Patient FAQ

FAQ

General Information on Naturopathic Medicine

What is Naturopathic Medicine?

Naturopathic medicine is a distinct practice of medicine that emphasizes prevention and the self-healing process to treat each person holistically and improve outcomes while lowering health care costs. Naturopathic doctors are educated and trained in accredited naturopathic medical colleges. They diagnose, prevent and treat acute and chronic illness, restore and establish optimal health by supporting the person’s inherent self-healing process. Rather than just suppressing symptoms, naturopathic doctors work to identify underlying causes of illness, and develop personalized treatment plans to address them.

Why should I choose a naturopathic doctor?

• You want a doctor who will treat all of you, not just your illness. Naturopathic doctors (NDs) are trained to treat the whole person. This requires taking the time to listen and understand the genetic, environmental, and behavioral/lifestyle factors that can affect your health. At your initial appointment, you’ll spend up to an hour or more talking with your ND.
• You want personalized treatment. NDs understand there is no one-size-fits-all treatment that works for everybody. After your visit with an ND, you’ll leave the doctor’s office with a treatment plan uniquely tailored to you, your health status, your health goals, and your lifestyle.
• You want to treat the root cause of an illness, not just the symptoms. Sometimes having trouble sleeping, aches and pains, strange or hard to treat skin rashes, and indigestion or stomach discomfort are symptoms of an underlying illness. While these symptoms can be managed, it’s more important to understand and treat the root cause—which is the focus of naturopathic medicine.
• You want to actively participate in managing your own health. An ND will help you learn what your body needs to get well and stay healthy. Patients have the opportunity to feel empowered and hopeful when they understand and are actively engaged in managing their own health.
• You have chronic pain and don’t want to use pharmaceutical drugs such as ibuprofen, acetaminophen, or highly addictive opioids to manage it forever. Pain that lasts six months or more is more complex than acute pain and requires a holistic, long-term approach to manage. NDs are trained to work with you to determine which combination of therapies will work best for you to heal or manage your pain safely so that you can resume daily activities.
• You have tried all conventional medical options for diagnosing and treating a health condition. Certain chronic health conditions that have symptoms such as fatigue, insomnia, or gastrointestinal distress can be difficult to diagnose and treat, and can benefit from a holistic approach. NDs use diagnostic tools common in conventional medicine, such as detailed health, disease, and prescription drug histories, physical exams, and targeted laboratory testing and imaging. NDs also consider detailed diet history, lifestyle habits and choices, exercise history, and social/emotional factors to assess patients’ needs. These approaches can open doors to new treatment pathways and options.

Appointment Scheduling

What are my appointment options?

Our physicians go above and beyond to make sure we get to the bottom of each patient’s history to make the best possible diagnosis and create the most personalized treatment possible. Your appointment options include:
– 30-60, 60-90, or 90-120 Minute New Patient Appointments (Depending on the Provider)
– 15-30, 30-60 or 60-90 Minute Follow Ups
– 15-30, 30-60 or 60-90 Minute Telemedicine Visit
– Consultation (Meet and Greet with the Physician) In-Person or Over the Phone
– Acute Visit
– IV Consultation for a fee (Required for an IV, if not already an established patient)

How do I schedule an appointment?

We see patients by appointment only. You may schedule an appointment by calling our office at 602-441-3455. You can also request that a representative of the office call you by emailing us at info@nizhonimedicine.com.

What if I need to cancel or reschedule my appointment?

We require a credit card to hold your appointment time and dedicate a provider for your visit. If you need to reschedule or cancel your appointment, we require at least a 24 hours notice. If you do not cancel or reschedule your appointment at least 24 hours in advance, you will be charged to your credit card on file as a “No Show ” fee. We understand that last minute plans may come up or unforeseen circumstances may happen, please contact us a soon as possible so we can work with you to reschedule or cancel without having to charge you for a “No Show” appointment. 

Treatment Plans

Where do I purchase all my supplements and medications?

• We make all patients a simplified list recommending how to buy all your supplements and medications. Some are available at our office, but most are sold on our online dispensary called Fullscript: https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/kmitchell1617839244. We offer all patients 10% off on Fullscript and they will ship directly to you. After your first visit, you will receive an email invite to create a Fullscript account. Your doctor will also put all your recommended supplements in a Fullscript “Prescription” cart for easy buying. 
• If a supplement is on back-order or unavailable, msg me on Power2Patient and I’ll find you an alternative. Unless we advise you otherwise, please don’t buy supplements off Amazon because they are often “rejects” discarded by the supplement company that don’t meet quality assurance testing. All prescription medications are labeled with an “Rx.” They will be sent to your preferred pharmacy or a compounding pharmacy.

When should I start my treatment? 

Choose a good time of the day, month or year when you don’t have a lot of work/personal demands. You might feel a little worse before you feel better, so give yourself some time and space to rest. 

When do I take all my supplements and medications?

Your treatment plan will include “Staging Recommendations” on the best time to take everything. Start your plan by adding one supplement per day moving down your list. Go at your own pace. Remember it is a journey, not a race. There is no magic bullet to cure illness, especially a chronic condition, so be patient.

– Antimicrobials are best spaced out 3-4 days, so you know if one causes a “herx.”

– Antimicrobials are best taken either at least 30 minutes before or 1 hour after food. So I often recommend taking them upon waking when you have an empty stomach or in between meals. 

– Vitamins/Minerals/Nutrient Supplements are best taken with food. It is also ok to open and add them to a smoothie or food (like applesauce). Sometimes this causes less GI upset. 

– Binders (like activated charcoal) must be taken away from everything except Melatonin is ok. Take binders either 30 minutes before or 1 hours after other supplements, food, and medications. 

What if insurance will not cover a prescription you prescribed?

If your insurance company doesn’t cover your prescription, we recommend checking GoodRx.com for the cheapest location near you which is typically Fry’s or CostCo. To transfer your prescription to another pharmacy, you just call your preferred pharmacy with your prescription number and ask them to transfer it for you.

Lab Work

Where do I get my recommended lab work done?

Our office offers in-house blood draw/processing/shipping for $67 for all standard orders like LabCorp/Quest and specialty labs like Vibrant America. If you have insurance, we submit your information for all standard orders to increase chance they’ll be covered. If you don’t have insurance, we offer discounted cash lab pricing through Professional Co-op. If you decide to not get labs done with us, we can give you a list of the test codes for your PCP to run. We can also submit standing orders for you to get your blood drawn at Labcorp and/or Quest if you like. 

Payment

Do you accept insurance?

Our providers are not contracted with any private or government insurance companies, but we can provide you with super bills of your visits, so you can apply for insurance reimbursement. We submit all standard lab orders (Labcorp, Sonora Quest) and imaging requests with your insurance information if you have insurance.

When is payment due?

Payment is due at the time of service. We accept ALL major credit cards, HSA, cash, and check. Unfortunately due to the rise in medical supply costs, we are no longer able to offer payment plans at this time.