Sick and tired of being sick and tired?
Not sure where to go for help?
We will get to the root cause
of your problems
Chronic diseases are the leading cause of death and disability in the United States.
- 133 million Americans – 45% of the population – have at least one chronic disease
- Chronic diseases are responsible for 7 out of every 10 deaths in the U.S.
- People with chronic conditions are the most frequent users of health care in the U.S.
These are pretty dismal and disappointing stats. We are spending more and more on “healthcare,” yet we are getting sicker by the day. The U.S. is not even in the top 10 of the world's healthiest countries, yet we spend the most amount of money. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out we are doing something wrong.
Lack of medication does not lead to sickness,
thus, medication won’t fix the majority of our
illnesses and dysfunctions.
Symptoms are our body's way of telling us something is wrong.
“My advice is to not cover up the body's
means of communication (symptoms),
but to look at the root causes and fix those.”
Integrated Functional Medicine looks to get at the root causes of disease and illness by addressing each person individually. Each patient will go through a very thorough history and physical exam (our patients always spend an hour with the doctor). The history and exam will then guide us to which functional testing should be performed. By combining the individual patients history, physical examination and functional medicine testing this will guide us in the treatment protocol for that individual.
Take a Look at our FAQ section below. It may answer many of the burning questions you have about health, our practice, and if we can help you.
I’ll be honest, not every patient needs every aspect of what a functional medicine physician can do. But, everyone does need many of the aspects of what we do.
Let me explain.
Functional medicine is rooted in the fact that disease and illness has a cause. Occasionally someone gets some unexplainable disease, but the majority of the time there is a reason for someone getting something. One doesn’t catch diabetes or cancer. They develop it. Functional medicine looks to find the cause of the disease or illness and remove or fix it, thus eliminating the cause and fixing the persons ills. This approach really is the future of healthcare. It is very effective for chronic disease cases or those within to optimize health.
However, for those that are looking for an alternative natural form of healthcare for a more acute need, the full functional approach may not be needed. Thats why we also practice what some call alternative medicine, holistic medicine, naturopathy, naturopathic, integrative medicine, natural medicine etc.
What is need from the functional medicine approach that not all alternative, natural, or holistic doctors use is the need for evidence based care. Evidence based care means that treatments are proven effective, safe, and most importantly, not harmful. This is the basis of our practice. Everything is evidence based.
Unfortunately, most “natural” doctors don’t practice this way and
often use methods that are questionable at best.
Alternative Medicine - Any of a range of medical therapies that are not regarded as orthodox by the medical profession, such as herbalism, homeopathy, and acupuncture. This term is a fairly all inclusive definition and can include anything from crystals, reiki, voodoo, etc. Basically as long as its not medications, surgery, or something taught in traditional medical school, its alternative. As a general rule is doesn’t mean much and many laypersons can also use this term. Be careful!
Integrative Medicine - Healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person, including all aspects of lifestyle. With integrative medicine generally we are still talking about alternative medicine practices. The main difference is that now we are beginning the look at how all aspects of the body work together and how one system can affect another system. In my experience, this type of practice is generally on in which a few different types of doctors work together in the same office to provide care to one patient. An example may be an office with a doctor of chiropractic, acupuncturist, herbalist, physical therapist, osteopathic doctor or any combination of those.
Chinese medicine - A healing system developed in China more than 2,000 years ago, incorporating therapies that are in some cases millennia older. One of its guiding principles is to "dispel evil and support the good. Generally performed by a practitioner that has learned from older teachers and passed down from generation to generation. It may include herbs, roots and many times the practitioners are also acupuncturists. This form of medicine is generally rooted in traditions.
Ayurvedic medicine - One of the world's oldest holistic (whole-body) healing systems. It was developed thousands of years ago in India. It is based on the belief that health and wellness depend on a delicate balance between the mind, body, and spirit. In my experience this is similar to chances medicine. Like the chinese medicine some of the practices may or may not be efficacious and/or harmful.
naturopathic “natural” medicine - Naturopathic medicine refers to an approach to treating people, and tends to favor natural and low-force interventions. Treatment guidelines generally follow what they call they therapeutic order. Naturopathic doctors are currently licensed in only 16 states and many times it is easy for anyone to call themselves a naturopath.
Functional Healthcare - Functional healthcare was explained in the previous faq, and it is explained many times over throughout the website. I would like to reiterate that the form we practice I like to refer to as Integrative functional medicine. I would explain it as being all of the previous forms of “alternative” healthcare rolled into one, mixed with a bunch of research, evidence based care, and scientific evidence. In todays day and age with all the research and technology available to us, we can pretty much see or measure anything we want to in the body.
If its not evidence based healthcare, its not healthcare.
1) It is a pain in the butt and the amount that they pay does not make it financially feasible.
2) Insurance doesn’t cover the necessary time spent with each patient.
3) Did I mention it’s a pain in the butt?
4) I am blessed enough to have a busy enough practice that I don’t have to take insurance.
To help you bill your insurance for your visits we will (upon request) proud you with what is called a “superbill”. This is basically an itemized statement with all the ICD10 diagnosis codes and CPT procedure codes. You can submit this to your insurance company for reimbursement.
Some of the most common insurance companies patients are able to to do this with include Blue Cross, Blue Shield, United Healthcare, Aetna, Cigna, and some others. I can never guarantee if and how much an insurance company will decide to reimburse.
Many doctors will address sickness only within that specific function of the body, and not address its myriad other systems. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. We must always evaluate how one reaction may have a beneficial or detrimental reaction somewhere else in the body. The body is not a closed set of systems; it is multiple systems working in concert.
The body is very adaptable and able to compensate for many different things for a long time. However, after so long the body is no longer able to adapt.
At this point, the body, mind, and/or soul become sick.
Premier IFM - Integrative Functional Medicine Center
Dr. Craig Mortensen
151 N. Kraemer Blvd., #115
Placentia, CA 92870
1-(833) Dr-Craig
1-833-372-7244
Fax 1-833-372-7244
Toll Free 1-(833) Dr-Craig (372-7244)