The Well Life Winter Newsletter
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SAVE THE DATE
The next Detox with your Doc group visits will be starting weekly from 1/12-2/16. Please let us know if you are interested. We will email later with more info.

Did you Know?

You can get the complete package here at Well Life Family Medicine and keep all your visits to one clinic. Routine primary care is provided for the entire family, from newborns to geriatrics, including physicals and gynecological care (such as pap smears).

Ladies, if you prefer a female for well woman exams, Sherri is a great option. It is recommended that you have a screening pap smear done every 3 years from ages 21-65. When was your last one? Did you know that insurance will pay for at least one well-visit a year that includes a comprehensive physical exam and health prevention counseling? This is considered separate from visits that discuss current medical issues. If you haven’t taken advantage of this opportunity, we feel that now is the perfect time to meet Sherri. OB/GYNs are necessary if you need surgery or having a baby. In which case, we will be happy to refer you.

You should check out our brochure, facebook page, or website for all the services we offer.
Click here to download a copy of our brochure

Check out and like our facebook page!

New Faces

Please bear with us as we are going through some changes, as you may have noticed some new faces. I feel confident we now have a solid team, and I am excited to see what 2017 has in store for us. Say hello to Carmin Nelson, Autumn Pavilanis, Kyla Brickman, and Sherri Drinnon.

Carmin is an LVN with a bachelors degree in nursing. She has 18 years' experience with vast experience in family medicine, critical care and has worked at the VA.

Autumn has 9 years' experience as a medical assistant with experience in family medicine and orthopedics. She has completed coursework for her RN degree.

Kyla is a graduate of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and studied under many doctors and leaders in the field of Nutrition and Functional Medicine. She is certified as an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach. Her education includes nutritional health and wellness, food as medicine, the importance of primary food and self-care, as well as over 100 different dietary theories. She is very passionate about learning, researching, and continuing her education so that she can help educate, equip, and enlighten others in their own nutritional health and wellbeing!

Sherri was born and raised in the Texas Panhandle.  She has 25 years of experience in the healthcare field.  She graduated from Vega High School and then achieved her BSN in Nursing from West Texas A&M University in 1992.  After graduation, she worked in pediatrics, primary care and labor and delivery before returning to WTAMU to complete her Family Nurse Practitioner in 2000.  During her career she has taught at West Texas A&M and worked as a nurse practitioner in the areas of primary care, pediatrics, women’s health, and public health. Sherri is married and has 3 children.  She enjoys spending time with family, gardening, snow skiing, golfing, and being involved in church and school activities.

Sad Goodbye
We say goodbye and good luck to KC (our previous Nurse Practitioner). Her husband received a work promotion and they moved to Albuquerque. She is starting an affiliated site, Well Life Albuquerque. If you live in New Mexico or have family or friends around the Albuquerque area, you can reach her at (505) 585-2345 or see more on her website at www.welllifeabq.com.

LiveWell with Well Life

With insurance reimbursements going down, and expenses going up, we are implementing new opportunities. For us to keep offering the same great care and lengthy quality medical visits, as of January 1st 2017, we will start opening up availability to join our premier membership options for those patients who desire more options when it comes to their health.

Besides offering more comprehensive care, the LiveWell members will have more options for appointment scheduling, with premium appointment availability. This is based on our principle commitment to limit patient loads to ensure adequate time and availability for each patient, and allows you to get in when you need us most.

In 2010, a study showed that concierge practice patients experienced a 79% reduction in hospital admissions for Medicare patients, and a 72% decrease for those with commercial insurance between the ages of 35-64. Additionally, members of a concierge practice were readmitted 97%, 95%, and 91% less frequently for acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and pneumonia, respectively. This resulted in a one-year savings in excess of $300 million.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23286675

In my opinion, this type of approach could fix the healthcare system. We should be focused on healthcare, not sick care, and being proactive rather than having a reactive approach. As the old saying goes, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Click here to check out and compare all of the membership options and services

It's a no brainer to sign up for one of the membership options, especially if you are already utilizing some of our services on a regular basis. For example, if you are a woman on hormone pellets, the annual savings alone from pellet insertions would be 200 dollars. That alone basically covers the Bronze package without even considering any of the other discounts and benefits.

If after reading the above comparison sheet, you already know which package you would like to sign up for, here are the links:
Signup here for the Bronze Package now!

Signup here for the Silver Package now!


Signup here for the Gold Package now!

Signup here for the Platinum Package now!


Early Bird Discount: Sign up now and get 25% off your membership package if you signup before 01/01/2017.
DISCOUNT CODE: gethealthy


So make an investment in your health today for less than a dollar a day!

For those that are looking to change insurance companies, Liberty Direct will pay the LiveWell with Well Life monthly membership fee as an included feature of your health insurance. See below for more information about your insurance options. Liberty Direct will also cover supplement expenses.

New You in a New Year Nutrition counseling with Kyla

As of January 1st, 2017, all new patients will be required to have at least 1 visit with Kyla to discuss their nutrition and ways to optimize their health. Nutritional health coaching sessions will be 1 hour long and are covered under your office copay. It is highly recommended that current patients also take advantage of this unique opportunity. Kyla has been trained as an integrative nutritional health coach, so her nutrition advice is top notch.

This is an opportunity you don't want to pass up. If you aren't able to participate in the Detox with your Doc group event, you should come see Kyla for a one on one personalized health coaching experience.

Jumpstart your workouts with Jessica

Well Life is teaming up with Jessica Sutterfield from Real Results! Personal Fitness Training, and as of January 1st, 2017, all new patients will be required to have at least 1 personal training session with her. Personal training sessions will be 30-40 minutes long and are covered under your office copay if done at the office. Sessions are also available at Zach's Club 54, depending on your needs. Why pay for a gym membership when you can get one on one personal training sessions and you can even use your insurance!

Jessica's goal is to teach each client how to tackle nutrition and fitness on their own. Jessica has a B.S., MEd, and is a certified Metabolic Efficiency Specialist. She is currently finishing up a fellowship program with the renowned Institute of Integrative Nutrition.

It is highly recommended that current patients also take advantage of this unique opportunity. This is an opportunity you don't want to pass up.

You can see more on her website at http://realresultsfitness.net/

Holiday Online Supplement Savings

We are now offering online ordering for the same high quality, vetted supplements that we carry in the office. This is especially convenient for those out of town. You never have to wonder if we have what you are needing in stock or have to wait for us to order it, and you can have it delivered to your doorstep.

We are currently offering a 10% discount from now until the end of the year for online ordering!

There are two options to order online: Fullscript and NP Script. Fullscript has the most complete collection of what we carry, but for small orders there is a slightly larger fee than NP Script for shipping. NPScript is a good option too although it doesn't have Orthomolecular products and several other products we carry.

Fullscript
Shipping Charges

Order Under $49

Standard Shipping - $7.95

Priority Shipping - $11.95

Overnight Shipping - $35

Order Over $50

Standard Shipping - Free

Priority Shipping - $3.95

Overnight Shipping - $35
 

NP Script
Shipping: Free Economy Shipping with no minimum purchase required has been extended through December 31, 2016.

Economy
(3-6 business days)
$4.95 FREE with minimum purchase of $50
3-Day Air
(3 business days)
$6.99 FREE with minimum purchase of $250
2-Day Air
(2 business days)
$9.99 FREE with minimum purchase of $250

Patient Access Code: wlfm

Let us know if you can't find something and we will try to get it added. There are several companies that are not available on these sites like SFH, PHP Products, and Researched Nutritionals products.

Top 21 Supplements

Multivitamin for Men and Postmenopausal Woman

O.N.E. Multivitamin 60c (PureOne Nutrients) by Pure Encapsulations


Pro Flora Intensive 10c by Nutra BioGenesis


Ultra High Key Lime Omega Swirl 16oz


Magnesium Caps 100c by Life Extension


Basic B Complex 60c by Thorne Research


Cerenity PM

 


Cerevive


UltraLean (Body Comp Formula) Straw/Banana by Nutra BioGenesis


Panplex-2 Phase 60t by Integrative Therapeutics


EstroDIM


Multivitamin for menstruating women

FemOne 100c by Metabolic Maintenance

       
Probiotic 225          Ortho Biotic


Orthomega Capsules



Vitamin D3 5000 IU


Methyl B12



End Fatigue Revitalizing Sleep Formula 30c by Integrative Therapeutics

Adren-All


Mediclear-SGS Chocolate 39.5oz by Thorne Research

Para Biotic Plus 90c by Nutra BioGenesis
 


Black Cumin Seed w/Bio-Curcumin

Sick of Sneezing

Did you feel like the seven Spring dwarves this year – itchy, sneezy, scratchy, stuffy, puffy, drippy, and whiny? Call us now to start treating the cause, not the symptoms!

For some insurance plans, allergy testing is as little as a $25 office copay. Too good to not take advantage of! Hurry now if you have already met your deductible and it resets at the end of the year.

Well Life Family Medicine has a comprehensive allergy testing and treatment program. We perform skin or blood testing for food and airborne allergies, and also offer food sensitivity testing. For treatment options, we provide either traditional allergy shots or oral allergy drops. Nutrition, acupuncture, homeopathy, herbal supplements, and oral medications can be added to strengthen and support your immune system and better control your symptoms.

Allergies not only manifest as classic symptoms like nasal congestion and itchy, watery eyes, they can also cause fatigue, joint pain, changes in mood (like depression), gastrointestinal symptoms (like diarrhea or constipation), eczema, asthma, brain fog, and headaches. Are allergies robbing you of your life? 

We test for 70 different allergens - 46 environmental (weeds, trees, grasses, dust mites, molds, animals) and 24 foods.


Get tested. Get treated. Get better. Treat the cause, not the symptoms!

Hormone Pellets

It seems like hormone pellets have become the latest craze for hormone replacement. We have had phenomenal results. We have never had a patient switch from hormone creams to pellets and go back to cream, because pellets seem to work so much better. We are also about $100 cheaper than any other clinic in town offering hormone pellets. For Men, insurance may even cover the procedure.

We have changed the pharmacy we were using for pellets. Now we can keep multiple doses in stock, in case we need to change the dose at any point.

Are hormones contributing into how you are feeling?

Have you checked out our hormone symptom questionnaire?

Female Questionnaire
Male Questionnaire

Detox with your Doc Program

If you want to lose weight, boost energy, improve your mood, fix digestion, and sleep soundly then keep reading.

We will be hosting our next group visit program starting weekly from 1/12-2/16.

Why should we detox? Well, we are constantly inundated with chemicals all around us, and in Amarillo, we are one of the most toxic communities in the state of Texas and the US. You can find out more on Scorecard

To determine if you should do a 10 day or a 21 day detox, you should fill out the following questionnaire 
Click here to download Toxicity Before-After Questionnaire.pdf 

If your score is greater than 30, you should do the 21 day detox. If your score is less than 30, you can start with a 10 day detox and go from there. Many people choose to extend their detox from the 10 days because they start feeling so much better and end up doing a 21 day detox anyhow. 

Below is the link to sign up for daily encouraging emails that walk you through the detox process if you are unable to attend or would prefer to go through it by yourself.

http://welllifefm.com/detoxsignup.html
NOTE: Occasionally the emails will go to spam, so if you don't get an email then you might want to check your spam folder.

If you are doing a 10 day detox on your own, you will need 1 shake bottle. If you are doing a 21 day detox, you will need 2 shake bottles. You can order the Thorne Mediclear-SGS detox shake on either NPScript or Fullscript.

I would recommend performing a detox at least 1-2 times a year. I did one in January and again in the summer and felt better than I had in the previous 6 months.

Insurance Open Enrollment

This is the time of year when most Americans learn of any changes in their healthcare costs and coverage. Over the last several years, we have all witnessed the steady increase in the cost of health insurance.

This year is shaping up to be some of the steepest increases yet. For the 12 million people and families on the Healthcare Marketplace, most of them will only have 1 or 2 choices in plans and those plans have increased up to as much as 50%.

If you find yourself exploring other solutions to skyrocketing healthcare costs, I wanted to share the program my family joined that offers health-conscious people freedom from the heavy financial burden of health insurance.

What I discovered is a healthcare cost sharing program called Liberty Direct. As a member, you are exempt from the Affordable Care Act mandate (aka Obamacare) to purchase insurance. And what I have found in my case is that peace of mind and the cost savings are substantial.

For example, my family of four could have easily spent $1200 a month on premiums with a $10,000 deductible. With Liberty Direct, a family of any size only pays $449 a month and you are only responsible for the first $1500 in eligible medical expenses. That's a 63% savings in monthly costs alone!

Liberty Direct
Highlights:

  • Monthly Cost Range (Min Individual-Max Family) $107-$449
  • Annual Personal Responsibility: You are responsible for the first $500 of health-care expenses each year if you are single, $1,000 if you are married and $1,500 if you have a family.
  • Share Limit: 100% up to $1,000,000. No Yearly/Lifetime Limit
  • Shares in alternative and natural treatments: Yes
  • Chiropractic: shares in 12 chiropractic visits
  • Medical Bill Submission: Medical bills processed electronically (e.g. membership card used with provider)
  • Preventative Visits and Well Child Checks and Vaccines: Included
  • LiveWell with Well Life Membership included up to $60 per individual and $100 per family
  • Prescription Coverage: 45 days before and 45 days after each related medical incident are eligible


Here are several other cost sharing alternative options to conventional health insurance:

Samaritan Ministries
Samaritan Ministries plans include visits to licensed alternative practitioners, including naturopaths. Alternative treatments and "prescriptions" are subject to an additional approval process except for cancer treatment which can be 100% alternative up to the $250,000 maximum. 250,000/incident max. If you have a home birth or a VBAC the $300 personal responsibility is completely waived.
Highlights:

  • Monthly Cost Range (Min Individual-Max Family):  $180-$405
  • Annual Personal Responsibility:  $300 for each incident. Annual Max $300 x 3 individuals
    Or $900 per family
  • Share Limit:$250,000 Per Person, Per Incident. No Yearly/Lifetime Limit
  • Shares in alternative and natural treatments: Yes
  • Chiropractic: shares in 25 chiropractic visits
  • Direct Sharing (members send checks to one another) direct sending of monthly money to members
  • Medical Bill Submission: Must manually submit own medical bills for reimbursement
  • Preventative Visits and Well Child Checks and Vaccines: Must meet annual personal responsibility first
  • LiveWell with Well Life Membership NOT covered
  • Prescription Coverage: 2 months

GreenSurance
Highlights:

  • Monthly Cost Range (Min Individual-Max Family):  $210-$710
  • Annual Personal Responsibility: You are responsible for the first $500 of health-care expenses each year if you are single, $1,000 if you are married and $1,500 if you have a family.
  • Share Limit: 100% up to $1,000,000. No Yearly/Lifetime Limit
  • Shares in alternative and natural treatments: Yes
  • Chiropractic: shares in 12 chiropractic visits
  • Centralized sharing
  • Medical Bill Submission: Medical bills processed electronically (e.g. membership card used with provider)
  • Preventative Visits and Well Child Checks and Vaccines: Included
  • LiveWell with Well Life Membership included up to $60 per individual and $100 per family
  • Prescription Coverage: 45 days before and 45 days after each related medical incident are eligible


Christian Healthcare Ministries
Highlights:

  • Monthly Cost Range (Min Individual-Max Family): $90-$450
  • Annual Personal Responsibility: You are responsible for the first $500 of health-care expenses each year if you are a gold member, $1,000 if you are a silver member and $1,500 if you are a bronze member.
  • Share Limit: $125,000/incident No Yearly/Lifetime Limit
  • Shares in alternative and natural treatments: No
  • Chiropractic: No
  • Centralized sharing
  • Preventative Visits and Well Child Checks and Vaccines: Must meet annual personal responsibility first
  • LiveWell with Well Life Membership NOT covered
  • Prescription Coverage: 3 months


Christian Care Ministry (Medi-Share) seems to be a popular plan among patients, as I think they advertise the most. Medi-Share pays the healthcare provider directly and has no per incidence max. Medi-Share has on their insurance cards a $25 office copay, but that is very misleading. You still have to meet your deductible prior to them covering any medical expenses. Wellness visits and vaccines are not covered until you meet your deductible.
Highlights:

  • Monthly Cost Range (Min Individual-Max Family): $64-$627 (age based)
  • Annual Personal Responsibility - $1,250-$10,000 6 programs
  • Share Limit: 100% of all eligible medical bills are published for sharing. Members pay a non-sharable Provider Fee of $35 per office visit. ($135 Emergency Room)
  • Shares in alternative and natural treatments: No
  • Chiropractic: No
  • Medical Bill Submission: Medical bills processed electronically (e.g. membership card used with provider)
  • Centralized sharing
  • Preventative Visits and Well Child Checks and Vaccines: Must meet annual personal responsibility first
  • LiveWell with Well Life Membership NOT covered
  • Prescription Coverage: 6 months


Compare more at:
http://www.medicalcostshare.com/comparison-of-major-healthcare-sharing-ministries.html
http://www.cchfreedom.org/pr/MEDICAL_SHARING_MINISTRIES-COMPARISON_CHART.pdf

Lab Testing

We are trying our best to make your experience here at Well Life Family Medicine the best it can be. We want to do everything in our power to help you achieve your health goals. In order to do this, we are trying to improve the flow of lab draws and going over the results.
As far as I know, we offer the most diverse testing in Amarillo . You name it, we do it. Because of this, it can sometimes be hard to keep everything in order.

We are trying to stream line things to make sure everyone has their results in a timely manner.

If a lab order has not already been created and pending from a previous visit, then you should schedule a visit to discuss which labs should be done, that way we don't miss anything.

We currently charge a nominal fee to draw and process a nutraval panel. This is a great deal compared to the average of $185 charged elsewhere. Effective January 1st, 2017, the fee will be $75, unless you are a LiveWell member.

As of January 1st, 2017, conventional labs will only be ordered through Cleveland Heart Labs, Quest, or Labcorp. They are interfaced with our medical record software and you are able to login to our patient portal to access your results. We will no longer offer testing through PPL or local hospitals due to the many issues with lab orders and receiving results. If you are having labs drawn at Labcorp, please don't give them your credit card information. Please notify us if they are asking for this information.

We offer in office lab draws for Cleveland Heart Labs at any point during morning hours. We will draw labs for Quest or Labcorp if done on the same day as your visit, otherwise we request that you go to their draw sites.

We require every patient that we order labs for to follow up to go over results unless labs were done during an annual wellness exam. If your health concerns were serious enough that we needed to draw labs, then we should follow up in person to go over those results.

Our policy is to consistently provide feedback to patients about test results for every test we order. We do this by scheduling a followup appointment at the same time as we setup your blood draw. Results can take anywhere from 7 to 30 days to be received by our office. If you do not hear from us within 15 business days for MOST labs, please give us a call to make sure we have received your results.

NORMAL & ABNORMAL RESULTS: Please schedule an appointment to review your results after your blood draw. A visit allows us to spend time reviewing your chart and lab results, getting additional history, and answering your questions.

Policy Updates

FORMS / CUSTOMIZED RECEIPTS

Our focus is your health.  As such, we have limited resources for individual form requests.  As time permits (usually handled on Friday), we'll do our best to assist you with special requests, i.e., forms relating to work, life insurance, HSAs, and any custom itemized receipts.  For these form requests, there will be a small charge of $10 per page.

MISSED APPOINTMENT / CANCELLATION POLICY

24 hour notice is required to cancel or change an appointment.  If an appointment is missed, cancelled, or changed with less than 24 hour's notice, there will be a $75 charge for New Patients and $25 charge for Established Patients.

3 or more cancelled or missed appointments may result in dismissal from the practice.

We do understand there are times when 24 hour notice is not possible.  Emergency situations will be evaluated on an individual basis.

We know plans change.  These measures are meant strictly to encourage everyone to call us so that someone else needing care can be seen.

MEDICATION REFILLS

Because of our large volume of calls for medication refills, we ask that you allow up to 3 business days to handle the request.  This gives us and the pharmacy time to approve and process your refill.  (Due to recurring problems, we discourage the use of Southpark Pharmacy.)

Any questions or changes regarding medications need to be discussed during an appointment.  Your provider will not diagnose or treat over the phone.  All prescriptions require a follow up visit at least once a year.

Feedback Wanted

We value your feedback and strive to provide you with the best possible experience.

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If you have any suggestions on ways we can improve our care, please let us know. If we don't know there is a problem we can't fix it.

Please take a moment to fill out this short survey to give us feedback on how we are doing.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE SURVEY

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