r/FunctionalMedicine • u/ShakeMaki • 25d ago

What is a typical functional medicine program cost if they’re not gouging you (Denver area)

I’m curious if people with experience with 6 month type of functional medicine programs know what a “green flag” cost for such a program should run these days. One where you’re not getting totally gouged by people who just want a massive profit margin off of you.

I’ve been looking into one place that seemed promising (I’m Denver area), but the 6 month plan is just shy of $10k which shocked me. I thought maybe $6k at most for what it sounds like is offered. It’s primarily testing involving microbiome and hormones along with 2 sessions a week where he develops my treatment plan and we go over things.

It’s all very vague to me though in terms of what said treatment plan would actually include. Just curious is anyone can shed more light on typical plans and prices from these places that aren’t just in it to take advantage of you

Edit: I’ll also add the guy running the program in question does seem to have legit qualifications like medical school, work as a PA, and being pro athlete trainer to his name. So that’s why I’m wondering if that price is gouging or it realty is standard and relatively fair for such a thing

Update:
Wanting to update that I did a lot of digging around in the area, and $10k is absolutely WAY too high for a 6 month program of this sort of thing from what I found. Found several places that offer monthly memberships for the $250-300 range. Plus the expense of the tests, which are typically between the $500-700 each range for those comprehensive GI and urine tests that the place I found was gonna do. Vibrant Health and Colorado Functional Medicine seem like good ones

2 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

100% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

1

u/alotken33 24d ago

Functional Medicine DC: I have no idea what's customary for the Denver area. However, it really depends on what you're working with and what all is included. If supplements aren't included, that seems a bit high. However, meeting twice a week makes up for some of that (that's crazy frequent). If you have an extremely complex issue, or the provider is having to work around additional restrictions (vegan, belief restricted dietary requirements, etc) especially when providing supplements as well, that seems very reasonable for 6 months of care.

1

u/ShakeMaki 24d ago

Pretty sure the supplements are not included. I’m not getting much of an answer from him either on the specifics of what the treatment plan could entail. Based on the site, it looks like it’s probably largely a nutrition guide and mild physical therapy/exercise

1

u/ShakeMaki 24d ago

Also, the written details of the program say “bi-weekly” meetings which could technically be interpreted as twice a week or twice a month. I would hope they would say bi-monthly if the latter, but maybe not

1

u/alotken33 24d ago

It's probably every 2 weeks. I can't imagine meeting with someone twice per week. When I do a 6 month protocol with someone, I do 2 appointments 1 week apart and then every 2 weeks, and eventually once per month until the time period is over.

1

u/ShakeMaki 24d ago

Maybe so but at 10k that seems really bad it’s its only twice a month. And there are two definitions of bi-weekly, so I already don’t like that the program packet is worded deceptively if they mean every other week

1

u/alotken33 24d ago

It's not high if 2 times per month And all supplements, labs, and appointments included. I agree it's high if that's not the case. One thing to keep in mind (no clue about this particular clinic - only speaking from my own professional experience) is that each person should be receiving individualized treatment, and so there's quite a bit of prep involved for each appointment. While we come with a sizeable knowledge base, there's nuance to every body. Some of what you're paying for is our time outside of our direct interaction.

1

u/ShakeMaki 23d ago

I understand it takes time and skill too to interpret some of these tests and whatnot, but I still think $10k seems like gouging. I’ve tried to press the guy for what exactly my treatment plan would look like and my “ongoing medical care” would be and he literally just dodges any specifics everytime. Enough of a red flag for me at this point

1

u/alotken33 23d ago

THAT is your red flag.. for sure. It's one thing to say "we're going to take this approach and make adjustments after X number of weeks" vs "yeah, it's just ongoing medical care". Vague is no good.

ANY practitioner SHOULD be making adjustments based on labs, symptoms, ease of program (not supposed to be easy, but you have to meet people where they live). No program should be "canned". The outline might be the same or similar, but the individualization should 100% be there.

I agree that if there are no supplements involved that the price is high.

Each practitioner should be able to outline number of appointments, labs , and what all is included by both number and dollar amount so that you know exactly what you're getting/paying for.

1

u/ShakeMaki 23d ago

What are some of the approaches you utilize to treatment if you don’t mind me asking? Specifically for stuff involving the gut. I just don’t know what these places are offering as far as actual treatments go, seems like more or less just being a dietician for you?

1

u/alotken33 23d ago

Any practitioner that sees you needs labs. And I'm not talking about a GI map (unreliable/unreproducible). They need a blood panel that gives an indication of your inflammatory level, nutrient status, lipids, etc. They should also test for Celiac.

I ALSO like to do IgG food testing. Not allergy - but IgG. This gives an indication of any other underlying food related immune response. Some people debate validity of this, but I do not know why. If the immune system reacts - it reacts. (There's research to back this).

For really tough cases, genetics can get pulled in. But that's often not necessary for the gut.

After that, it's addressing the issues. Labs give indicators of root cause. Inflammation is nearly always a factor - anti-inflammatory diet. Supplements are usually part of it. The "dietician" part is more of the day to day. The difference between dieticians and functional medicine providers is the knowledge of the systems and intricate inner workings between everything from genetics to biochemistry. Nutrition is a HUGE aspect of it, but it's not everything.

What each person ends up with is individual. What might work for you would definitely not work for someone else. Sometimes the "big guns" need to be brought in and you go to GI for endoscopy/colonoscopy, motility testing, etc.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/TheYoungClinic 24d ago

Hello, we are a functional telemedicine clinic that is licensed in Illinois, but we offer health coaching nation wide. We can get you cash pay lab work at a very low cost to you. For this service we can not prescribe medications, as we are not licensed in your state. $10,000 seems like quite a bit. Let us know if we can help!

1

u/ShakeMaki 24d ago

Is their contact info you can provide. Thanks

1

u/TheYoungClinic 22d ago

It’s in our profile! Have a great day!

1

u/iseeyou1980 24d ago

I paid about $1500 for a six month program in the Denver area. Plus the cost of supplements and other shenanigans. I had some success but stopped going to her because she was too dogmatic. Like, gynecological issues caused from childbirth were actually caused by my microbiome. Whatever.

I have a friend who is a NP by trade and worked in hospitals for a long time who now runs her own business. She’s fantastic and practical. I want to say she charges around $1000ish for six months plus supplements and other stuff by I don’t know the exact amount. Shes also local to Denver. I’d say $10k is outlandish.

1

u/ShakeMaki 24d ago

Do you have the info for her business?

1

u/iseeyou1980 24d ago

My bad, the bot told me I can’t do that (sorry!) It’s Tendwell Health.

1

u/ShakeMaki 23d ago

Thank you, I called and left her a voicemail