Healthy Gut, Healthy You
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Practical, scientifically-validated and cost effective care.
Dr. Michael Ruscio, DNM, DC is accepting new patients, both locally and distance. Patients can be seen in person or via our HIPAA compliant Telehealth platform ZOOM.
Note: As of 5/1/20 we are scheduling new patients in September of 2020.
How much will this cost?
It’s difficult to list an exact amount because different people will require differing amounts of care. However, Dr. Ruscio prides himself on being cost-effective with his care. What does that mean? It means Dr. Ruscio will not order frivolous testing, prescribe unnecessary treatment, or do anything else that could squander your financial resources.
Initial History & Exam
20-40 minutes
$430
Report of Findings
15-20 minutes
$225
Followup Visits
15-20 minutes
$225
Lab Report Analysis
$65
- Lab testing is one area where fees can quickly add up. However, we hope you will be relieved to hear that Dr. Ruscio is able to obtain excellent results with minimal lab testing. In most cases he may only require roughly $150-300 of testing, and in some cases no initial lab testing will be required. Dr.Ruscio also suggests or requires minimal follow up testing, if any.
- Office Visits – Dr. Ruscio usually asks to see a patient once a month while being treated. It is not required to come in person unless seeking insurance coverage or depending on the severity of the case, treatment length can range from three months to over a year.
- Treatment – Cost is heavily dependent on the person. Dr. Ruscio always opts for the most minimal treatment, and his goal is to get you to a point where you no longer require treatment as quickly as possible.
Cost-Savings: Dr. Ruscio’s care is consistently less expensive than the majority of functional medicine care. This is because he places special emphasis on reducing the hidden costs of lab testing and ongoing treatment that are often found in other functional medicine environments.
Does Dr. Ruscio accept insurance?
Dr. Ruscio uses insurance as much as he can. There is variability in coverage depending on your insurance plan and your eligibility as a patient for coverage. You must meet the following requirements prior to being able to utilize insurance or seek assistance with reimbursement:
- Only one is required to qualify
- Be a current California Resident
- Or, be seen in-person at minimum once a year
- If you meet these qualifications then typically, coverage looks like:
- Lab testing: 50-100% coverage
- Office visit: Dr. Ruscio does not accept insurance for office visits & direct insurance billing from our office is unavailable. We can provide you with a Superbill, which you can then submit to your insurance for reimbursement to try and seek consult fee coverage.
- Treatment: Not covered unless you have an HSA/FSA card, MSA account, or something similar.
- Insurance companies place many restrictions on doctors which can make it difficult to treat you effectively. Even though there are out of pocket expenses, our patients find it is well worth it!
What’s the process?
Apply to Become a Patient
Fill out the requested information HERE.
Please note: we unfortunately cannot accept all patients.
Initial Exam
During your Initial History and Exam visit, Dr. Ruscio will review:
- Your health and medical history
- Your diet and lifestyle
- Function of the key body systems related to your ailment
- The history, onset and key characteristics of your illness
- Medications and supplements
- The goal here is to uncover the underlying cause of your ailment
Follow-Up Visit
During your first follow-up visit Dr. Ruscio will provide you with a Report of Findings. This is where Dr. Ruscio will:
- Explain what he thinks is causing your health ailment
- Explain what testing should be performed for diagnosis and/or to help rule out suspected conditions. Please note if you have insurance Dr. Ruscio will do his best to do as much of the lab testing through your insurance as possible.
- An initial diet plan
- An initial lifestyle plan
- Your initial treatment program
- Provide a prognosis & explain how long your recovery may take
Ongoing Visits
During Follow-Up Visits Dr. Ruscio will:
- Monitor your response to treatment
- Explain any new lab findings
- Adjust treatment based upon laboratory findings and your level of responsiveness
- Order any follow up testing needed as treatment progress
- Work to improve your health as soon as possible
Why do patients choose Dr. Ruscio?
Put simply, because Dr. Ruscio strives to get patients well, quickly and cost effectively. Dr. Ruscio strongly believes that care in Integrative and Functional Medicine has become overly costly and often involves unnecessary testing and treatment, thus wasting a significant amount of a patient’s time and money. Additionally, he is concerned that some of the testing and treatment often done are based upon dogma and not sound science, which is why he is conducting research at the clinic.
When do I start feeling better?
Some patients begin to feel better within days to weeks, while for others it may take months. This is highly specific to the individual, and Dr. Ruscio can provide you a specific prognosis during your Report of Findings visit.
Can Dr. Ruscio help me?
While its challenging to make a guarantee in health care, we believe Dr. Ruscio provides care you can’t get anywhere else.
Here is why: Dr. Ruscio dedicates three days per week to digging through the medical literature to stay abreast of the best testing and treatment options available. He also analyzes results from in-office research, where he reviews patient treatment results to identify key patterns in order to make treatment more effective. Dr. Ruscio is also collecting data on unique treatments he offers in the clinic, the results of which he hopes to have published in a peer review medical journal. Dr. Ruscio is passionate about tracking patient outcomes. Instead of blindly following current dogma, Dr. Ruscio is determined to use those tracking outcomes to uncover which treatments work and which treatments don’t.
We recommend you watch Dr. Ruscio’s numerous patient testimonials, where you will likely find several people with your exact complaints he has helped:
