“Nutrigenomics is preparing the patient for a deeper commitment to functional medicine’s process and partnership.”

Functional medicine can be overwhelming to both providers and patients

Functional Medicine is overwhelming to both providers and patients. The provider has been tenaciously studying the functional medicine tenants, balancing their own physical, mental and emotional health, family relationships, career development, and assuming the great risk of opening a private practice.

The patient is overwhelmed. The patient’s family history, emotional traumas, an inflammatory diet, hidden sources of inflammation, and genetics have tipped them into a diagnosis or multiple diagnoses. There is so much information, how does a patient know what to do, when to do it, how to afford it, and how to make the lifestyle changes and medical process sustainable when it’s difficult to think or to get out of bed.

Reimagining an onboarding step prior to the standard 2-hour new patient appointment

A 2-hour new patient appointment, plus recommended diet and lifestyle changes, expensive out-of-pocket labs, and supplements, is a very advanced commitment for the very first visit. Often, the patient wants to heal the root causes, however, they do not feel well, they feel scared, they possibly are beating up on themselves for not being at their best; they are in emotional distress! And when someone is in emotional distress, they can only remember a small percentage of what was said to them. This is a challenging way to start an equal partnership.

Often Functional Medicine’s first appointment leaves the patient feeling like there’s no way they can do all of this. The recommended lifestyle plus medical prescription is not a fit for their current ability; however, most patients do not know to communicate the plan feels unreasonable in a new patient appointment. We first need to transform emotional distress into empowerment. Turn into Season 2 to learn more about building a practice based on patient readiness.

Reengaging former patients and attracting new patients with nutrigenomics

I recommend using genomics as an onboarding step to reengage former patients and attract new patients.

Lifestyle, lab, and supplement recommendations take on a whole new meaning when you interpret their instructional manual and they know what changes are right for them. The report provides you the provider insight on where to investigate further which validates ordering out-of-pocket labs. We know genetics does not have to be a patient’s destiny. Since the environment is everything, the nutrigenomics report clearly illustrates patients have power in their outcome. What a fantastic inspiration for the required lifestyle changes. Continuing to work with a patient who is empowered is a very different experience than working with a patient that is in emotional distress.

Fear is not a motivator for change. Self-motivation and self-efficacy are the real twin engines of change

Fear is not a sustainable motivator. Even though patients are wanting to repair their gut, balance their microbiome and hormones, advantage their immune system, support their pathways of detoxification they also must feel like they can’t do everything that is being recommended.

The twin engines of change are self-motivation “I want to do this.” and self-efficacy “I can do this.” in S1. Ep2. listen to Dr. Greenblatt highlight a few of the cognitive SNPs that are important to reference for a patient’s first encounter. These important polymorphisms may help fire up the patient’s self-efficacy engine.