Integrative Medical Consults are appointments with a physician to determine how integrative health care can support your health. They are not a replacement for your regular doctors, but a way to coordinate your care across different treatments. Medical Consults allow you to access treatments that have been proven effective but have not yet made it into common medical practice, and to do so in a way that works best for you. The first step is to make an appointment for a Medical Consult. Dr. Gurjeet Birdee will spend an hour with you, which is a lot more than the usual seven minutes! He will talk with you about your health history, the medications you take, and your current physical and mental health concerns. He will not prescribe or change your medications, but he will factor them into your care. During your Medical Consult, Dr. Birdee will create an integrative treatment plan for you. It includes specific timelines for your care, laying out which treatments and how often you should receive them. For example, he might recommend that you receive bodywork once a week for 4 weeks to treat a chronic shoulder injury. He will also talk with you about what results to expect from your care, so that you understand which treatments you are receiving and why. Your integrative treatment plan is a written document for you to keep. Once you have it, you will need to schedule the treatments you need. You can do that at the desk after your consult with Dr. Birdee, or you can do it later. Appointments can also be scheduled over the phone, via text, by email, or through the Ha.Lé website or the MindBody app. Finally, all of your appointments and treatments will be documented. We are a collaborative practice, and so your therapists and Dr. Birdee will communicate with each other about your care and coordinate your treatment. We will also be in touch with your other doctors as needed, to make sure they are up to date about your treatment with us. Integrative Medical Consults are an opportunity to have a real conversation with a physician, and to create a specific treatment plan for your health concerns. They also provide a way to access treatments that have been proven effective but have not yet made it into common medical usage. If you know that integrative care like bodywork or acupuncture helps you, then this is a way to optimize that health benefit in the most effective way.
