Dr. Rappaport's Functional Medicine practice is an outgrowth of the increasing need for natural healthcare solutions in Florida and beyond. Supporting the underlying imbalances with the goal of promoting wellness is Dr. Rappaport's mission.

Background

What is Dr. Rappaport's method and how is it different from other practitioners?

Dr. Rappaport practices a new model of natural healthcare, sometimes referred to as “Functional” or “Systems” medicine.

Instead of asking, “What drug matches up with this disease or symptom?” Dr. Rappaport asks the vital questions: “Why do you have this problem in the first place?” and “Why has function been lost?” and “What can we do to restore function?”

In order to find the root cause or mechanism involved with any loss of function, he often needs to go well above and beyond what the other doctors are doing and become a “health detective”.

His goal is to address the underlying causes of your health concerns by helping your entire body work better rather than only targeting individual symptoms.

Dr. Rappaport’s Method is a lab-based natural health protocol that tests and identifies the presence of dysfunction in various systems in the body. The lab tests are used to determine the required natural support needed to rebalance your body back to its normal state.

Natural support can include: botanical/herbal medicines, vitamin supplements, minerals, phytonutrients, antioxidants, enzymes, nutraceuticals and glandular extracts, as well as diet and lifestyle modification to address the root cause of poor health and to support our patient’s overall wellness.

What conditions does he help?

Dr. Rappaport’s Method addresses the 6 most common conditions that often do not respond well to standard medical treatments.

These chronic conditions are:

1. Inability to lose weight

2. Digestive issues

3. Fatigue

4. Anxiety

5. Depression

6. Hormone imbalances

These conditions can be very difficult for most doctors to help and often require a totally different approach to finding and correcting the underlying issues.

How long does it take to get results?

Results vary by each person. Some people feel dramatic improvement within the first month, others may take a bit longer. Our programs often take between 3 to 12 months to complete depending on the severity of your problem. Remember, your body didn’t fail overnight. Years of stress and illness takes its toll and it takes a proper amount of time to restore it back to optimal health.

Is Dr. Rappaport an MD?

Dr. Rappaport is not a medical doctor; he does not service medical emergencies, diagnose, treat or issue protocols for any specific diseases. If you have a medical emergency, you must contact your primary care physician or dial 911.

Dr. Rappaport is a licensed chiropractor who supports chemical, physical and emotional stress imbalances, with the goal of promoting wellness. Not just covering up symptoms.

Consultation Process

How can I see Dr. Rappaport?

Patients are seen either in person, via phone or virtual mediums like Skype. For those not being seen in Dr. Rappaport’s office, please realize there are limitations when not seeing the doctor in person. Due to these physical limitations, it is important that a patient has seen their primary care physician in person within the last year to rule out any disease pathologies as well assess any health issues that may be limited via a virtual assessment.

How does the initial consultation work?

The goal of the new patient consultation is to gather information about the patient as possible. This information may lead to additional lab testing and will help guide future diet, lifestyle, and supplement recommendations.

Dr. Rappaport will address the following during a new patient consultation:

1. What has worked and what hasn’t worked: To get a sense of what has worked in the past and what hasn’t worked in the past regarding previous practitioners and self-work. Our goal is to do more of what has worked and build from there. This information is also very meaningful in regards to coming up with a plan on how we move forward.

2. Complete metabolic history: To get a complete view of your metabolic history (Gut health, hormones, respiration, neurological etc). This can give us clues as to what direction we should head in. This also helps us prioritize diet, lifestyle, supplement and lab recommendations. Also, previous history from parents and relatives can provide very important information as well.

3. Diet and lifestyle history: To get a sense of your previous diet, movement, sleep and lifestyle habits. This gives us a starting point regarding how much support you may need in upcoming consultations. Many people may need additional follow-up support regarding diet and lifestyle until they can show the doctor a level of competence in these areas. Some patients may be doing great and need very little support. Our goal is to create a customized program that meets each patient where they are at.

4. Old labs: To review old labs (If any) to get a sense of what has been on the radar with previous doctors. We put more weight on more recent labs (within the last year) and of course any labs where values have been outside of the conventional lab ranges. Dr. Rappaport will review your labs from a conventional perspective but also interpret the labs through a functional/optimal health range perspective too.

5. New labs: Once we have gathered the information from above, we will be able to prioritize and recommend specific new functional medicine lab tests to help us assess the function of your body systems (e.g. hormones, gut/infections, and detoxification markers). These labs help provide us with more information, so we can get to the root cause of your health challenges. The more labs we can order up front (typically 1-4 labs based on your body systems), the better and faster we will be able to create a comprehensive strategy to begin helping you.

* Important Notes: Some patients may expect a full treatment program during the new patient consult, this is not possible as labs haven’t been ordered. Additional data may still be needed before that can happen. If patients have realistic expectations entering the new patient consultation, it allows us to work together better and increase our chances of achieving your health goals.

Because of the time it takes for him to prepare for your appointment, all paperwork and prior lab results must be in at least 72 hours prior to your appointment.

What types of lab tests are used?

Depending on what issues are being addressed, test can include saliva, urine, stool and blood. Saliva, urine and stool tests are completed at home with easy to use test kits. Blood tests may be run as needed from your local lab.

What laboratories does Dr. Rappaport use and why?

For those who would benefit from the standard battery of blood test, we use LabCorp and Quest.

However, most of Dr. Rappaport’s patients have already had a standard battery of lab tests done by previous doctors/hospitals and are still suffering in spite of those lab tests.

As part of being a “health detective”, Dr. Rappaport may need to take a deeper look into why you are having health challenges. In these cases, he uses specialty labs that look beyond what standard lab testing is designed to look for.

These specialty labs look for areas of dysfunction within the brain, hormones, digestion, immune system, detoxification pathways, and your body's energy production system.

Many times we see “normal” test results from standard labs while the specialized “functional” labs clearly show a number of problematic underlying issues. This often explains why patients have been told that nothing is wrong even though they still feel badly.

Can I purchase supplements from other companies than what Dr. Rappaport recommends?

Not all supplements are created equally. If we recommend a certain type or brand of supplement it is because we have found that it works. If you want to do your own research and purchase different supplements, it is important to understand that not all supplement ingredients are of equal quality and this may ultimately affect your results.

Can I order my own test kits through the laboratories or can my regular doctor order the lab tests for me?

For standard testing, your regular doctor can order tests for you.

If more specialized testing is needed, Dr. Rappaport uses highly specialized, independent labs that deal in the most modern diagnostic techniques to uncover functional problems. Larger national labs and local hospital based labs are not helpful for these types of highly specialized tests.

These labs tests should be ordered through Dr. Rappaport.

If the labs are sourced outside our clinic, a lab read fee of $25 per test will be charged.

How long does it take to get the lab results?

The results of your lab test(s) will be sent to Dr. Rappaport 2 to 4 weeks after mailing your specimens to the lab. After your results are in and evaluated, we will contact you to schedule a follow up appointment. At that time, he will review your results and recommend a wellness protocol.

Do I have to take all the recommended tests at once?

The number of labs recommended will depend on your individual situation including the number of issues you struggle with and the length of time you have been experiencing them, but the range is 1-4 lab tests.

All of our recommendations can be adjusted and consolidated to help meet the budget of the patient. Doing something is always better than nothing, creating a program where at least 1 test can be taken is a great starting point.

What is the best way to schedule an appointment with Dr. Rappaport?

The fastest and easiest way to schedule an appointment is to call our office at 561-369-0808.

Costs/Insurance

What is the cost for a new patient consultation?

New patient consultations with Dr. Rappaport are $225.

What is/are the cost of specialty labs?

It depends on how many test are recommended (typically 1-4) but we always recommend that if there are any budgetary concerns, clients start with their first test.

Body System 1 Test (Hormone System): Range between $100-$375.

Body System 2 Test (Digestion & Infections): Around $400

Body System 3 Test (Brain Neurotransmitters, Fatigue Indicators, Detoxification Markers, Nutrients Absorption): $440

Test recommendations are different for each client depending on their history and previous labs. Our recommendations are based on getting the optimal information depending on what the patient is dealing with healthwise.

What are the rates for follow up consultations?

All follow up consultations (For existing patients only) are billed in 15-minute blocks. 1-15 min: $45, 15-30 min: $90, 30-45 min: $135, 45-60 min: $180

*Follow up consultations will be billed for the actual time block used, not the time block you schedule. Many patients underestimate how much time is needed to address their concerns.

COMMUNICATION OUTSIDE OF SCHEDULED CONSULTS:

Many people now use email as a primary way to communicate with others. We appreciate that email can be a great way to ask a quick question or clarify something from your last visit. Yes or no questions are best with email correspondence. A question that doesn’t involve a back and forth dialogue that can be answered in 1-2 sentences is also acceptable.

We have found through experience, however, that email is often not the best way to deal with more treatment-oriented questions and decisions such as questions regarding your medical issues, changes in your symptoms, or complex requests. Instead, in these cases please schedule an appointment so Dr. Rappaport will have time set aside to directly hear and address your concerns. If there is no time available on the calendar for a troubleshoot consult, please email and call the office so we can find a time to squeeze you in.

Clarifications regarding current protocol instructions that can be addressed in a minute or two will be responded to free of charge. Any client inquiry that requires greater time will be subject to a minimum fee of $20 per episode.

If you have sent us an email and have not heard back from us after several days, please follow up with a phone call.

Does my new client consultation fee include follow ups, supplements or lab tests?

The new client consultation is an assessment of your health and recommendations on what tests are required to understand the state of your body systems. The new client consultation fee does not include any follow ups, test kits or supplements

Does Dr. Rappaport take insurance?

We do not bill insurance companies; it is up to each individual to determine whether their insurance plan provides reimbursement for consultations, supplements and lab tests. With certain labs we help facilitate the lab company billing the patient’s insurance. If there are any issues with the billing, it is the patient’s responsibility to contact the lab to address the matter.

How does Dr. Rappaport bill his clients?

The payment is due at the time of the consultation.

What type of payments do you accept?

Methods of payment are: Paypal, Visa, MasterCard, HSA, Flex-savings, Discover or debit card.

How much do the wellness programs cost after lab work?

Supplement recommendations can range between $50 to $400 per month. Supplements are recommended on a case by case basis depending on each patient’s individual body system lab testing.

The factors that can influence supplement recommendations also include the patient’s current diet, lifestyle, sleep, work and home stress. Other variables can include your age and how long you have been dealing with health challenges for.

Supplementation recommendation can also be adjusted according to a patient’s budget. The biggest issue is making sure expectations are managed. Patients currently dealing with more health challenges may require more supplementation to help accelerate their healing.

Realistic expectations help patients to be more compliant on their health journey. If a patient is currently dealing with massive stress (work or relationship stress) that can’t be avoided at the time, our goals may be more to prevent health decline than to actually heal and improve a persons health. Everyone’s at a different place in their health journey. Dr. Rappaport’s goal is to help meet a patient where they are on their personal journey.

Why was I charged a lab read fee?

If any labs are ordered outside of the office and brought for Dr. Rappaport to review, a lab read fee will be charged.

Late Fees:

A late fee of $5 per day will be applied to bills unpaid after 48 hours.

If you need to adjust your invoice, don’t worry you will not be charged any late fees as long as you let us know you need to make adjustments in the first 2 business days of receiving it. If you need to delay any of the products or labs (not including consults) we can break them up into separate invoices that can be paid at a later date of your choosing. Labs and supplements will ship once they have been paid.

We always waive late fees as a one time courtesy for new clients. When you read the invoice cover letter that goes out with every emailed invoice, the late fee policy is very transparent. The late fees start 2 business days after the consult and do not apply if you reach out back to the office in the first 2 business days to make any adjustments. If you have reached out to the office within 2 business days and received a late fee, just email us and we can waive it for you.

Cancellation Policy:

If you are unable to keep your scheduled appointment, please notify our office a minimum of 48 hours before your scheduled time or you may be charged for that appointment. Dr. Rappaport has patients waiting weeks to be seen, and a missed appointment takes time away from someone else.

Products/Shipping

What shipping method is used for my supplements?

Orders are shipped by regular USPS, or UPS ground unless faster delivery is requested. If requested, we can also send you the tracking number upon request.

What is the return policy on supplements and/or lab tests?

Pre-approval is required on all returns. Once approved we will provide instructions for the return process.
Refunds are given once products are returned and then inspected. Opened supplements, refrigerated supplements or special orders cannot be refunded.
Supplements (non-special order, unopened and non-refrigerated items) may be returned with a 10% restocking fee of the purchase price for store credit once products are returned.
All supplement returns must be requested within 30 days of the invoice date and returned no later than one week after the return window of 30 days.
Prepaid tests and lab read fees can be returned for credit within 30 days of the invoice date. Test kit must be returned no later than one week after the return window of 30 days for a 10% restocking fee. Non-returned test kits will not receive a refund.
The clinic is not responsible for issues with shipping as long as the products are sent to the address approved by the patient in the previous invoice. The patient is responsible to make arrangements with the delivery services if there is an issue with the package, this includes lost and stolen packages as well.

How often should I retest?

While retesting isn’t required, we may recommend that a client retest at the 3-6 month mark to measure improvement and adjust protocols if needed. Once a client has achieved their desired health results, we may recommend periodic testing to ensure your body systems continue functioning at their best.

How long are the wellness programs?

Initial programs range anywhere from 3-12 months depending on the degree of your health condition.

*All policies and procedures are subject to change. Any patient working with the clinic must adhere to all terms, policies, and procedures unless individual accommodations are made. If you have any questions please let the clinic know.

*Last updated 7/18.