At the first visit, Dr. Leila and her staff discuss your health concerns, why you requested an appointment, and your medical history. Your provider will then determine what testing you’ll need for your particular concerns, explaining what each test entails. At this first visit your provider will prescribe a supplement regimen targeted at stress support, as well as your specific health concerns.
In a month, you will return for a second visit to review your test results. Your provider will explain what they mean in depth. They will then prescribe a more specific regimen of supplements to treat your specific problems.
Subsequent visits with your metabolic medicine provider are typically 4 to 6 months after your initial visit. Your provider will order more blood work prior to these visits and will use the blood work results, along with how you are feeling, to determine how effective your treatment plan has been. All patients respond differently to treatments and the providers at our office want to be sure that we have created a plan that is working well for each patient’s specific health concerns.
New patients $650.00
Follow-ups $375.00
Americans are under more stress than we were ever meant to be, evolutionarily. We work longer hours, we have more time commitments and relationship commitments, and we don’t typically relax as much as we should. While our forefathers suffered from real threats like predatory animals and starvation, we suffer perceived threats like time crunches and finances. Our perceived threats last longer than the threat of predatory animals. Because we demand more from our bodies in the form of constant stressors, we must supplement our bodies nutritionally to keep up with the increased demand.
In addition to psychological stressors, we also suffer from toxic stress due to industrialization. Toxins affect our body’s ability to function properly and diminish much-needed nutrients.
To obtain all of the nutrients we would need to fully support the body in the face of these many stressors, we would need to eat ten to fifteen servings a day of fruits and vegetables a day. In addition to being extremely difficult to get that number in every day, today’s produce has lower nutrient value than it did previously due to over-farming.
Supplements help maintain good health under the burden of stress. You can achieve the highest quality of life when you ask a metabolic provider to determine which nutrients your body lacks and to develop a tailored supplement program for you.
Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy uses hormones that are identical in molecular structure to the ones our bodies produce in order to put the body back into hormonal balance. This is opposed to traditional hormone replacement therapy, which uses molecules that are often not even found in nature. When we use the exact same estrogen and testosterone that our bodies produce to boost levels as they decline with age, patients feel much better and have fewer side effects.
Every cell in our body has receptors for hormones, and when our hormones are low, we can experience dysfunction on every level – fatigue, poor sleep, irritability, poor libido, weight gain, high cholesterol, muscle aches, and arthritis. Many more of us are suffering low or poorly balanced hormones because of the increased stress and toxins in our environment.
Through proper testing and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, along with nutritional replacement and detoxification, we can significantly improve our quality of life!
When we test for hormones, we are searching for what is happening inside our cells, where our health truly lies. Salivary levels of hormones reflect the levels of hormones inside our cells better than blood levels do. In the blood, hormones are found in different ways – either bound to hormones or not. We want to know about the one that is “free” – the one floating around in the blood, not bound to anything and prepared for the cell to use. Regular labs don’t test for the free portion of the hormone. When the lab checks blood hormone levels, it tests for the total value of the hormone, which is composed of the free portion and a portion that’s bound to big carrier proteins which can’t get past the cell membrane and can’t be used by cells.
Saliva glands secrete their contents, so the inside of the cell is now in our saliva. Saliva doesn’t have carrier proteins, making them a better baseline for testing levels of hormones than blood.
Your provider will return your message or phone call within 72 hours. If you have left a message with the office already, it is not necessary for you to call again unless you have not received a return call or communication from the office within three business days.
Please allow 72 HOURS for prescription refills at local pharmacies and five to seven days for refills at out-of-town pharmacies. For prescriptions being picked up at a local pharmacy, please call the pharmacy first to confirm your prescription is ready for pick-up. Dr. Leila and her team often use compounding pharmacies. Because they are making up a prescription especially for you, your prescription may take several days to fill.
Dr. Leila’s office does not accept insurance; however, at the time of your visit, you will be given a billing statement that you can submit to some insurances for reimbursement of her fee as an “out-of-network” provider. Additionally, there are some health plans that will allow you to use FSA money to pay for supplements. If you require a letter stating the supplements are prescribed by a physician, we can provide you with this. Also remember that in some cases, health expenses can be written-off on your taxes.
This notice describes how your protected health information (PHI) may be used and disclosed. It also informs you about how you can access this information. Please review this notice carefully.
Your health record contains personal information about your health (PHI). This information may identify you; this includes you past, present, or future physical or mental health conditions and all related healthcare services. This notices describes how we may use your PHI in accordance with all applicable laws.
We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your PHI and to provide you with notice of our legal duties and our practices regarding disclosure. We are required to abide by the terms of this notice. We do reserve the right to change the terms of our practice at any time. Any new notice of privacy practices will be effective for all PHI that we maintain at the time. Policy revisions will be posted in the office and are available upon request.
For Treatment – Your PHI may be used and disclosed by those involved in your health care for the purpose of providing, coordinating, or managing your health care treatment and related services. This includes consultation, referrals, or where disclosure is legally required.
For Payment – Your PHI may be used or disclosed in the event that the use of a collection agency is required due to lack of payment. In this event, we will disclose the minimum amount of PHI necessary for collection of fees.
For Health Care Operations – We may use or disclose your PHI as needed in order to support all professional development of business-related transactions including but not limited to: quality assurance, licensing, and conducting or arranging other business activities (billing or audits), provided there is a contract with that business requiring it to also safeguard your PHI.
Disclosures Required or Allowed by Law – Under the law, we must make disclosures of your PHI to you upon request. In addition, we must make disclosures to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human services for the purpose of investigating or determining compliance with the requirements of HIPAA.
Disclosures Without Authorization – The types of uses of PHI and disclosures that may be made without your consent are governed by applicable law and ethical standards in only a limited number of situations. They include:
Verbal Permission – We may use or disclose you PHI to family members that are directly involved in your treatment with your verbal permission, pending the obtainment of written authorization as soon as possible.
With Authorization – We may use or disclose you PHI where you have given written consent as a course of treatment. You may revoke this at any time by notifying the office in writing; however, this revocation is not retroactive.
You have the following rights regarding any PHI we maintain about you. To exercise these rights, please submit your request in writing to the office:
Right to Restrictions. You may request a restriction of limitation on the use or disclosure of you PHI for treatment, payment, or operations. We are not bound or required to agree to this request.
Right to Confidential Communication. You have the right to request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a certain way (i.e.: letter, fax, phone) or at a certain location.
Right to a Copy of this Notice. You have a right to a copy of this notice in its entirety and to any and all additional editions or edits.
Complaints: If you believe your rights under HIPAA have been violated, you may file a complaint with the office.
