Ummm... what is Alive and Thriving Healthcare?

 

"Are you a primary care office?"

"Are you a concierge practice?"

"Are you a med spa?"

The answer is... yes—and no.

Hi, I'm Jennie - ATH's Concept Creator. The elevator speech needs some work, but let this blog show that I am attempting to explain what the heck we are doing at Alive and Thriving Healthcare. 

Alive and Thriving Healthcare doesn't fit neatly into one traditional healthcare category because we intentionally built our practice around something different: whole-person health.

Most people see one provider for an annual physical... maybe. Patients feel rushed, leave with unanswered questions and feel that their provider doesn't even know them. Respectfully, the providers aren't really to blame. Traditional healthcare based on an insurance model have to move it along to meet quotas and ensure enough reimbursement to keep the lights on and everyone paid.

At the same time, we're swimming in a sea of "influencers" who are talking hormones, IVs, skincare, glp-1s, peptides, supplements.... the truth is: those are all parts of healthcare. Unfortunately, the traditional insurance based model doesn't allow for primary care to handle everything. Many days it feels like primary care is just sick care... reactive instead of proactive. What if we - as professionals - could use all of our training, education and experience to keep people healthy living their best life? What if we were proactive instead of reactive?

Welllllll.... that's where Alive and Thriving Healthcare comes in.

Are We Direct Primary Care (DPC)?

Partly.

Like many Direct Primary Care (DPC) practices, we believe healthcare should focus on the relationship between you and your provider—not insurance paperwork.

Our membership model provides longer visits, easier access to your healthcare team, personalized care, and a focus on prevention rather than rushing patients through 10-minute appointments. We take a deeper dive into vitality: mobility, pain, hormones, skin health, etc. We give off a functional medicine flavor. We also treat our patients through OMT, aesthetics, IV therapy, hormone replacement (including pellets!), prescription medications and by using compounding pharmacies. 

However, we also recognize that not everyone wants or needs a membership and that not everyone wants all of the things that comes with a membership. That's why we offer many services on a fee-for-service basis, allowing patients to choose the care that fits their needs. All of our offerings also have membership pricing.

Are We a Concierge Practice?

Not exactly.

Traditional concierge medicine often charges higher annual membership fees while still billing insurance for office visits and services.

At Alive and Thriving Healthcare, we are a cash-pay practice. We do not bill insurance for our services, although we can provide a superbill that some patients may choose to submit to their insurance carrier for possible out-of-network reimbursement.

In addition to providing superbills, we will fill out insurance prior authorizations for services and prescriptions when necessary. We use LabCorp to process our labs. Some patients choose to have their labs covered by their insurance instead of using our cash pricing.

This allows us to spend more time with patients, recommend care based on medical need rather than insurance coverage, and maintain transparent pricing.

Are We a Medical Spa?

We offer aesthetic services—but we're much more than a med spa.

Medical spas typically focus on cosmetic treatments such as injectables, facials, skin resurfacing, and other aesthetic procedures.

With a Master Aesthetician on our team, our approach is a little different. We certainly love helping patients look their best, but our philosophy is that healthy skin starts from within. 

Before recommending treatments, we consider factors such as:

• Nutrition
• Hormonal health
• Sleep quality
• Stress
• Hydration
• Inflammation
• Medical conditions
• Medications
• Lifestyle habits

When appropriate, our team (aesthetics and medicine) works together to provide what is necessary for the best outcome. Whether you're interested in acne treatment, healthy aging, or improving skin texture, our goal is to address the underlying contributors—not just the visible symptoms. 

So...What Are We?

The best way to describe Alive and Thriving Healthcare is this:

We are a membership-based wellness and primary care practice with integrated medical aesthetics and preventive healthcare.

We combine elements of:

• Personalized primary care
• Lifestyle medicine
• Preventive medicine
• Functional medicine principles
• Hormone optimization
• Medical weight management
• Osteopathic-inspired movement and recovery care
• Medical aesthetics
• Longevity-focused healthcare

Instead of treating each concern separately, we look at how every aspect of your health works together.

Our THRIVE Philosophy

Everything we do is built around our THRIVE model:

Because these areas are interconnected, we believe your healthcare should be too.

Whether we're helping someone lower their cardiovascular risk, balance hormones, recover from chronic pain, improve their skin, or lose weight, our goal is the same:

Help you understand your health and give you the tools to improve it.

Our Mission

At Alive and Thriving Healthcare, we believe healthcare should do more than treat illness.

It should help you live well.

Our mission is simple:

Keeping You Healthy... Inside and Out.

We combine compassionate medical care, preventive medicine, personalized wellness, and aesthetic services to help you feel your best, function at your best, and live the healthiest life possible.

Because health isn't just about living longer.

It's about thriving.

Here is a lil' table to help sort things out:

DPC		Concierge	MedSpa	ATH
Medical		Medical	Esthetics	Medical AND Aesthetics!
Monthly membership fees paid by patients or, sometimes, the patient’s employer.		Annual patient membership contract with higher fees that can be paid annually or monthly.	Some with monthly membership fees and/or fee-for service.	·   Monthly membership fees paid by patients or, sometimes, the patient’s employer. ·   Member/non-member pricing on services and retail products.
Patient fees cover extended visits, clinical, lab and consultative services, care coordination and comprehensive care management.		Membership fees cover an in-depth physical exam and screenings.		Membership fees include special pricing, In-Body use, direct phone line, etc
Practices rely solely on patient fees, not accepting insurance or participating in government programs.		May continue to accept insurance plans and government programs and bill patient’s insurance company for covered services.		Practice relies solely on patient fees, not accepting insurance or participating in government programs.
				·   Aesthetics, professional skincare ·   Hormone therapy ·   IV therapy ·   Osteopathic Manipulation Therapy ·   Traditional and compounding pharmacies
Many times these are single provider practices and not always physician led.			May not have provider (Physician or APP) on site. May only have Licensed Estheticians and not Master Estheticians.	·   Physician led ·   Team of licensed prescribers/providers (physician and NPs) ·   RNs with Emergency experience ·   Licensed Master Esthetician ·   Different approaches to primary care (Functional Med, Lifestyle Med, Osteopathy)