Infographic: Functional Medicine

Functional Medicine Labs

At ASKDRSKIP.COM, PLLC, our mission is to deliver a truly personalized healthcare experience — one that helps restore you to complete wellness through authentic integrative care. To do this effectively, Dr. Skip, O.M.D., uses advanced diagnostic tools to guide treatment decisions and create tailored therapy plans.

A key part of this process often includes functional medicine laboratory testing, which provides a deep and detailed view of your physiological health — far beyond what standard labs typically offer.

When a TCM Physician suggests functional‑medicine‑style care, they are essentially addressing a “Pattern of Organ‑System Disharmony with Underlying Qi, Blood, Yin, or Yang Deficiency and/or Stagnation”.  As a Naturopath and Oriental Medicine practitioner, Dr. Skip’s goal is to “balance gut microbiota, support adrenal health, and reduce systemic inflammation” as an underlying cause of dis-ease.

Learn More: What does a Functional Medicine Roadmap Look Like?

These functional labs may include any or all of the following: Click on any item below to learn more.

Learn more: about our comprehensive testing and what we test

Insurance or Out of Pocket: which costs less?

We do not bill insurance for labs, but can provide you a list of tests for your PCP, however, we yet to find a PCP that can request the extensive labs we require for a functional assessment to be covered by insurance or that can match the discounted co-op pricing of labs we provide to our patients. You can always request a ‘No Strings Attached Good Faith Estimate’ estimate from your provider that must fall within $400 out of pocket or you may dispute that charge.

Learn more: about Good Faith Estimates

If you wish to order your labs through an in-network lab that will bill your insurance company, and you have a high deductible, beware.  Recently, a client of ours ran a panel of blood tests (very similar to those we order in our functional endocrinology labs test) with their local provider. They billed her insurance company over $3,000 for a panel that costs our clients a fraction of that cost when paid without insurance.  If this happens to you and you have not met your deductible, you may end up spending way more.  You can always request a ‘No Strings Attached’ estimate from your provider that must fall within $400 out of pocket or you may dispute that charge.

When you use insurance, the insurance company may decide that a lab test, therapy or procedure is not necessary regardless of what the doctor wants or feels is most beneficial for your health.  If this happens, the insurance company may require additional documentation from your doctor to verify the medical necessity of the lab test. If the insurance company feels this additional information still does not prove medical necessity, they may deny coverage for part or all of the labs.  This will mean that you are responsible for the retail price of the denied services.

Unfortunately, there is no way to know what they will cover until you submit the charges. And by this time, you have already agreed to pay the lab whatever portion of their charges are not covered by insurance.  You may decide that it is less troublesome and costly in the long run to use our lab, at our low negotiated rates (forgoing possible insurance reimbursement) than to go through your insurance company and roll the dice.

Dr. Skip, O.M.D. evaluates all lab tests for informational purposes only, with no implication of diagnosis of any disease whatsoever. Dr. Skip will not suggest that you discontinue any medications or therapies that were recommended by a medical provider.

Don’t Get Stuck With Sky-High Lab Costs!

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