Practice Management
You talked about not wanting to overwhelm with the steps involved with onboarding new patients this week. Is it possible for you to provide our group with an example of how the interaction takes place, take a new patient from start to finish and what each interaction consists of?
Chris Kresser: Definitely, and I’m glad you brought this up. I had a conversation with another participant this week about...
I’m curious as to what your average patient case fee looks like. In other words, how much, on average, would you say that CCFM, California Center for Functional Medicine clinic, or your private practice previously made for a patient’s entire case? This would include their initial appointment plus follow-ups. I’m sure there might be a pretty big range, depending on how long you work with someone and how many follow-up appointments they have, but I’m just curious about an average. Additionally, when patients have their first initial consultation, how much money do you estimate that they pay in lab fees alone?
Chris Kresser: I think I may have answered this already. Apologies if I have. The good news is the answers...
Along the lines of triaging group, I’ve read many reviews and my patients have told me about going to practitioners and spending a lot of money on fees, labs, and supplements without resolving their issues. This seems like that most common complaint of patients who have seen functional medicine practitioners. What’s your strategy to mitigate patients not feeling the cost matches the value? Where do you think we can aim our focus?
Chris Kresser: Yeah, it’s a problem, and I don’t know that it’s solvable. There’s a subset of patients who feel...
After an initial phone consult with a patient, do you usually start them on something like a 14Four or other diet change right away or wait until the case review to bring this up? How much does an initial phone review cost?
Laura Schoenfeld: I don’t know if this was specifically for me and Kelsey, this question. Kelsey and I have a...
Do you run testing or primarily focus on diet and lifestyle?
Laura Schoenfeld: Again, that’s really going to depend on the patient because some of my patients come to me and...
So you don’t structure your practice exactly how Chris is teaching us?
Laura Schoenfeld: The short answer is no, and that’s simply because I can’t order the level of testing that Chris...
What tests are covered through insurance that you like to start with?
Laura Schoenfeld: You said other than standard labs like complete blood count, complete metabolic panel, lipids, and thyroid panel. Let...
Are there any books on nutritional biochemistry or metabolism that you could recommend?
Laura Schoenfeld: As far as books on nutritional biochemistry, the one that I see getting recommended the most is Dr....
How would you recommend I find a nutritionist to work with in my practice if I’m looking for someone who’s well trained in Paleo nutrition and functional medicine? Any specific credentials or training programs that would increase the chances of them being aligned with the principles being taught in this course?
Laura Schoenfeld: I’m assuming you are asking about somebody to hire in person, which obviously makes your search a little...
Do you know of a good resource where I can learn medical statistics well enough to understand research papers more thoroughly?
Dr. Amy Nett: Oh, this is a great question. I asked Chris on this one because in medical school we...
