Introduction
While each Routine Health package has a different clinical focus, the structure of services in each package is similar and built from blocks of services (components), arranged differently, depending on the package.
The first three services in the Comprehensive Dietary Package, Healthy Aging Package, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) Package, Menopause Management Package, Hypothyroid Management Package, and Prenatal Dietary Package have the same components: assessment, design of a Meal Plan, and teaching of that Meal Plan, but each package has an entirely different clinical focus. The fourth service in each package varies and is specific to the clinical focus.
These are the four components of all Routine Health Packages that are best thought of as “building blocks.”
- Assessment Visit
- Design of Individual Meal Plan
- Nutrition Education Session
- Fourth Service: either follow-up visits (2 x 1/2 hour or combined into a 1-hour visit) or an hourly clinical teaching
Note: Digestive Health packages andTherapeutic Diet services have a different structure.
Below is a description of each service (component) in all Routine Services Packages, and there is also a visual representation of each component, along with its costs.
1. Assessment Visit
The first service in all Routine Health packages is an in-depth clinical assessment, which is broken into two parts:
a. The first part of the assessment includes review of personal and family medical history, recent lab results, current medications and nutritional supplements, as well as your waist and hip measurements (10 minutes).
b. The second part of the assessment is a comprehensive dietary and lifestyle review, where I will collect detailed information, including what you like to eat and when, food likes and dislikes, religious, cultural, or ethical dietary restrictions, and other factors that impact your health and weight, such as sleep habits and activity level (50 minutes).
2. Design of Individual Meal Plan
The second service in all Routine Health packages is the design of your individual Meal Plan, tailored to help you accomplish the goals that you set. Your Meal Plan will take into consideration the information collected during the assessment, medications you may be taking, risk factors you may have, lab test results, food preferences, and food restrictions, if any. Your Meal Plan will serve as the nutrition and lifestyle roadmap to bridge the gap between your health goals and an achievable and sustainable lifestyle. It will also take any guesswork out of what to eat, when to eat, and how much to eat, while providing plenty of variety and choice.
A detailed, multi-page Meal Plan Summary handout will be prepared to accompany your Meal Plan, summarizing the content of what you will be taught during the upcoming Nutritional Education Session. This Summary will also serve as a reference for you as you implement your Meal Plan.
The turnaround time for completing your Meal Plan will be approximately 2 weeks from the time I receive any requested or missing information, such as any nutrition labels or pending lab test results.
3. Nutrition Education Session
The third service in all Routine Health packages is the Nutrition Education Session, which begins with you receiving your Meal Plan, as well as the detailed, multi-page Meal Plan Summary handout.
The visit will begin with a review of any existing risk factors, including weight, waist circumference, or out-of-range lab test results.
It will be followed by step-by-step teaching of your Meal Plan, including food categories, serving sizes, number of portions, and how to make substitutions within each food category at each meal. This session will walk you through implementing your Meal Plan, so all you need to do is decide what to eat.
You will also be provided with specific dietary and lifestyle recommendations to help you achieve the goals that you set.
Unless time doesn’t permit, the session will conclude with an opportunity to ask questions to clarify what you were taught. You will also be invited to send an email with questions you may have within a few days of the Nutrition Education Session, and your email will be answered at my earliest convenience so that you can begin to implement your Meal Plan.
4. Fourth Service – depends on package
The fourth service varies depending on the specific Routine Health package chosen.
i – Follow-up Visits
The Comprehensive Dietary Package, Healthy Aging Package, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) Package, and Menopause Management Package provide a choice of follow-up visits that are to be used within 3 months of the assessment visit.
- Two half-hour follow-up appointments: each 1/2 hour visit is for reviewing weight and waist circumference, and answering questions about implementing the Meal Plan, or about making additional food substitutions, or following the Meal Plan while traveling.
- A combined one-hour follow-up appointment: the first half hour will be spent reviewing weight and waist circumference, and how you are eating relative to the designed Meal Plan, and the second half hour will be used for me to adjust your Meal Plan based on changes you would like, or your revised weight and waist circumference, and then email it to you.
ii – Clinical Nutrition Education
The fourth visit in the Hypothyroid Management Package is a nutrition education session that covers the nutrients of importance in hypothyroidism, including recommended dosages. It also highlights the importance of timing supplements in relation to thyroid medication, as well as other supplements.
iii – Three Visit Packages
The Prenatal Package doesn’t have a fourth session, but rather is a three-session package which provides three versions of the Meal Plan (one for each trimester).
Add-on Sessions (optional)
For those taking an add-on session on topics such as gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD) / acid reflux, gout, hiatus hernia, or a kidney stone diet, this teaching will occur during the Nutrition Education Session appointment, immediately after the teaching of your Meal Plan.