Most people know that functional doctors often require out-ofpocket payments. So the question is, why bother? What is so special about going to see a functional/holistic medical provider that makes it worth the extra effort and the (possible*) extra investment?

1. Functional doctors typically spend considerably more time with their patients. They literally want to know as much as possible about each patient’s health, not only physical health, but mental, emotional, and spiritual. This is because they want to know the whole patient; hence, the term “holistic.”

2. These doctors do a lot more in-depth testing, again, to find out as much as they can. Many tests can be processed
through traditional labs such as Quest or LabCorp. However, functional physicians will also, as indicated, order unique tests from specialty labs to investigate such things as the gut microbiome, heavy metal toxicity, food sensitivities, and nutrient status in the body, as well as deeper “dives” into traditionally-tested parameters. The good news is that the labs run through Lab-Corp or similar are largely covered by most medical insurances, as these labs are in-network with nearly all insurance providers.

3. The standards applied by functional doctors to test results are often quite different from traditional standards. This being the case, many results that traditional docs deem to be acceptable may be judged by holistic doctors to be inadequate or out of optimal range, indicating a need for treatment. When reviewing tests with a holistic doctor, patients will often say: “Why didn’t my doctor tell me about that?” And that is the answer: Different standards for
what is acceptable lead to different diagnostic conclusions.

4. Treatments are often different. Functional doctors gravitate toward natural solutions, including changes in diet, exercise, increased sleep, supplements, and psychological exploration. Traditional physicians are more likely to favor pharmaceutical options or surgeries.

5. The goals of treatment also differ substantially. Traditional/pharmaceutical medicine focusses treatment on elimination of the symptoms and manifestations of a condition. Functional medicine’s goal is, just as the name suggests, restoration and maintenance of optimal function. This can be conceived of in three stages: Acute, sub-acute/chronic, and long-term. Acutely, when symptoms are prominent or debilitating, a drug or surgical intervention is sometimes the best choice, although many natural options are often viable and worthwhile, alone or in combination, depending on the situation. In the chronic phase, it is important to try to eliminate or reduce the use of pharmaceuticals that may cause protracted unpleasant or even dangerous side effects. To eliminate drugs, the search
for underlying causes of or vulnerabilities to illness is critical, so that any such causes can be addressed and corrected. Functional medicine is known for its focus on the “root causes” of illness. In the long-term, after health has been restored, health maintenance, prevention, and overall optimization become the focus of functional medicine as a primary care specialty.

*As a quick note, it should be added that visits to a licensed functional medicine provider (MD, DO, DC, NP) who does not participate in your insurance network are covered in the same way as any other out-of-network physician visits. Those with out-of-network benefits should be able to get reimbursed for these visits.

In short, in many situations, functional /holistic medicine provides significant benefits regarding diagnosis, treatment, and longterm health issues. Are these benefits worth a possible initial out-of-pocket outlay? In simple, easily-addressed situations, perhaps not. However, in conditions difficult to address, diagnose, and treat to resolution, in settings where use of medications is chronic and perhaps less than effective or fraught with side effects, or in creating a proactive plan for anti-aging and life-long health, the functional medicine alternative can prove to
be invaluable.

Robin Ellen Leder, M.D. has been providing functional/holistic medical care in her Hackensack office for over 30 years since she initially did a mentorship working with Dr. Robert Atkins, famous for the Atkins Diet. Using this approach, she has assisted thousands of patients with a wide range of medical conditions (fatigue, thyroid/adrenal burnout, overweight, diabetes, auto-immune disease, arthritis, psychiatric issues, gut dysfunction, etc.) to live healthier, happier lives with minimal use of pharmaceutical drugs. See ad on page 3, or learn more at www.drrobinleder.com.