What is FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE?
Functional Medicine addresses health conditions and prevents disease by investigating the root cause of your health issues. Instead of stamping you with a diagnosis and only treating your symptoms, functional medicine finds out WHY you have the diagnosis. It involves a deep-dive assessment to look at ALL of your body systems, and evaluates how well your body is communicating (think: hormones, neurotransmitters, proteins, etc) to uncover root causes including nutrient deficiencies, chronic infections, and inflammation. Functional Medicine interventions help restore balance through lifestyle factors such as nutrition, healthy movement, stress management, optimal sleep, and quality relationships.
The Facility Denver Functional Medicine Team :
Kate Daugherty, MS, CNS + Dr. Mitchell Rasmussen, DC, CFMP
In the future, "FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE" will likely just be called medicine.
“Most doctors aren’t trained to think about the underlying causes of disease, such as toxins, allergens, microbes, nutrition, and stress. Conventional medicine is the medicine of what - what disease do you have, what drug should I give you. Functional medicine considers the diagnosis, but it also seeks to answer the question why.”
-Dr. Mark Hyman, Chairman of the Institute for Functional Medicine
30 Second Functional Medicine Synopsis
<< A functional medicine model of care looks at the whole person, mind and body, with communicating body organs/systems. We often eschew diagnoses. Truly, the name we use to label your symptoms isn’t as essential as the intervention. The core of functional medicine is finding the WHY, or root cause, not the WHAT. Many treatments don’t involve a medication to cover up symptoms, but rather support your individual needs to correct the underlying dysfunctions
— you have a unique genome, microbiome, and lifestyle. >>
While many people may assume functional medicine is simply lifestyle-based medicine; it is actually a systems-oriented, science-based approach that considers a patient’s biochemistry, physiology, genetics, and environmental exposures when looking for the cause of a specific medical issue or set of symptoms.
Foundations of Functional Medicine
at The Facility Denver
Functional Medicine does NOT mean "take a bunch of supplements"
While supplements may be an important step in the healing process for chronic issues, nutrient deficiencies, or other burdens... they are not the solution to your problem. If we simply ran tests and gave you pills:
would we be any different than a conventional medical practice?
Instead, we look at FOOD and LIFESTYLE as paramount. This means we have high expectations of you as a patient to implement change. It could be as simple as chewing your food better, finding time to be creative, or getting more sun exposure. Little things add up- and we're here to guide you along the way.
Learn from Us : Functional Medicine Blog
PRICE TRANSPARENCY.
What's Included in the New Patient Baseline Health Investigation (The New Patient Process):
60-Minute Initial Consultation +
Comprehensive Blood Panel +
90-Minute Review of Results +
Health Report Action Plan (PDF)
$1295
The Details:
-Initial Functional Medicine Consultation. You’ll spend time talking with both Functional Medicine Doctor, Dr. Mitchell Rasmussen, and Functional Nutritionist, Kate Daugherty. We’ll review your medical history, current health goals, and any symptoms/complaints impeding you from living life on your own terms. Expect to discuss various realms of wellness to include sleep habits, nutrition, stress management, environmental health, and movement.
-Comprehensive Bioscreen (Blood Test). This test goes beyond what your traditional doctor would order. We’ll look at over 100 markers to assess blood sugar regulation,
kidney function, liver function, thyroid function, inflammation, vitamins, cholesterol, iron status, immune health, and sex hormones. After we put in the lab order, you will go to LabCorp or another local draw site for the blood collection, and results will be sent via PDF within 10 days.
-Review of Results (90-Minutes). Once the lab results come in, we’ll schedule a 90- minute review appointment with both Dr. Rasmussen and Kate. We’ll go through the results IN DETAIL explaining why certain markers matter for overall health. It is important to us that you understand the biochemistry in context. With comprehensive data in front of us, we're ready to recommend specific dietary, lifestyle, and nutrition changes. Depending on findings, we may suggest further investigation with additional blood markers or other functional testing to include hormone testing, micronutrient panels, stool testing, and more.
-Detailed Action Plan / Health Report (PDF). Following the review appointment, you’ll be sent a detailed action plan that summarizes your lab results, and includes suggestions for natural supplements, nutrition (recipes, shopping lists, and more), and lifestyle habits to implement confidently on your own.
WHAT TO EXPECT AS A NEW PATIENT
Step 1: Functional Medicine Initial Consult - 90 Minutes - In Person/Telehealth - $275
When you book your first visit, we will send you (digital) new patient forms to be completed. This includes a comprehensive history and gives us background information on your symptoms, interventions, diet, supplements, medications, and current concerns. We ask that you provide any relevant medical records or laboratory testing results from the last 2 years. We will review these documents and forms prior to seeing you in person to best optimize your time. >> Unlike other doctor visits, this initial appointment will take time! Plan to spend 90 minutes with us.
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In the office, Dr. Rasmussen will conduct a problem-based physical examination and a full history. Our functional nutritionist, Kate, will participate in the initial visit and collect a dietary inventory. At the conclusion of your first visit, Dr. Rasmussen will discuss which laboratory and biomarker analyses need to be initially performed to gain deeper insight into the root cause(s) of your concerns.
Within 1-2 days, we will follow up with extensive appointment notes and an outline of recommended tests and initial care. Taking our time to properly work-up a patient’s case yields much better results in the long-run. We will work together in collaboration to develop a treatment plan that is right for you.
Step 2: Proceed with Lab Testing - timeline varies
THEN WHAT?!
Follow-Up Care, as-needed.
We're available for follow-up visits depending on your need (and symptom complexity). MOST patients find that meeting with us once every 4-8 weeks is a good cadence to get a handle on changes initially. During appointments, we will review progress, adjust supplements, layer on new lifestyle habits, and adapt nutrition recommendations. We'll stretch frequency of visits out as you get more confident, and settle somewhere around quarterly or semi-annually.
The basic way to put it: You put in the effort, implement the plan. Book more time when you need new direction. Simple.
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As a promise, we'll always be up-front in what things cost. This allows you to budget accordingly for your (actual) HEALTHcare.
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45-Min Functional Medicine Follow-Up Visit (In-Person or Telehealth) - $300
90-Min Functional Medicine Follow-up Visit (In-Person or Telehealth) - $450
Additional Lab Testing + On-going Healthcare
During your lab review appointment, we will discuss the pros and cons (including costs) of any further testing relevant to your health. As a preview, you can read more about functional lab testing on our website here. Around the four month mark, we may repeat some of your initial labs. This gives us a chance to assess progress with real data and make any shifts in care. Often, your symptoms (or lack thereof) will dictate that decision. Most patients settle in to seeing us for check-ins monthly, quarterly, or yearly. You become a Facility family member: and we're here for you when new challenges and questions arise.
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