Functional Medicine

What is Functional Medicine?

Your Personalized Health Journey

Functional medicine is a whole-system approach to health that thoroughly investigates the root cause of disease and disorder.

Its science-based approach uses in-depth diagnostic testing and data collection to determine the underlying cause of a disease or disorder. Part of the data collection is an exhaustive medical review of a patient’s medical history, including examining a patient’s genetic, biochemical, lifestyle, and physiological factors.

Core to this approach is the belief that patients have distinct body chemistries, living conditions, work environments, diets, and stressors. As such, each gets a personalized treatment plan to restore and optimize their health.

How is it Different Then Conventional Medicine?

In conventional medicine, doctors treat the symptoms. This is like treating the diseased leaves on a tree. Relief may come with this approach, but the underlying root cause is not addressed. It leaves patients vulnerable to continued health decline.

In functional medicine, doctors see diseased leaves as a sign of disease or dysfunction within the tree or at its roots. Not only do the treatment plans from a functional medicine doctor provide relief from symptoms, but they also address the source of the disease, fortifying patients against continued health decline.

Functional Medicine for Better Health

Address the root cause of your health problems using functional medicine.

What does a Functional Medicine doctor do?

A functional medicine doctor takes a holistic approach to healthcare by focusing on the underlying causes of a patient’s health issues.

They spend more time with patients to gather detailed information about their medical history, lifestyle habits, and environment to create a personalized treatment plan that may include lifestyle changes, nutritional supplements, and stress management techniques.

Rather than just treating symptoms, the goal of a functional doctor is to identify the root cause of a patient’s health issues and provide targeted treatment that promotes overall wellness.

This approach helps patients achieve better health outcomes and improve their quality of life.

What Kind of Care Will I Receive?

By focusing on patterns and connections within the body, a systems biology-based approach allows for highly personalized treatment plans. Our treatment plans support not just symptom relief but also long-term wellness and disease prevention through a comprehensive understanding of the body’s interdependencies.

Our clinical team always asking, “why did this symptom start?” and “why is it progressing?”. We want to find the underlying cause of the disease. Searching for the person’s individual root cause, and creating a holistic treatment plan, makes the functional medicine approach highly effective for a variety of conditions.

Traditional Care vs Functional Medicine

Do You Take Insurance?

Our functional medicine clinic does not bill insurance. You may pay by check, credit card, or HSA debit card. Upon request, we can provide you with a copy of the superbill, which you can submit to your insurance company for possible reimbursement for out-of-network care. The superbill is a detailed medical receipt that contains procedure codes, diagnosis codes, and the fees charged for your office visit. We cannot guarantee what reimbursement, if any, you may receive. We do not submit claims or call insurance companies directly. This is the responsibility of the patient.

We do not participate with Medicare, nor do we bill Medicare for any services rendered. A patient can NOT submit superbills to Medicare for possible reimbursement.

Do you take insurance for lab work?

When paying cash for labs, how does billing work?

You can think about it this way. It's an exchange the doctor's cash pricing is transferred directly to the patient. So it's just an exchange of funds. LabCorp bills the doctor, and then the practice bills the patient, and that's how it works.

Are the labs usually ones that the insurance would cover?

You have two options A and B:

Option A: Submitting labs for insurance reimbursement

During the Foundational Assessment, we do blood work, and it depends on the patient's insurance coverage and diagnostic codes whether insurance will cover the lab work. We do an extensive foundational lab panel that looks at sex hormones, thyroid, inflammatory markers, cancer risks, cardiovascular risks, and vitamins and minerals. For patients who have a lot of diagnoses and have good coverage, we run it through their insurance. If you tell the doctor you want it run through your insurance, you can attempt to get it covered that way.

Option B: Paying cash for lab work

For patients who don’t have insurance that will cover their lab work, we’ve negotiated a cash price with LabCorp. Our entire initial panel can be between $150 and $300, depending on what the doctor needs to look into for your extensive foundational lab panel. Patients do need to understand that if you bill through insurance and they do not cover your lab work, it could cost you five to ten times as much, $2000 or more.

We leave it up to you to decide if you want to bill insurance or not. Most of our patients do the cash-priced labwork. It's also important to know that we do not mark up our lab work. When you pay cash for labs you get it at our discounted rate. It is very, very reasonable to get blood work done at cost.

When paying cash for labs, how does billing work?

You can think about it this way. It's an exchange in which the doctor's cash pricing is transferred directly to the patient. So it's just an exchange of funds. LabCorp bills the doctor, and then the practice bills the patient, and that's how it works.

As far as the advanced diagnostic testing, if there was a stool analysis or advanced hormone analysis, that all depends again on your insurance. We provide a super bill, which is a bill that you would provide your insurance company. You would pay the lab directly, and then the lab would give you a super bill. Then you would submit it to your insurance, and you would get reimbursed based on your plan.

Please feel free to call the office if you have any additional questions about billing.

female doctor wearing a pink ribbon holding the hand of her aging female patient and smiling

Choose Dream Functional Medicine

Why Choose Dream Functional Medicine?

Dr. Smith brings a wealth of experience understanding how quality sleep builds the foundation for optimal health.

He’s able to integrate the best of traditional medical treatments with a functional approach to address the root causes of health issues, promoting overall well-being.

Our focus is on delivering personalized care that respects and responds to each patient’s preferences, needs, and values.

Contact Us

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (719) 546-6300

Office Fax: (719) 546-6111

Location: Pueblo, CO

44 Briargate Terrace

Pueblo, CO 81001

44 Briargate Terrace, Pueblo, CO 81001, USA

Location: Colorado Springs, CO

1710 Jet Stream Drive Suite 215,

Colorado Springs, CO 80921

1710 Jet Stream Dr suite 215, Colorado Springs, CO 80921, USA

Hours of Operation

  • Monday-Thursday 8:15 AM to 5:45 PM

  • Friday 8:15 AM to 12:30 PM

  • ​Closed Saturday & Sunday

  • and Closed All Major Holidays

FOLLOW US

CUSTOMER CARE

Copyright 2025. Dream Functional Medicine . All Rights Reserved.