Frequently ASKED qUESTIONS

Functional Medicine is a personalized, science-based approach to understanding why health problems develop—not simply treating symptoms after they appear.

At InHealthRVA, Functional Medicine is one part of a broader approach to healthcare. We combine conventional medicine with Functional and Integrative Medicine, nutrition and lifestyle, and mind-body health to provide more comprehensive, proactive care.

That may mean investigating the underlying drivers of chronic or complex symptoms through detailed history and advanced testing. But Functional Medicine isn't only for people who are sick. We also use these tools to identify risks earlier, optimize health, prevent disease, and support long-term healthspan and wellness.

The goal is healthcare that looks beyond “What diagnosis do you have?” to also ask: “Why is this happening, what can we improve, and how do we help you stay healthy for the long term?”

Functional Medicine is for people who want more from their healthcare—a thoughtful, comprehensive approach focused on improving health, not simply treating disease.

We provide personalized care for people who want to feel well, stay well, prevent disease, and optimize their healthspan, as well as those navigating chronic or complex health concerns.

Our areas of focus include:

• Preventative health, wellness & health optimization

• Healthy aging & healthspan

• GI and digestive health

• Hormone health

• Metabolic & cardiovascular health

• Fatigue, energy & sleep

• Autoimmune and chronic health conditions

• Nutrition, exercise & lifestyle

Whether you're working through a complicated health problem or simply want better, more proactive healthcare, our goal is to help you build and maintain health for the long term.

Yes, but not exclusively.

Functional Medicine often starts with the foundations of health—nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress, and lifestyle—but draws from a much broader range of healthcare options.

Depending on your individual needs, this may include natural and herbal protocols, targeted supplements, conventional medications, laboratory testing, imaging, procedures, and specialist care.

Our approach is integrative and individualized: understanding your health and using the right combination of tools to help you feel well, stay well, and protect your long-term health.

Functional Medicine is personalized medicine². Not only is your medical care personalized to your biology, but your plan is personalized to your goals, preferences, lifestyle, bandwidth, and budget.

Before your first appointment, you'll complete a comprehensive health history so we can begin understanding your current health, medical history, symptoms, lifestyle, nutrition, medications and supplements, and what you hope to accomplish.

Your first appointment is 90 minutes. We'll review your history in depth, ask additional questions, discuss your priorities, and begin putting the pieces together. You'll leave with an individualized plan that may include laboratory testing, nutrition and lifestyle recommendations, supplements or herbal protocols, medications, imaging, referrals, and other strategies to improve your health and wellness.

Between appointments, we're still on your case. As you implement your plan and complete recommended testing, our team remains available to answer follow-up questions, address issues that arise, and help keep your care moving forward. We aim to respond to messages within 48 business hours, so you aren't left waiting until your next appointment when questions or concerns come up.

Your plan also continues to evolve based on your results, your response to treatment, and what is realistically working for you.

Follow-up appointments are typically 30–60 minutes, every 4–12 weeks, depending on your needs and where you are in the process. We'll review results, assess progress, troubleshoot what's not working, and determine the most useful next steps.

Why don't we use a cookie-cutter membership protocol? Because even personalized medicine needs to be personalized. Two people with the same diagnosis may need very different approaches—and even the “ideal” medical plan isn't useful if it doesn't fit your goals, preferences, bandwidth, or budget.

Our goal is to build a healthcare plan with you, not simply hand one to you.

Yes. Our membership uses a hybrid insurance + membership model designed to give you more comprehensive care while still using your insurance where it works.

We bill insurance for services it covers, including appointments with our Nurse Practitioner and many conventional labs and diagnostic services.

Your membership covers what insurance generally doesn't: the additional time, access, coordination, and expertise that allow us to provide truly personalized Functional and Integrative care—not just what can fit into a traditional insurance-based visit.

You can also use HSA or FSA funds for many eligible healthcare expenses, including appointments, testing, and treatments.

Timing varies depending on the type of testing:

• LabCorp/Quest: Most results are available within 2–10 days.

• Functional Medicine specialty labs: Typically about 3 weeks after the lab receives your testing kit.

• Highly specialized testing (such as IGeneX, genetic testing, or Quicksilver Scientific): Results may take longer.

Once we receive your results, our team works to get them to you promptly, generally within a day or two.

Alert or urgent results are addressed immediately. Otherwise, your results are interpreted in context—not in isolation—and are integratively incorporated into your comprehensive health analysis and care plan at your next follow-up appointment.

After the first visit, you usually will have labs to complete. We have the first follow up once we get lab results back. If these are done in a timely manner, this is usually about a month after the first appointment.

In between appointments, you will be completing labs and enacting any protocols recommended. Please take notes on any response to protocols for us to go over at your follow up appointment.

No. Testing is always a recommendation, not a requirement. But in many cases, the right testing can actually save time and money by reducing guesswork and helping us focus on what matters most.

Combined with your health and symptom history, targeted, personalized testing helps anchor our understanding of your health. It can help identify—or rule out—important contributors and guide us toward the most appropriate next steps. The body is complex, and clinically useful testing continues to evolve; Functional Medicine is often at the forefront of using these tools thoughtfully.

We will always consider your bandwidth and budget when recommending testing, just as we do with treatments and other recommendations. Most specialty testing, when needed, is concentrated toward the beginning of our work together rather than becoming a significant ongoing expense.

And we can absolutely work with less testing. Your history, symptoms, conventional labs, and response to therapies all provide valuable information. Without additional testing, there may simply be more trial and error, so we ask for some patience and willingness to adjust the plan as we learn what works for you.

We're available between appointments when questions or concerns come up. You can reach us by:

• Phone: 804-288-1111

• Email: office@inhealthrva.com

• Patient portal messaging

We aim to respond within 24–48 business hours. Calls and messages are attended to during regular business hours, so messages received later in the day may not be answered until the following business day.

If your concern is urgent, please call the front desk rather than relying on email or portal messaging. If you haven't heard back from us within the expected timeframe, please give us a call.

Please note that we are not an urgent care or emergency facility. If you believe your health issue requires immediate evaluation, go to an Urgent Care or Emergency Department. Send us your reports and updates afterward so we can help with follow-up and incorporate what happened into your ongoing care.

Almost all supplements we recommend are prescribed through Fullscript, an online dispensary that provides practitioner-grade, vetted products with quality and authenticity guarantees.

Once your appointment note is complete, you'll receive an email from Fullscript with your personalized recommendations, including specific products and dosing instructions. You can order directly through Fullscript and have everything shipped to your home.

Occasionally, we may recommend a product available through another specialized distributor. When we do, ordering information and instructions will be included in your appointment summary.

No. The choice is always yours.

We see our role as your expert healthcare partners and consultants—helping you understand your options, weigh the benefits and tradeoffs, and make informed decisions about your health.

This is also part of what we mean by personalized medicine²: your care should be personalized not only to your biology, but also to your goals, preferences, bandwidth, and budget.

We'll help you prioritize which testing and recommendations are most important, what can wait, and what alternatives may be available. We'll also help you incorporate recommendations and information from your other healthcare practitioners so that your care works together as a whole.