Episode 74: Unplugged: Tips for an Extraordinary 60 Minute Patient Visit

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“The true medicine that we give our patients as a functional medicine practitioner is the medicine of trust, the medicine of empowerment, that they know their bodies are going to be okay,” shares host and functional medicine practitioner Dr. Lara Salyer. The world of functional medicine is vast and it can be a challenge to not get lost in the weeds during patient visits. Today, Dr. Lara explains her tips for a flow channeled experience that enables her to keep her patient visits to 60 minutes or less. Take a peek behind the desk at Dr. Lara’s process and see what this efficiency looks like from the patient’s point of view as she guides listeners through a pretend visit.

Even though you have a lot of information at your disposal, it is important to keep in mind that patients might not be as excited as you are to dive into the deep end.

Keep it simple and dial it back so that you do not overwhelm your patients with too much information. Dr. Lara spends 80% of her time just doing prep work so that everything is as streamlined and convenient as possible for the patient. When the patients fill out her intake survey, she makes sure to highlight the key areas that need further investigation and begins strategizing three to five anchor goals that will become the main focus of treatment. A good portion of the initial visit is spent determining the anchor goals and then doing a physical exam. By the end of the visit, the patient walks away with a welcome bag full of useful items, a short visit summary with highlights and supplemental resources, some very basic educational material on functional medicine, and a list of easily achievable next steps.

Instead of allowing yourself to get lost in the weeds, possibly overwhelming not only yourself but also your patients, do everything you can do in advance to make the patient visit process flow smoothly. Sometimes less really is more. Give patients the educational resources and allow them to decide for themselves how deep into it they want to go.

About The Catalyst Host, Dr. Lara Salyer:

I worked as a family physician for 15 years until burnout changed the trajectory of my career. I realized I wanted to start a holistic functional medicine practice in my rural hometown and made it happen. In addition to practicing functional medicine, I now mentor practitioners who are looking to change their paths in healthcare by using what I refer to as the “Catalyst Roadmap”. I share each step of this framework with listeners so that they may apply it to their careers, relationships, personal goals, and projects.

In This Episode I'm Talking About:

Streamlining patient visits in functional medicine to ensure optimal outcomes and patient understanding.
The importance of preparation, including creating anchor goals based on intake surveys, to ensure visits are productive and not overwhelming.
The value of offering patient-centered care, including physical examinations, welcome bags, educational materials, and next steps, all within a 60-minute window.

Quotes:

“Prep is about 80% of my time.” (8:29 | Dr. Lara)
“The summary is divided into two sections, the highlight section, which is the bare minimum of five steps that she has to do, and then there’s a line. And underneath that it says supplemental information and resources, because not all of us are as excited to learn about medicine as we are.” (18:14 | Dr. Lara)
“We don’t have to have all the answers figured out, but we can trust that our body is working with us.” (20:19 | Dr. Lara)
“The true medicine that we give our patients as a functional medicine practitioner is the medicine of trust, the medicine of empowerment, that they know their bodies are going to be okay.” (21:05 | Dr. Lara)
“The future of functional medicine is empowering one patient at a time that will influence their whole family unit.” (22:49 | Dr. Lara)
“My advice to patients is, step into that role of advocacy for yourself.” (24:33 | Dr. Lara)