Center for Nutritional Medicine FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
"I believe in treating chronic conditions without the use of pharmaceuticals".
Susan Blum, MD |
Questions
Answers
What happens during my first visit?
Dr. Blum is unlike most Doctor’s you may be familiar with. She spends 1 1/2 hours with you during your initial consultation gathering the necessary information she needs to proceed with a treatment plan that works for normal.
Dr. Blum will review your entire medical, family, social and psycho-spiritual history; assess your nutritional patterns and possible deficiencies, and evaluate your current supplement and pharmaceutical regimen. You will also receive a physical exam, and ample opportunity to ask questions.
At the conclusion of the evaluation, you will receive a detailed plan that will include further personalized laboratory testing, and some basic changes in diet and nutritional supplementation.
Most patients will receive a complete personalized treatment program during their second visit after Dr. Blum has reviewed the results of all the laboratory testing.
How many times should I expect to visit, and what happens during my office visit?
After your initial consultation which is generally 1 1/2 hours in length, the next visit is usually 1 month after the first, and you should expect the consultation to last 1 ½ hours.
Dr. Blum will review all your Functional and laboratory testing, and at that point a more complete treatment program will be given to you. Dr. Blum will most likely refer you to an onsite nutritionist/health educator, for additional meal planning and for help implementing the nutritional program.
After the second visit, you can expect to come back in 1 month to review your progress on the program. This and future visits should last no more than 1 hour. At this point, each individuals’ medical condition and program will determine the frequency or need for follow up visits.
What are your office hours?
Dr. Blum sees patients on Monday from 1-5 and Tuesday and Thursday from 10am-6pm. Center for Nutritional Medicine Office Hours
What if I am on medication? Will there be a conflict between Dr. Blum and my Primary Care or other Specialty doctor?
Because Dr. Blum is a physician, she has an integrative approach to practicing medicine. What this means is that she understands the medications you are on and can comfortably work with you as a compliment to your current medical regimen.
However, if you are interested in getting off some or all of your current medications, Dr. Blum would work with your prescribing doctor toward this goal. Dr. Blum will never change any of your existing medication, your prescribing doctor would change it as he/she sees you don’t need it anymore.
For example, as we work towards lowering cholesterol, your levels will drop lower and lower on lab testing, and you (or Dr. Blum) can discuss with your doctor your readiness to be reduced/removed from your medication.
What is your cancellation policy?
When you make an appointment, we reserve a significant amount of time specifically for your consultation. We will require a credit card on file to hold your reservation.
Therefore, you are requested to notify us as soon as possible, but no later than 48-hours in advance of your appointment, if you need to cancel or reschedule. Without this notification, you will be responsible for the full fee of the consultation you scheduled.
Please phone our office as soon as you are aware that you will be canceling your appointment. If you phone our office after hours please leave a message to cancel or reschedule and we will confirm with you by phoning you back the next business day.
We suggest that if there is a possibility of a conflict with personal or work events that would prevent you from keeping your scheduled appointment, call and reschedule several days before.
What kind of insurance do you take?
Dr Blum is a specialist in Nutritional Medicine and unfortunately does not accept insurance at this time.
However, just like any other medical specialist, Dr. Blum will provide you with a coded insurance receipt for you to submit to your insurance company. Most patients with “out of network” benefits, who satisfy their deductible, are reimbursed.
Full payment is expected at the time of visit by cash, check or credit card. Dr. Blum makes special allowances for those in need of financial consideration. Please speak to her directly if this your situation.
What kind of laboratory testing do you do, and is it covered by insurance?
First, Dr. Blum reviews all of the previous blood work done by your primary or specialty physicians, so please bring these results with you. Usually Dr. Blum will request additional tests from Quest, which will be covered by your insurance.
However, the core of the nutritional evaluation are Functional Medicine tests, which are kits that you take home. These tests include, urine, stool or saliva.
Be aware that we might also draw blood at the Center if necessary. These tests are generally not covered by insurance and go beyond general medical testing by evaluating the FUNCTION of different systems of your body. The price varies depending on which test is ordered for you.
Who can benefit from Functional Medicine and a consultation with Dr. Blum?
Everyone. FM is an excellent tool for Preventive Medicine, because one can pick up biochemical imbalances before full-blown disease. It is also the ideal approach for the millions of people diagnosed with conditions for which traditional medicine has been ineffective: Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel, migraine headaches, and many more. These conditions are perfect examples of functional problems that can be corrected, and the patient is healed. The goal is to treat the root of the problem, not just the symptoms.
Another good example is autoimmune conditions. The symptoms from most autoimmune conditions are from the inflammation caused by the immune system attack (antibodies) on a particular organ. Traditional medicine treats this by suppressing the immune system and the inflammation so the symptoms will go away. But why is the person making antibodies in the first place? Dr. Blum’s approach is to find the underlying immune irritant that is causing the immune system to dysfunction, and correct THAT. When this happens, the immune system heals, the inflammation stops, and symptoms disappear.
Functional Medicine is also an excellent way to approach complex medical conditions because as the functional and nutritional imbalances are corrected, most people need less and less medication, and experience more energy and vitality, and many end up requiring no medication at all. We work together to accomplish your health goals.
Why doesn’t my regular doctor do these tests?
Most traditional doctors don’t do this testing because they don’t have the experience or training, and are too busy or skeptical to invest the time to learn.
Dr. Blum received her FM training with Dr. Bland, and continues to work as a Functional Medicine Practitioner, and has much experience using and interpreting these special tests.
Why use Functional Medicine tests?
Functional Medicine (FM) is a new medical specialty that was founded by a brilliant biochemist named Jeffrey Bland in the mid-80’s. Dr. Bland understood the myriad of enzyme and biochemical reactions in the body and how these enzymes can become imbalanced by subtle nutritional deficiencies.
He and many others have created a large body of research showing the relationship between these enzyme imbalances, clinical symptoms, and illness.
Many excellent, certified laboratories, such as Genova Diagnostic Labs (www.GDX.net), Metametrix (www.metametrix.com) Doctors Data (www.doctorsdata.com) and others are available for reliable functional testing.
This goes beyond traditional medical testing which can only measure or see cells that have died or are diseased. These mainstream tests can all be negative, but functional testing can show an underlying imbalance which Dr. Blum can correct using nutrition (diet) and targeted supplementation to bring these systems back into balance.
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