Frequently asked questions

It’s a root cause approach to chronic illness where we target and treat the body based on physiologic manifestations of illness rather than symptom management with medication.

At times we may need to prescribe both medications and supplements depending on the patient focus. Ideally, we want to optimize the body based on what it needs and only use medications and supplements where necessary.

We do not provide primary care services at Ascend Medicine. We do recommend you have your own primary care physician alongside our treatment plan.

We do not accept any insurance, though you may use an FSA/HSA to pay for visits.  We also provide a superbill that you may submit to your insurance for reimbursement.  Prescriptions and labs may be run through your insurance and coverage will vary by plan.  It is the patient’s responsibility to be aware of costs associated with insurance-covered services.

Our practice does not bill insurance for functional medicine services because this approach focuses on comprehensive, personalized care that extends beyond the limitations of most insurance plans. Functional medicine visits are typically longer, allowing us to thoroughly evaluate your health history, lifestyle, nutrition, and underlying factors contributing to your symptoms. By remaining independent of insurance reimbursement requirements, we can provide individualized care based on your needs rather than insurance coverage restrictions, giving us the flexibility to focus on achieving the best possible health outcomes for you.

Yes. Telehealth is available through our HIPAA compliant electronic medical system.

Your first visit will be a comprehensive, 90 minute overview of your past medical and surgical history, any lab values you bring, current concerns, and treatment plan development going forward. All intake forms must be completed at least 24 hours before the appointment so that we may have time to review your information and offer you the best experience during your visit.

We treat chronic illness*, hormone health, gut dysbiosis such as IBS, SIBO/SIFO, malabsorption, as well as nervous and immune system dysregulation. We also offer osteopathic techniques to help with some chronic pain**.

We can prescribe recommended supplements through our system. However, if you do not wish to purchase through us, we can make recommendations so that you may purchase these items at your discretion. Please note, we are not responsible for purchasing items outside of our recommended sites as we are unable to vet every supplement company.

Follow up appointments require 24-hour notice of cancellation. Anything less than 24 hours will result in a charge of the card on file for the full amount of the service.

New patient intake appointments require 7 days’ notice to avoid forfeit of the booking deposit.

Initial functional medicine intakes are $500 for 90 minutes.*
Follow up visits are $250 for 45 minutes, and generally are scheduled between every 3 and 6 months depending on your treatment plan.
Osteopathic manual therapy appointments (OMT) are $175 for 30 minutes.
*To hold a new patient appointment more than one week in advance,  a deposit equal to 50% of the intake fee is required at booking.  The deposit is applied toward the cost of your visit.  Because new patient appointments require dedicated time that is difficult to fill on short notice, the deposit will be retained if the appointment is canceled or rescheduled with fewer than seven days’ notice.
Payment is required at the time of visit and can be made by credit card (including HSA).

*If you are currently on biologic or long term medication for a chronic illness such as IBD (Chron’s/Colitis), psoriasis, or other rheumatic and long term conditions, we can assist with enhancement of the gut and immune system, though we do ask that you continue care with your specialist prescribing these particular medications as we will not assume care and prescription of these medications.

**We do not prescribe narcotic medications in this practice. If you are currently working with a pain specialist or receiving narcotic medication from another practitioner, that person will continue to manage the medical therapy. We are here to help find root causes for the pain and assist with osteopathic therapy to alleviate your pain.