HER Place ® Services
HER Place
® is not meant to replace your
primary care physician for ongoing, routine health
problems. Our consultative practice is designed to give
you an integrated picture of your health — to show you
how all the pieces of your “health puzzle” fit
together.
We’ll offer you suggestions as to how you can meet your
wellness goals, even if we may not necessarily provide all
the services you need. Most medical offices schedule
several appointments in the same hour, with the result
that that doctors have little time to spend with each
patient. We schedule only one person per appointment
period; also, since our health care appointments are much
longer than the average doctor’s visit, we’re able to more
closely identify your needs and determine how they can be
met.
Comprehensive Hormone Evaluation Package
Our Comprehensive Hormone Evaluation provides an
in-depth picture of your overall health. The evaluation
process takes several hours and consists of laboratory
studies to check hormone levels and other critical
measures, and intensive follow-up consultations,
assessments, and recommendations.
Each component we examine will help us identify the
true causes of your symptoms and determine a medically
sound health enhancement plan. If you’d like us to
continue working with you in your “journey to hormone
health,” we’ll then prescribe medications and monitor your
progress.
You may ask your doctor for a referral for our
services, but a referral is not required.
Our hormone evaluation package includes the following:
Comprehensive Lab Work
To understand what you need, we must know where you are
now. We begin the whole evaluation process by checking
your current ovarian, adrenal, and thyroid hormone levels,
as well as many other health measures. If you are still
menstruating, tests will be performed at specific times
during your menstrual cycle, since their results should be
interpreted in the context of your cycle. All this testing
and analysis will help us in the effort to balance your
body chemistry and establish optimal hormone levels. Not
only are optimal hormone levels important to your overall
health, but specific hormone levels are crucial to the
preservation of bone density and heart and brain health,
for example.
Health Risk Assessment
We’ll identify health risks from the information you
provide us in your initial history forms, from our
consultation, and from your test results. Future
appointments will focus on helping you reduce these
identified health risks. Areas of emphasis include:
- Reducing the risk factors for heart disease and
cancer
- Managing your stress
- Eating for optimal energy
- Losing weight in a safe, healthy way
Comprehensive Consultation
Once your initial labs and evaluations have been
completed, you will meet with Dr. Vliet one to one and
review your lab work and medical history, talk about
your symptoms and concerns, and discuss the best
treatment options. Together, you and Dr. Vliet will also
determine your health enhancement plan. If appropriate,
Dr. Vliet will provide prescriptions.
Pricing Policy
2009 – The Year for Change! Here are our new approaches to pricing and packaging of our services.
We hope you will find the flexibility useful as you consider which approach works best for you.
Just as there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach to solving the complex hormone issues many women face,
we have found there is no simple "one-price-fits all" pricing plan either. Rather, Dr. Vliet will tailor
the types of laboratory tests she feels will be needed to give a complete picture of your current hormone
issues, and provide guidance for the types of approaches that are needed to correct "your" problem(s).
Dr. Vliet does not use the unreliable saliva tests to evaluate something as critical to your health as your
hormones! Remember, doing all the labs as an integrated approach at the same time helps get you the best
information as to what's wrong and what to do about it.
While it may seem "expensive," women continually
tell us "It's too expensive to keep going to doctor after doctor after doctor and still not getting answers
or help to feel better."
Our philosophy is that it is more time and cost-effective for you if Dr. Vliet does
an integrated history, physical and lab evaluation at the beginning to help you identify potential multiple
causes of the same symptoms.
While it is possible to have a consultation without doing the lab studies, keep in mind that when the proper
lab evaluation is done in advance of your initial visit, Dr. Vliet is then able to focus the consultation time
to tailor the approaches you need in order to regain your health and hormone balance.
Services and Fees
- In-depth Consultation with Dr.Vliet………………………....$1800
(Approximately 2 hours with patient, 1 hour reviewing records, history and labs)
While many primary care physicians
and gynecologists schedule only 10 minutes for a patient's appointment, your consultation with
Dr. Vliet is approximately three hours of professional
time. This encompasses an hour before your appointment to review your medical records, new patient
information, and history forms plus about two hours with you in-person for an in-depth
history, focused physical, discussion of lab results, and development of an individualized treatment plan for you.
- New Patient lab pricing for the complete metabolic and cholesterol, blood counts, thyroid, adrenal, ovarian
and pituitary hormone profiles will vary in cost depending upon the type of problem or problems you have, and will also
vary depending upon whether you are menstruating or no longer having periods.
The general price range for the comprehensive
lab studies is approximately $1,900 to $2,700 depending on the complexity of your problems and which tests are most appropriate
for you to have done. Please see the information package describing the various clinically-focused lab evaluations available.
If you have had a comprehensive metabolic profile and cholesterol profile done by your primary care
physician with in one month of your appointment with Dr. Vliet, these tests do not have to be repeated and the cost can be
deducted from the package price.
While most patients get some insurance coverage for our services, keep in mind that insurance
plans vary in the amount that they will reimburse when you submit the claim forms that we provide at your appointment.
- Second Opinion Consultation Options
For those who would like Dr. Vliet’s guidance on evaluation and treatment
options to then work with your own physician for prescriptions, you may want to consider our Second Opinion consult
service. This allows Dr. Vliet to review your medical history, discuss the questions you have, and provide recommendations
for testing, and suggestions for treatment options that could help your symptoms.
Regulations do not allow Dr. Vliet
to prescribe medications after the Second Opinion Consultation, but the “Second Opinion Consultation” service does give
you a written summary of specific recommendations to take to your own physician to complete the testing and try the
initial treatment suggestions.
Download our PDF flier,
Second Opinion FAQ's, that explains the Second Opinion options
if you have further questions about what the process entails and the fees. You may call our Scheduling Coordinator at
520-797-9131, or email her at
Info@herplace.com.
If you later decide that you would like Dr. Vliet to manage your hormone
and other medications to help you achieve your goals, then you would need to be seen in person in the office and go through
our detailed process of becoming an established patient. This includes in-person appointment for an in-depth evaluation
and physical, so that Dr. Vliet is able to prescribe and manage your hormone medications, and order further tests as needed.
- One hour Second Opinion Consult…………..$795.00
Individualized time by phone or in-person with Dr. Vliet to review the health information you send, discuss your
questions and concerns. Dr. Vliet will recommend tests and treatment options for you to consider, and provide a
written summary of those suggestions to help you work with your own physician(s).
- 90 minute Second Opinion Consult…………$995.00
The longer time allows for more detailed review of your medical records and longer discussion time with Dr. Vliet
to answer your questions and for to explain treatment options to help you more fully understand pros and cons of
various approaches. Dr. Vliet will provide you a written list of suggestions to help you work with your own physician(s).
PLEASE NOTE:Current regulations do not allow physicians to order the laboratory studies if not also seeing the patient for a consultation. We cannot handle requests for you
to do the laboratory packages alone without the consultation with Dr. Vliet. Patients may choose to do the consultation without having labs done, although the
value of the consultation is limited unless lab studies can be discussed as part of the process.
