Patient Resources
Here you’ll find information about what to expect during your first visit, new patient forms and payment information, tips on selecting a regenerative physician, and a link to our Metagenics nutritional supplement store.
How to Choose a Regenerative Physician
Not all regenerative practices provide the same level of care. If you’re evaluating different physicians, here are some good questions to ask.
Is the person selling the interventional orthopedic and orthobiologic medicine able to perform the treatment?
If you went to an evening seminar on interventional orthopedic and orthobiologic medicine and the person lecturing is not able to perform the treatment, keep looking. Find doctors who perform interventional orthopedic and orthobiologic medicine as their sole profession. These doctors are licensed and have the highly specialized qualifications and training to diagnose, manage, and treat using interventional orthopedic and orthobiologic medicines.
Ask them to describe interventional orthopedic and orthobiologic medicine.
If doctors can’t immediately give an all-day talk about interventional orthopedic and orthobiologic medicine to the point that your eyes glaze over, move on. Well-trained regenerative physicians are wildly excited about this type of medicine. They have a passion for it, and it’s obvious.
Ask how you know what you are getting.
Cell counts are extremely important in orthobiologic medicine. Without knowing the numbers of cells a practitioner is putting into your body, you cannot reliably repeat or know if you are receiving the therapeutic threshold needed to create positive therapeutic benefit. Cell counting is a reliable, easy way to do this. It helps us tailor treatments to unique conditions.
Ask about current FDA guidelines for proper protocols.
If a doctor uses anything from a vial that gets injected into your body, he or she should understand the regulatory pathways for those products. There is a great deal of misinformation in the marketplace, so practitioners need to rely on standard FDA guidelines. Interventional orthopedic and orthobiologic medicine practitioners should have an incredible depth of knowledge about FDA regulations. Practitioners must take the time to review, understand and be able to safely implement standards that are allowed per the FDA.
Ask how outcomes are tracked.
Data tracking analytic software is becoming the standard of care and should be used in every interventional orthopedic and orthobiologic medicine clinic for better outcome studies. This helps build a database showing how well treatments work across the field AND it helps the doctor track individual improvements. It also allows small specialty clinics like ours to partake in research, which is the future of our field.
Ask what kind of image guidance is used.
The two main forms of guidance are Fluoroscopy and Musculoskeletal ultrasound sonography. Some type of ultrasound assistance should be used in almost all regenerative injection therapies to help diagnose and locate the exact spot where injections should be administered. If a physician isn’t using some sort of guidance, he or she should have decades of hands-on experience using more traditional regenerative injection procedures.
What kind of training is required for regenerative procedures?
There are only a couple of residencies and mentorship-based programs available in the U.S. Most of them are within the Naturopathic profession while others are highly exclusive and/or solely for franchise-based practitioners. Physicians should spend a few years in a fellowship, residency, or mentorship to practice regenerative procedures and have a greater-than-average understanding of general orthopedic medicine after receiving their traditional medical degree and credentials.
What to Expect on Your First Visit
Before your first visit, we ask that you complete our new patient forms and gather all of your pertinent records and any imaging reports or DVDs. Bring those with you on your first visit!
A first office visit lasts approximately 1.5 hours and includes a review of your intake forms, any imaging you brought, and a history of your condition. We’ll discuss the medical condition for which you are seeking care.
Next we’ll perform a focused exam followed by a thorough musculoskeletal diagnostic ultrasound exam. If labs or further imaging is required, we will perform those prior to giving any recommendations for care. Once we have reviewed your case, we’ll make recommendations and schedule your treatment.
Our goal is to provide the best evidence-informed and science-based medicine to treat our patients. We believe that taking the time to educate and empower you with knowledge about your condition will help give you the best results possible. Your condition is yours to control; it should never be a mystery! The right knowledge and understanding can help you take back your life.
Payments
Since interventional orthopedic and orthobiologic medicine is not typically a covered specialty, NW Regen is a cash-pay practice. We are not preferred providers with any insurance company and we do not accept Med-Pay or accident insurance.
We DO provide you with super bills that contain a breakdown of procedures performed, all diagnostic coding, and any documentation you may need to submit to your insurance provider. We do not guarantee our services will be reimbursed, but our helpful staff is available to guide you through the process of submitting claims to your insurance provider.