Getting Started with Functional Medicine

Expect to spend 2 hours at the office for your initial consultation, including check-in and check-out time. You will spend 1.5 hours face-to-face time with Dr. Samara. The consultation fee includes 2-4 hours spent prior to your visit that Dr. Samara needs in order to thoroughly review past lab work, past healthcare providers' notes, and New Patient Intake Forms to ensure a productive first encounter.

In your visit you can expect evaluation and discussion of:

• Your health timeline (your personal health and life story of how you arrived at your current condition)
• Current symptoms, concerns, and health goals
• Current allergies, medications, and supplements
• Past medical history, lifestyle, and surgical history
• Previous laboratory results/tests and consultations
• The 5 pillars of health (nutrition, sleep, exercise and movement, stress management, and toxin exposure)
• Head-to-toe physical exam
• Laboratory investigation and/or consultations needed to complete your functional medicine work up

After your visit, you will receive a detailed and comprehensive visit summary through the patient portal with your personalized plan including: 

• Action steps on what to do for each of the 5 pillars of health specific to your case, including links to videos and handouts 
• Any changes and/or additions in medications and/or nutritional supplements
• Recommendations on additional consultations if needed
• How to prepare for and complete laboratory testing
• When to follow up
• A Superbill invoice including ICD-10 codes provided upon request which you can submit to your insurance company for possible reimbursement

Follow-up visits are typically 4-6 weeks apart. 
During follow-up visits I will address the following:

• Review test results
• Review your progress
• Answer any questions
• Make recommendations to your current health plan

Your first follow-up visit will be at least an hour long (it can go longer, depending on how many tests you do). Additional follow-up visits are typically 30-60 minutes in length. Shorter follow-up visits for brief discussions and simple follow-up lab work in between regularly scheduled appointments may be needed as you and/or Dr. Samara see fit. As you improve or your health goals are reached, your appointments will shorten in duration and your visits will become less frequent.