Frequently asked questions
What is functional medicine?
Functional medicine is an approach to health that considers lifestyle, environmental exposures, and genetic factors to evaluate and treat the whole person. This approach helps with disease prevention and treatment. Dr. Rowley is a highly-skilled, functional medicine doctor and board-certified family medicine physician. She and her team:
- Address the root causes of your symptoms with specific nutritional ad lifestyle recommendations
- Order and interpret advanced and conventional lab tests when needed
- Prescribe supplements
- Prescribe medications only if you need them
Family Medicine physicians, like Dr. Rowley, complete at least 7 years of medical training before functional medicine training, so you can trust the KALE Functional Medicine team with your care.
Who can benefit from functional medicine?
Everybody can benefit from functional medicine! If you’re well, a functional medicine approach can help with the optimization of your health and disease prevention. If you’re not well, then a functional medicine doctor can help restore your health. Common health problems functional medicine can effectively address include:
- Autoimmune disease
- Gut health (including leaky gut, gut dysbiosis, GERD, and more)
- Asthma and allergies
- Eczema
- Thyroid problems
- Hormone imbalance
- Chronic fatigue, and many more
Rather than treating a disease, Functional Medicine re-creates health. A disease is named based on a set of symptoms and Functional Medicine doctors focus on identifying and correcting the cause of those symptoms. The KALE Functional Medicine team offers a consultation and health assessment to assess triggers that contribute to undesirable symptoms.
Which functional medicine treatment is right for me?
Your personalized functional medicine treatment depends on your lifestyle, genetics, medical history, results from lab tests, levels of inflammation, food sensitivities, and chronic disease risk factors. Your functional medicine specialist might recommend:
- Personalized therapeutic diets
- Exercise and movement
- Supplements
- Stress-relieving strategies
- Detox protocols
- Bioidentical hormone therapy
- Tips for improved sleep
- Spiritual or mind-body techniques
- Medications only when necessary
After treatment, your provider follows up with you in-person or via telemedicine, depending on your preference. They repeat diagnostic tests when necessary, discuss your symptoms and any challenges to implementing your program, and make sure your treatment is effective.
Dr. Rowley adjusts your treatment plan whenever necessary. If you need conventional medication to get your illness controlled, she can prescribe medication or can refer you to highly qualified specialists when needed.
Don’t let disease diminish your quality of life when effective, holistic treatments are available at KALE Functional Medicine. Schedule a consultation over the phone by speaking with a friendly team member today to request an appointment.
How to prepare for my initial appointment?
We ask that patients complete all intake forms and consents at least 2 business days prior to their first appointment. This allows your provider adequate time to review your case history to ensure your first visit is as impactful as possible.
How long is the first appointment vs. follow-up visits?
Your first visit is one hour long. Subsequent follow-up appointments are generally 30 minutes.
What happens during the first appointment?
Before appointments at KALE Functional Medicine, patients fill out a Root Cause Analysis form to dive deep into your medical history and establish a starting point for your medical evaluation. This form reviews your family and personal medical history, symptoms, past diagnoses, toxic exposures, major life events, current lifestyle, supplements and medications. This is essential to effective treatment and helps prevent you from forgetting to tell the doctor something you wanted her to know. During the appointment, the doctor will give insights into how you arrived at your current state of health.
Dr. Rowley also completes a comprehensive physical exam during the first visit. She may recommend urine tests, blood tests, or other diagnostic tests as needed. She will never recommend costly tests that she does not think you need. Finally, you will get a customized treatment plan including recommendations for your diet and nutrition, exercise, stress-management, supplements, necessary detox protocols and more.
How often will I need follow-up appointments?
This depends on your medical needs and the treatment plan determined by your provider. Typically, healthy patients should return once or twice a year, depending on their individual needs.
Can I contact you with questions in between appointments?
Yes, for non-urgent questions, please contact us through our website. You can also reach the office by telephone at (713) 660-6620
Do you accept ongoing/continuity patients?
Yes, we believe in building long-term relationships with our patients to provide ongoing support and continuity of care throughout their health journey.
Do you offer virtual/telemedicine appointments?
Yes, we offer virtual appointments for both new and existing patients, making our services accessible to those who live outside the area or prefer to meet remotely.
How do I make, cancel, or reschedule my appointment?
You can manage your appointments by calling our office at (713) 660-6620 or by logging into the patient portal on our website.
What is your cancellation policy?
We require at least 48 hours’ notice for any cancellations or rescheduling of appointments. Cancellations made with less than 48 hours’ notice may be subject to a cancellation fee.
What are your office hours?
Our office is open Monday through Friday, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. We are closed on major holidays.
Do you take insurance?
At our clinic, we are dedicated to providing you with comprehensive, personalized care that goes beyond the constraints of conventional medical practices. To ensure that we can offer this high level of care, please note that we do not accept insurance. This decision helps us focus more on your health needs without the limitations often imposed by insurance plans.
However, you can use Health Savings Accounts (HSA) or Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) for purchasing supplements. Additionally, while we do not directly deal with insurance companies, we can provide you with the necessary documentation for labs conducted through CPL, Quest, and Lab Corp, which you can submit to your insurance for potential reimbursement on your own behalf.
This approach allows us to dedicate our efforts fully to your health and wellness, unimpeded by the restrictions of traditional insurance coverage. Thank you for understanding and supporting this aspect of our care delivery model.
What forms of payment do you accept?
We accept all major credit cards, as well as payments from Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA).
What types of lab tests do you use?
We use a variety of advanced diagnostic tests from specialized labs, which can include blood, saliva, urine, and stool testing. These tests help us assess everything from nutritional deficiencies and hormone levels to gut health and genetic markers.
Do you work with international patients?
Yes, we are able to work with international patients through our virtual/telemedicine platform.
Can you prescribe medications if needed?
Yes, our licensed medical providers can prescribe conventional medications when they are a necessary part of your treatment plan, alongside nutritional, supplemental, and lifestyle interventions.
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