Functional Medicine with Dr. Grover

 

 

Meet Dr. Grover

Dr. Grover is dedicated to treating the root cause of disease for optimal wellness. That’s why at Grover Health & Wellness, they strive to find the root cause of disease, not just treat the symptoms, relying on a patient-centered, systems-based approach to address the underlying causes of health issues. Functional medicine has grown over the years and more people are heading to natural healing and wellness.

 I got to spend some time with Dr. Grover and sit down to learn all about it.

 

• How is functional medicine different?
  • Functional medicine is distinctively unique from traditional western medicine in many ways. The most significant pillar of the functional and integrative medicine approach is to find the root cause. This requires time to get to know the patient and what their lives have been like during their time in the womb, infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adult years. We look at their current lifestyle and figure out where they can excel with interventions and where they may need help. Traditional modern medicine providers have every best intention to help patients feel better, yet the system limits the time they have with each patient. The focus is on creating diagnosis codes that can be submitted for billing, versus understanding the reason why a patient presents with a certain issue.

 

• Why do you believe functional medicine is the route to take than what we are use to?
  • This is a fantastic question. While I won’t quote any specific numbers, it is not breaking news that we as Americans spend trillions of dollars on healthcare. One would expect our outcomes and health to be the best in the world. Yet, this is far from the truth. The number of individuals with mental health, metabolic issues (i.e. obesity/ cardiovascular disease/ diabetes), and the amount of prescription medicines we take are both rising year after year. With functional medicine, there is an exciting opportunity to reverse this “pill for an ill” paradigm we have so gotten used to as Americans. I believe that investing in our health earlier on to avoid spending thousands and thousands of dollars in our elder years.

• What kind of therapies are used in functional medicine?
  • As functional medicine providers, we primarily ensure individuals diets are as dialed in as possible. “Food as Medicine” is a leading principle in our treatment plans. We focus on selecting the appropriate supplements, movement/fitness regimens, mindfulness, sleep optimization, digestion support, and other interventions such as acupuncture. As classically trained physicians we also have the tools that modern medicine has created. This allows us to couple the best of lifestyle intervention and possible prescriptions, imaging, labs, and referrals to specialists to help our patients thrive.

 

• How do you describe your practice?
  • Grover Health and Wellness is a concierge consultancy practice. We are a boutique center of wellness where the focus is on the patient and not on profits or “the bottom line”. We provide compassionate and comprehensive care. Patients can contact us 24/7 and expect a response within a day. Our team consists of Dr. Aarti Soorya MD, Alison Schechter RD, Elizabeth Brooks (personal trainer), Tania Molnar RN, Blanca Madrid (front office), and myself. We use our expertise of functional and integrative medicine, nutrition/ dietician consultations, and personal training to optimize the patients’ outcomes.

 

• We know functional medicine isn’t covered by our insurance, are you able to break down a few costs of example typical office visit?

• • Sure, we offer a membership plan which is separated into two tiers. The first is Grover Health ($499.00/month), this consists of a 60-75 min intake with physical exam with either Dr. Soorya or myself. Then, patients will meet with Alison for 60 mins for nutritional intake. Every two weeks patients will meet with Alison to see how the plan is going. Each month patients will meet with either physician for 45 mins to follow up on any labs or plan modifications. The second tier, Grover Health + ($699.00/month), is everything just mentioned plus personal training with Libby. She meets with patients either in personal or virtually and then would follow up with every week to see how their fitness regimen is going and if any changes need to be made. We do offer a la carte options as well. Full table is below:

 

GROVER HEALTH AND WELLNESS PRICES

 

Consultation	Professional	Fee	Observations
Grover Health membership	Dr.Soorya Dr.Grover Alison Schechter	$499 monthly	60-75 min intake w/doctors and a 45 min follow-up every month   60 min nutritionist (Follow up every 2 weeks)
Grover Health + membership	Dr.Soorya Dr.Grover Alison Schechter Libby	$699 monthly	Everything above + 60 min intake with libby, weekly check ins for 15 mins with her virtually.
New 15-min call	Soorya/Grover	$50	Goes toward the in-office visit
New 30-min call	Soorya/Grover	$99	Goes toward the in-office visit
In-office visit	Soorya/Grover	$499	In office. Price minus initial deposit
30-min Follow-Up	Soorya/Grover	$150	Either virtual or in-office
45-min Follow-Up	Soorya/Grover	$199	Either virtual or in-office
60-min Follow-Up	Soorya/Grover	$300	Either virtual or in-office
30-min Nutritionist	Alison	$75	Either virtual or in-office
30-min Trainer	Libby	$75	Virtual
45-60 min Trainer	Libby	$150	At Patient’s Home/Tri-County Area.

 

• When going to your first functional medicine apt with you, what should your patients prepare for their first visit?

• • I would recommend filling out all the forms we request on the patient portal, bringing any old records and recent labs with them, and if taking medications/ supplements bring them in (physically). Most importantly, bring themselves with an open mind and willingness to make a daily investment in their health and wellness J.

• What are some of the top reasons your patients choose functional medicine and your practice?

• • Simply put, they are exhausted of not finding the solutions to their issues in traditional doctor’s offices. Some individuals are encouraged to pursue the functional/ integrative route by their family or friends. Our practice tends to be chosen as we are board certified functional medicine providers, and we are generally available to get patients in promptly and we have an amazing team that is ready to help! I should also mention our team has over a decade of experience in treating patients.

 

• Most importantly, what are the benefits of functional medicine vs. first traditional
• • Traditional medicine should not be discounted completely. Screening procedures, Imaging, Emergency Medicine, antibiotics for infections, acute interventions (i.e. for heart attacks or trauma), and surgery to name a few are crucial in our society. However, for chronic illnesses the above avenue now is designed to “maintain” disease rather than treat it. For most conditions like blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, mental health, allergies, and such patients are given prescription medication. During the clinic visits they may be handed fliers and brochures about nutrition and lifestyle or given a number to call, but this generally lacks the follow up required. Most doctors must follow protocols that will be “reimbursed” by the insurance companies or approved by the hospitals where they are employed. Physicians have lost the ability to truly select what is in the best interest of their patient or to go after the “root cause.”

• • Functional and Integrative medicine thrives at figuring out what, where, how, and when regarding diseases. To clarify, identifying the issue (what), any geographic significance of their issues (where), how (if there was trauma or emotional struggles involved in their life), and the timeline (when). Once we have this information collected amongst other important data, we are able to arm ourselves correctly to treat the patient. I want to emphasize that we treat patients, not diseases or labs in specific. This means that we want to boost what’s working while mitigating any contributory factors to their disease.

• • Patients should know that we are able to use the best of modern medicine and the functional/integrative approach. If we look at the word “integrative” this truly means a blend or a “milieu” of treatment avenues to help our patients.

Thank you so much for sitting down with us! This is great information and an amazing path for our moms to figure root causes of any underlying issue. We can’t wait to learn more about your entire office space.