Programs at my practice
Why you should consider a program for your care
UPDATE: I have changed how we work with new members. The rest of this post provides great context, so you should still read it, but the here is how we are now working
I discovered something incredible when I stepped into the world of functional medicine - programs.
What is a program? A program is a bundle of appointments, access to a practitioner (or practitioners), labs, and supplements, plus or minus procedures, medications, and anything else that might help you to achieve whatever results you're looking for.
I will be explaining our new programs in an upcoming livestream:
You can view on Facebook here.
Why are programs incredible?
Structure and commitment create success. Allow me to explain. When patients engage in a la carte care, they often get mediocre results for the same reason that just "buying a gym membership" often gets them mediocre results. We are all people, and people fall back into old habits, fail to keep new ones, and generally get distracted from their goals.
This frustrates most practitioners, who complain that patients won't keep appointments, won't show up, won't follow through, and generally won't get the job of getting well done.
Fortunately, we have a solution to this problem. That solution is the program.
It takes time with clinicians and coaches, labs, supplements, and sometimes specialized treatments or medications in order to get people great results.
When you bundle all of that together, you're looking at thousands of dollars per program, and two things happen.
People who are not serious bail rather than commit.
People who do commit, go all-in. They show up, do the work, and maximize their chances of success.
The result of this is better results, faster. This is why I love programs.
The problem with programs is that some people want to think they can get program results, without the level of support they receive within a program.
These patients are the bane of my existence.
This is the equivalent of saying, "I trust you enough to be my doctor and guide me to my desired outcome, but we are going my way, at my pace."
I've seen this end horribly. I sleep easily at night knowing that I give people the opportunity to make their own educated, informed decision based on our review of their case.
More and more patients are wary of programs, because, sadly, some practices are using highly manipulative sales tactics to convince patients to buy over-priced programs. I've had the same tactics used against me as a practitioner to get me to buy business coaching, and I can tell you that it hurts to be taken advantage of in this way. I can only imagine how much more painful it is when it comes to your health.
This is why I decided to publish our program prices and explain the benefit of them publicly. Other practices are not doing this. When I surveyed my newsletter subscribers, 90% of them said they felt that hiding prices was unethical. If you find a practice that "hides" its prices, rest assured that it is because they are high enough to scare you away.
How do I set prices for programs?
I calculate the price of the program if we were a fee-for-service practice. This is the value of the program. Then I calculate the price at the members-only rates. This is the members-only price. Then I cut the price to reward patients for committing to a program, rather than trying to get the same results in a membership. The savings we offer patients for committing to programs is thousands of dollars compared to what it would be at a fee-for-service practice.
Who should commit to a program?
If you want to achieve 50-90% improvement (your words, your assessment) in 3-6 months, then you should commit to a program. It's not that we can't get the same results in a membership, it's just less likely. Only commit to a program if you can commit an hour a week and at least 30 minutes each day to implementing what we recommend, at a minimum. There are some things that we don't include in programs, like vitamin D, our detox powder, and more. Why? Not everyone needs them. People need less vitamin D in sunnier places. The detox powder recipe is a DIY project.
I hope this helps you to pick the right program or membership at our practice. What I care about most is your success. That's why I do this and why we still offer programs at my practice. Programs are amazing, so I strongly urge those of you who want to make progress quickly to choose a program over a membership.
An overview of our programs are below.
Until next time, be well,
Dr. Stillman
Programs are two, three, or six months. Each program includes:
One-hour initial consult with Dr. Stillman
One-hour initial consult with Eva, Health Coach and Registered Nurse
Monthly 25-minute follow-ups with Dr. Stillman
Monthly 25-minute follow-ups with Eva, Health Coach and Registered Nurse
HTMA and Comprehensive Wellness Panel
The six month program includes two rounds of lab testing
Monthly nutritional balancing supplements and X39 Lifewave patches
Additional supplements and lab testing may be recommended and are not included
Three and six month programs include vitamin C, MSM, and iodine supplements
Proprietary online coursework
Below are the costs and savings of each program.
The list price is what you would pay retail (and if you didn’t know where to shop) for similar consults, labs, supplements, and education.
The program price is what we charge for our programs. As you can see, the savings is substantial. We do this to honor the investment people are making with us.
Two-month program
List price (value of goods and services): $6,788.40
Program price (what you pay at the practice): $3,079.71
Three-month program
List price (value of goods and services): $8,011.82
Program price (what you pay at the practice): $3,897.56
Six-month program
List price (value of goods and services): $11,174.17
Program price (what you pay at the practice): $5,967.43