Patient FAQ
Q. Will Dr. Smith be my primary care doctor?
A. No, every patient should have a primary care provider. Stephen Smith, M.D. is a specialist in Integrative Functional Medicine and Allergy & Environmental Medicine. As such, he does not work in hospitals and everyone should have a personal physician they can rely on to coordinate all of their care.
Q. Does my primary doctor have to be an MD or DO?
A. No, you can also use a naturopathic physician, PA (Physicians Assistant), or ARNP (Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner) as your primary care provider.
Q. What are the differences between a functional medicine physician and a traditional physician?
A. Most physicians focus on treating your current medical problems. An integrative functional medicine physician looks past your current health issues and seeks to find the underlying causes of ill health. Integrative functional medicine at its best; corrects imbalances, improves nutrition, and prevents disease from occurring. We use a blended approach that combines the best of traditional medicine with integrative functional medicine approaches.
Q. Does Dr. Smith treat children?
A. No, our practice is limited to adult care ages 18 years and older.
Q. What if I need help understanding my treatment?
A. We send follow-up emails with links to tell us how you are doing. You may have ended up on this page by hitting one of those links. The link also alerts our staff that you need help and tags your record. Our goal is to make sure your program is working, so we use this automated system to alert our staff when you are having a problem.
Q. When is the best and worst time to call the office?
A. Best Time to Call: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday from 9 AM to 5 PM are the best times to reach our receptionist.
Worst Time to Call: Tuesday is the worst day to reach us. We have back to back appointments for regular patients and IV patients this day.
If you go to voicemail, please leave us a message and we will get back with you.