Your Cart is Empty
When some people first hear this term, they automatically assume it means providing a ton of supplements and hoping for the best. Nothing could be further from the truth. Functional medicine is based on biology and innovative techniques that treat the true root causes of disease. It involves comprehensive care that focuses on lifestyle factors, genetics, environmental aspects, and biochemical marker. You may not have always felt that your voice was heard in a medical appointment. That changes completely when you seek holistic care. Your functional medicine doctor wants to listen and ensure that you are heard and understood. It’s how we get to the root problem, which is what traditional healthcare often overlooks. Today’s healthcare system is broken and frequently runs backward. Instead of being patient-focused, modern medicine tries to use pharmaceuticals that cover up the real issues and sometimes limit practitioners to only a few minutes per person.
Now, you may be wondering why you only get a small amount of time with your primary care doctor, and it could be a myriad of reasons, like insurance issues and confusing bureaucratic red tape. Functional medicine is a breath of fresh air for people who want to have the time needed to work through underlying conditions and fix the real problems. This article will review some of the crucial questions you should ask your new functional medicine doctor to get a clearer understanding of your partnership and treatment plan.
This is one of the most frequent questions holistic practices receive when patients make an appointment. The answer is, in most cases, no, health insurance plans do not cover functional medical consultations and treatment. (1) If functional medicine truly works, then why won’t these companies pay for it?
Simply put, many of these agencies are aligned with pharmaceutical companies that push prescription pills rather than looking for the actual cause of the health concern. The goal of these companies is to cover up the problem with medicine and provide a temporary fix. Functional medicine is about finding the cause and working to heal it. However, if you have a Flexible Spending Account or Health Savings Account, you can use these payment methods at NuVision Health Center for your functional medicine appointments.
This method may be different depending on the clinic and clinician. In many cases, the physicians use an in-depth functional analysis to assess your health history, check your vitals, and order labs to determine your biomarkers. (2) These doctors are highly trained.
One of the unique features of holistic medicine is that it can often take place virtually. Many clinics are hybrid practices and have in-person and telehealth visits to accommodate more patients. (3) Even the labs can be done locally with a requisition, so you don’t have to travel hundreds of miles to see a specialist. Once the clinic receives your lab results, the doctor will contact you, go through the findings, and provide the next steps of your treatment. Some patients find this much more conducive to their busy schedules.
The first appointment may be longer than the rest. That is a positive factor because your functional medicine doctor wants to get to know you to prepare the most specialized care possible. You won’t feel rushed to hurry up and finish the visit. You may notice it is much more thorough than traditional healthcare practices you’ve experienced. Typically, appointments last between 30 minutes and 60 minutes, but again, that is a good thing because your health matters, and we want your voice to be heard. (4)
This is another popular question when it comes to natural medicine. Now, although insurance doesn’t typically pay, there are certain complements that may help, like healthcare savings plans and faith-based health sharing plans, which often help pay for these alternative methods. A caveat might be that some insurance providers pay for specific treatments that may be included in holistic healthcare, like chiropractic techniques and acupuncture. (5)
If you’ve had the view that functional medicine only treats achy joints and some mild fatigue, we have good news for you. There are a host of common conditions that these clinicians can help reverse. Many of them are chronic in nature, and those suffering from them have thought and sometimes been told there was no relief in sight until learning about natural healthcare. Here are a few of the health issues that may benefit from functional medicine:
As we’ve touched on, natural medical practices are all about finding the root causes of conditions. For instance, many people are struggling with autoimmune conditions today. Rather than writing a quick prescription that only masks the symptoms, functional medical doctors want to reverse the condition by addressing the actual causes. We want to balance the immune system rather than suppressing it. Often, this means a nutritional approach that targets gut health, pain, proper sleep, and boosting immune function. The same is true for other concerns.
Another important aspect of functional medicine is the preventive approach to care. Unlike Western medicine, natural practitioners believe in addressing the underlying issues to prevent further harm and illness. In our practice, we want to be proactive rather than reactive whenever possible.
With all the misinformation surrounding health today, it is vital to have someone on your side who truly cares about your health. Many modern physicians are well-meaning, but simply aren’t taught about clinical supplement dosing, finding the underlying issues, or how adequate nutrition affects your health.
Functional medicine is a higher level of healthcare that offers a true understanding of the patient’s biology. We provide assessments and treatment regimens that lead to pinpoint accuracy. These are designed to effectively treat the actual conditions and not cover them up for a temporary fix that leaves you frustrated and sick.
If you are tired of the modern medicine roller coaster and want to see why more and more people are switching to functional healthcare, we’d love to talk to you about our programs. Contact us today to find out how natural methods work and are the key to genuine health.
https://www.ifm.org/functional-medicine/patient-resources/what-to-expect
https://balanceatlanta.com/why-health-insurance-doesnt-cover-functional-medicine/
https://macombpainmanagement.com/how-a-functional-medicine-doctor-can-help-you/
https://www.decent.com/blog/how-does-alternative-medicine-coverage-work-in-your-health-insurance
https://theaeonclinic.com/functional-medicine-questions/
https://www.ifm.org/articles/adjunct-therapies-for-depression
