment through a card on file. If there are issues with payment going through, this may result in appointment cancellation.

For memberships, there is an option to pay monthly or pay in full for 6 months (paying in full provides a small discount).

At this time, memberships will NOT automatically renew after 6 months.

Note, any unused membership visits will not roll over into a new membership plan.

I understand that there will be times when an appointment needs to be rescheduled.

However, if an appointment is cancelled within 24 hours of the scheduled time, I have already spent time preparing for your appointment and this is a disservice to me (and affects the ability of other patients to be serviced).  

I respectfully request 2 business days notice if you need to cancel.  A fee of $200 will be applied if cancellation occurs within 2 business days.

Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

I respectfully request a 3 month commitment. If you wish to cancel after 3 months, reimbursement will be based off the number of follow up visits you have left (note, if you use all your allotted visits within 3 months, no reimbursement will occur).

If you are unsure of your commitment, please choose the pay per month option (if you pay in full for 6 months, membership is non-refundable).

The introductory and planning sessions are the only options for fee-for-service visits.

Anything beyond these will be considered on a case by case basis.  

Why? The membership includes the ability to communicate between visits so my time to respond is included in the cost of memberships. With as needed visits, I cannot provide detailed communication between visits and will restrict communication.

I am 100% telemedicine.

However, I may offer in person visits in Austin, TX in the near future (2x/year).

Yes!

If you are a member, you get (mostly) unlimited messages between visits.

The messages must be regarding information discussed in a visit, and cannot be used to address a new symptom, review a large lab panel, or add a new treatment.  The aforementioned are best suited for an appointment.

I will respond within 3 business days. 

For anything that requires a faster response, please contact your PCP, call 911, or go to your nearest emergency/urgent care clinic.

No, I am not a primary care provider (PCP) or general practitioner (GP). I request that all patients have a PCP/GP, specialist, or urgent care clinic they can go to for acute medical issues.  

I partner with Fullscript, an online supplement store that controls for temperature to maintain high quality products, and offers professional-grade nutraceuticals (i.e. the products contain what they claim to have, and are third-party tested).

Please do not purchase from Amazon or local stores (unless I feel the product in question can be obtained in this manner), even if these locations claim that the product is the recommended brand I mention.  I have unfortunately seen detrimental effects when patients have purchased from unapproved sources.

I currently do not treat:

  • Pediatric conditions (anyone under the age of 18; however, I will accept patients between 12-18 years old if a parent is enrolled in care).
  • Active cancer
  • Lyme or vector-borne disease