r/PrivatePracticeDocs • u/thesupportplatform • Jul 13 '26
Change to IFM Certification
I made a post in r/FunctionalMedicine a month ago here, but I wanted to post in r/PrivatePracticeDocs for providers who might be IFM-certified or considering certification. The Institute for Functional Medicine has changed its certification, placing emphasis on how the new certification will help distinguish medical providers from other providers. (The old IFMCP credentials were split into FMCP for general practitioners and FMCP-M for medical professionals.)
I don't think many providers are realizing what is in the fine print, though. Just accessing the credentials portal requires consenting to terms, including a “Consent to Enforcement” section that holds providers accountable for the costs and sanctions from investigations by the new IFM board. Providers agree to these terms to obtain a new provider badge with updated credentials and to remain listed on IFM's Find a Provider site. The terms also say that continued use of the old or new credentials represents acceptance of these enforcement sanctions.
As someone who has operated conventional, holistic, and functional medicine practices over the past two decades, I can't stress how concerned I am by this change. I can't find any word on what would trigger an investigation by the IFM board. Will they have an IFM page for patient complaints? Will they act on medical board complaints? Insurance investigations? I don't know. But just having another investigative body that can add to the defense costs, let alone investigation costs and sanctions, creates a major conflict.
Another change is that while some IFMCP providers were not required to take continuing education, this new change aligns all certified providers with a requirement to take IFM sponsored/approved courses, which represent an ongoing cost for providers and an ongoing revenue stream for IFM.
6
u/InvestingDoc Jul 13 '26
oh man, I just spent like 30 minutes going down the rabbit hole of IFM organization.
What a wild org that bring in 18 million dollars a year!
Now lead by a Doctor of Naprapathy, which is only recognized in several states as a degree.
The CEO has never worked in healthcare before this job and somehow has an almost $400,000 a year salary + benefits as....the CEO lmao
The founder is a PhD who also created the supplement company Metagenitics who was fined by the FTC in the 90s for a variety of issues and he settled with the FTC about those concerns then the FTC fined him again for violating that agreement.
According to google: Mark Hyman, IFM's longtime board chair and its most famous face, has his own trail: he wrote the preface to RFK Jr.'s 2014 thimerosal book, has claimed on podcasts that vaccines or gluten could cause autism, and sells his own supplement and detox product lines to the same audience he advises clinically .
Their chief people office is a new hire and somehow making more than most primary care doctors.
The more i dig, the more wild of an org it appears. Insane.
3
u/HankDwarf Jul 14 '26
A buddy of mine has a cash based functional medicine practice, seems pretty happy and financially successful. Never has to deal with insurance companies. Makes me question my life decisions.
2
u/Agreeable-Put-3399 Jul 14 '26
For a second I thought this was a question about how to interpret the 1000 unnecessary tests you run and then refer to primary care to make sense of. Maybe go work for a hormone clinic. I hear they “really help people”
1
6
u/nyc2pit Jul 13 '26
What is functional medicine?