FAQ
The Answers You Need
DOES ELIZABETH ROSE WOMEN'S WELLNESS (ERWW) BILL INSURANCE?
The short answer is, no.” Because the insurance industry has too much influence on the quality of your healthcare and the amount of time you spend with your provider, I have opted to remove the middleman and not bill insurance for my services. This way I can focus on you, not insurance rules, charting, and coding; My hope is to provide a more personalized experience for you. By not billing insurance for my services, I don’t need support staff to process claims, answer phones or check you in, which enables me to have a smaller panel of patients and to be more accessible to you! Payment is expected at time of your visit, but a "superbill" can be provided if you want to submit a claim to insurance yourself, I would be considered an out-of-netiwork provider. A cash-based model offers transparent pricing; there are no copays, deductibles or surprise charges. This model is ideal for those seeking more personalized healthcare or those without traditional insurance or high deductible insurance plans.
WHAT IS FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE?
Functional Medicine (FM) embraces a patient-centered and systems biology-based approach that addresses the whole person in order to identify the root cause of disease, along with common hormonal concerns and imbalance. The relationship between the patient and practitioner becomes a partnership that requires a detailed understanding of the patient's lifestyle, genetics, and biochemical factors and uses that data to develop a personalized treatment plan to promote healing and well-being. Functional Medicine has exploded in growth over the past 5-7 years as patients are becoming tired of a healthcare system that relies too heavily on pharmaceutical drugs that do not resolve the underlying problem
WHAT IS A WOMEN'S HEALTH NURSE PRACTITIONER (WHNP)?
A WHNP is an educated and experienced advanced practice nurse who specializes in comprehensive healthcare, to include primary care services for women of all ages. NPs must complete advanced education, clinical training and meet state licensure requirements to assess, diagnose, and manage patients' overall care. NPs can order, perform, and interpret lab work and other diagnostic tests along with prescribe medications and other treatment plans. NPs place a strong focus on health promotion, education, disease prevention and are in a perfect position to make Functional Medicine more mainstream and accessible to those seeking alternatives to the traditional healthcare model. NPs in Ohio have a collaborating physician to consult with or refer to if needed. My collaborating physician is Dr. Nancy Grubb.
WHAT IS THE ADVANTAGE OF USING DRIED URINE TESTING FOR COMPREHENSIVE HORMONES (DUTCH) VS SERUM/BLOOD LEVELS?
DUTCH is collected at home using 4-5 dried urine samples collected over a 24 hour timeframe and is able to measure all of the sex hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and DHEA) along with how these hormones are metabolized. Serum/blood hormone levels has its limitations; it only gives us a single snapshot (hormones are pulsatile) and it does not always give us the best measurement of sex hormones. Serum levels are also unable to tell us how the hormones are metabolized in the body. DUTCH can tell us if your body metabolizes estrogen down the healthy pathway vs the pathway that causes estrogen proliferation symptoms like breast cysts and uterine fibroids or the pathway that may lead to DNA damage and hormone related cancers. It can also tell us if you metabolize testosterone down the pathway that may promote acne or facial hair growth.
DUTCH also measures cortisol and how it is metabolized, along with melatonin levels (good to know if you are having sleep issues). By comparing metabolized cortisol and DHEA we can tell if you lean toward anabolic vs catabolic metabolism which affect weight and energy. Cortisol is diurnal, meaning it should rise and peak in the morning and afternoon then slowly drop in the evening and be lowest while we are sleeping. A single point serum cortisol level will not give you an accurate look at your cortisol levels/pattern.
DUTCH also includes an Organic Acid (OATS) panel that includes markers that assess cellular Vitamin B12 and B6 levels (key nutrients for methylation/hormone clearance/detoxification). It also assesses metabolites for glutathione (our most potent anti-oxidant), 8-OHdG (marker of oxidative stress and DNA damage), dopamine (neurotransmitter associated with pleasure, reward, motivation and calm focus) and epinephrine /norepinephrine.