How to set up an appointment:
Consultations will be scheduled with either Dr. Robin Levy-Miller, or Dr. James Rorig. Our Physician Assistants will be available during these hours to help answer questions that may arise, as well as to help follow your vital signs and progress.
When you call our office, please identify that you're interested in a weight management consultation. Remember that if you already have an internist you will need to bring with you copies of all of your medical records, most importantly your previous complete history, including your labs, any EKG as well as any important tests you have previously undergone.
Most individuals will be able to begin weight loss treatment following their first visit. If you have several medical problems the initial consultation may require more than one visit, especially if you need additional testing or treatment in order to control your current medical condition.
For example, an individual who has undiagnosed hypertension along with an elevated BMI will have their treatment initiated with antihypertensive medication. On the other hand, if an individual is found to have early diabetes, their treatment will be initiated with weight loss medication since this will cure the diabetes without the need for insulin or diabetic medication.
Cost:
Initial consultations are scheduled for at least one hour on the first day, occasionally requiring more than this which would be scheduled on another day. Obviously the amount of medical problems an individual has, often determines the length of the first consultation. Sometimes these consults can actually take two hours split up into two days. Cost of initial visit is based on medical sub-specialty consultation fees.
Most often insurance companies do not pay for preventive medical care but, on occasion, if in individual calls their insurance company they may find that these visits will be reimbursed. If so, an individual can submit a copy of their bill and receive reimbursement. A few of the better insurance plans will now cover the cost of weight loss medication when medically indicated. If an individual finds it impossible to pay for the initial consultation at the time of their visit, a payment plan can be worked out with our business manager.
Follow-up:
Follow-up visits are initially necessary approximately once a month, although during the first month an extra visit may be needed. These visits are usually scheduled for 15 to 30 minutes but, on occasion, this may vary. Once the patient is on-track the frequency of visits is decreased. During long-term maintenance therapy visits need only be scheduled every six months.
If you compare the cost of this comprehensive medical care, in one year from the time you start to work with us, you will have likely spent 1/2 to 2/3 the cost of what you would have paid if you had joined just a typical weight loss program. Again, we emphasize that this is not a weight loss clinic. We provide medical consultations to review and treat all diseases that are caused or worsened by being overweight.
The treatment we provide is the most current, state-of-the-art practice of internal medicine. We estimate that 80 percent of our patient population would benefit from this treatment.
Despite a large body of international research spanning 15 years as well as formal National Institute of Health guidelines which have been in place for over two years, there has been an almost universal failure amongst the medical community to incorporate these changes into standard practice.
The reasons for this are many and varied. Since 60 percent of the U.S. population is overweight or obese, health insurance companies have excluded weight management treatment from their policies for obvious financial reasons.
Many physicians and patients are still fearful as a result of the excessive media hype surrounding the FenPhen class-action lawsuit (the largest single civil action case in U.S. legal history) despite the findings of a well conducted follow-up study failing to substantiate any serious heart valve damage resulting from that treatment.
Even at this time medical students are not being taught any of the basic science or results of clinical studies in the research and treatment of obesity. |
