FAQs

What is functional medicine?

Functional medicine is a type of medicine that involves a highly personalized understanding of your disease. The main goal is to find the root cause of the disease and treat the patient, not just the illness, with the goal of reversing disease. This involves more in depth labs for investigation than you would usually be offered as well as a lot more time during appointments. Treatment is focused on changing your lifestyle and adding supplements rather than medications when possible. We want to make these changes last so that you can continue to feel well. Medications often serve to cover up your symptoms or can even make you feel worse so we avoid these when possible, although they are sometimes necessary. We are also focused on prevention because why treat disease later, when you can prevent it now?

What is a micropractice?

A micropractice is a small medical practice with very little (or even no) staff. This enables us to keep overhead costs low which saves you money on your membership. This model also enables us to spend a lot more time with you than you are used to at a traditional medical practice.

Where are you located?

The office is based in Hamilton, Montana but we are able to see patients throughout the entire state of Montana as well as Nevada, Washington, and California through telemedicine.

How do I become a patient?

Select the consult or package you would like on the Work With Me page. Click the sign up button and input your information. Once we receive it, we will send you an email with further instructions on how to create your account, purchase your package and schedule your first appointment.

How does the membership work?

Every patient will have a 90 minute intake visit where we can get to know each other and talk about your health history in detail. Then, we will come up with an initial plan for work-up and some brief recommendations for next steps. After we receive lab results, we will provide more detailed recommendations. Depending on which plan you signed up for, we will have follow-ups every 6-12 weeks to check in on progress, order more labs if needed and adjust our plan. Currently all visits are Telehealth visits via video. We will also have check-in's via phone in between visits as well.

Please note we are not able to see any patients who have Medicare or Medicaid at this time due to federal regulations. We hope to be able to offer our services to these patients in the future.

Do I need to have access to video or can I just use my cell phone?

You will need to have access to video for visits but this can be on your computer or on your phone.

Can I be seen in person?

At this time, we do not offer any in person visits but we do plan to offer this in the future.

Are there any conditions you don’t treat?

At this time, we are focused on GI health, hormonal health, adrenal health, autoimmune health and more. Please see the Work with Me page for a more comprehensive list. We can treat a lot of things but we do not treat lyme disease or active cancers. We also cannot do annual physicals, well child checks, flight physicals, DOT physicals, or order routine cancer screenings. We also do not prescribe any controlled substances including pain medications and certain classes of anxiety, ADHD or sleep medications. We also cannot be available for urgent care type care such as UTI’s, colds, etc. If you aren't sure if we can help, please use the Contact Us form to let us know what you want to work on and we can let you know if we are a good fit for you.

Can you be my primary care physician?

No, you will still need to maintain a relationship with your primary care physician. We can help you with many of the conditions that your primary care physician treats but we do not offer primary care services at this time.

Do you take insurance?

No, we are not currently contracted with any insurance companies. This practice was created in part to get away from the insurance model of practice as we do not feel that this model best serves our patients’ health. All costs will be shown up front, there are no hidden fees. You can decide which labs and supplements you would like to proceed with after you are notified of the cost. Of note, you can use HSA/FSA dollars to pay for your membership and labs.

Do you treat children?

We are accepting patients ages 12 and up.

Can I cancel my membership?

Yes, you can cancel your membership at any time by contacting our office. We require 30 days notice and you will continue to have access to your membership for those 30 days. Please note that any pending charges in that 30 days will be processed. Memberships/payments are not refundable.

Why is there a sign-up fee?

The sign-up fee (already included in the cost) helps to cover the work we do to review your health history prior to even meeting you. Before your appointment, we will review the paperwork you submitted so that we can get a running start when we have our first appointment. Depending on the package you choose, we may also order labs before meeting you as well.

Do you have a dietician, nutritionist, health coach, etc?

Not at this time but we are hoping to add to our team in the future!

Are supplements and labs included in the membership cost?

No, as these things vary from patient to patient, they are not included in the cost. However, we have negotiated for discounted rates on many labs and if you order supplements through our Fullscript account, you get a 20% discount. Labs are cash pay but are still often cheaper than paying through insurance. Prior to purchasing any labs or supplements, we will inform you of the cost so you can make an informed decision. If you can't afford any or all labs and supplements, there is still a lot we can do to help.

What if I need more visits after I complete my membership?

We offer add-on packages of 3 or 6 more visits. Please let us know before your membership ends so we can coordinate this with you.

What if I need to cancel or reschedule an appointment?

Please cancel or reschedule through the patient portal at least 48 hours prior to your appointment. Same day cancel, reschedule or no show will be subject to a $100 fee.

How do I get my records to you?

Please do not send them in the mail as our mailbox is not secure for private patient information. Instead, please upload them in the patient portal or have them faxed to the office. Preferably, we receive pertinent records prior to your first appointment so that we are prepared for your first visit.