At first glance, this might seem like a very arrogant and self-serving topic for us to consider discussing! Back to Function, the healthcare office of the future? Please let me explain why I believe whole-heartedly that this is the truth.

First, let’s discuss what is happening in the healthcare system in the U.S. today. Less students are going into healthcare-related fields. The reimbursement for doctors participating in the U.S. health insurance system has been declining since the 1990s, with the creation of managed healthcare. Doctors working in the health insurance system are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with how little time they can spend with patients (average of 12 minutes per visit in 2017) and increasing paperwork to receive relatively small reimbursements. In his book, Unconventional Medicine, Chris Kresser discusses what he believes is the major reason that the U.S. healthcare industry is destined to fail. He states that the health insurance companies have misaligned incentives. The goals of insurance companies are not aligned with patient needs, nor with doctors’ needs. Insurance companies profit when healthcare expenditures grow. Because of this, there’s little motivation for insurance companies to embrace treatments that would ultimately shrink spending on healthcare. And there’s little incentive for doctors, hospitals, or other providers to prioritize quality, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness in their approach.

Maybe even more important than the health insurance misaligned incentives issue, Mr. Kresser states they are three much deeper reasons that healthcare around the world is doomed to fail.

1. Our modern diet and lifestyle are out of alignment with our genes and biology. For most of evolutionary history, humans ate primarily meat and fish, wild fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some starchy plants and tubers. Nobody ate processed food. There was no refined sugar, flour or seed oil. We went from a diet that was naturally anti-inflammatory, high in nutrients, and low in calories, to one that is pro-inflammatory, low in nutrients, and high in calories. This disparity is creating chronic pain, sickness and dysfunction in our society.
2. Our medical paradigm is not well-suited to tackle chronic disease. Conventional medicine is structured to address trauma, acute infection, and end-of-life care, not to keep people healthy. If you’re in a car crash and break your leg, the medical system is great to help you get your leg x-rayed, get your bones reset and get a cast on your leg so that it will heal properly. But most of us are using the healthcare system for less acute and more chronic conditions, and we can be frustrated by the lack of results.
3. Our model for delivering care doesn’t support the interventions that would have the biggest impact on preventing and reversing chronic disease. At one time, it seemed that genetics would hold the key to solving chronic disease. Recent studies have found that the majority of the risk of chronic disease is not genetic, but environmental and behavioral. Our genes do play a role in determining which diseases we’re predisposed to developing, but the choices we make about diet, physical activity, sleep, stress management, and other lifestyle factors are far more important determinants of our health.

If this U.S. healthcare crisis is real, then there is a need for healthcare facilities that operate outside the status quo. Patients need doctors that can spend time with them and help them make real changes in their behavior and lifestyle. It’s not enough to just tell a client to improve their posture, rearrange their workstation, eat healthier and exercise more. As doctors, we need to show them how to do it right! Enter Back to Function (BTF).

We are an out-of-network provider for most health insurance companies. Sometimes, prospective new patients are disappointed that we “don’t take” their insurance. What they don’t realize, is this means we’re not bound by their insurance companies rules on how many times you can see us and we don’t have to do copious amounts of paperwork in order to get less than fair reimbursements for the hard work that we will put into your case in order to get you to feel, recover and perform better. At BTF, we are focused on what is referred to as a high touch approach. This means that we strive to offer a higher level of service to clients. We talk with clients , listen to them, learn about their backgrounds, and provide a level of connection and support that we know is therapeutic itself. As a result of our BTF providers not being “in network” insurance providers, we can put in an adequate amount of time to give you the care you deserve. This means that you might have to pay more initially for your care, but since we can now put more time into each of your visits, you will get results faster and the results you get will be more effective and permanent. This should actually save you money in the long-term!

What really makes BTF different?

         BTF Fitness Studio

At BTF, we have dedicated ourselves to being the best at what we do. We have to be better than our competition in order to be able to operate “outside the system”. Our first line of treatment for many clients that visit our facility is our unique hands-on approach. We take great pride in working as a team of providers to deliver an accurate diagnosis and the best therapeutic treatment for that diagnosis. Our group of providers can offer the following services to get you to feel, recover and perform better:

• chiropractic adjusting (we take great pride on being the safest & best adjustors in the business
• soft tissue therapy (including 2 credentialed Active Release Technique doctors, 1 Stecco myofascial therapist & 2 functional range release therapists)
• postural restoration therapy (one of only 2 certified postural restoration experts in California)
• rehabilitation experts (including dynamic neuromuscular stabilization, functional range conditioning, reflex performance reset & ELDOA)
• reformer Pilates taught by a certified instructor
• fitness training with doctors that are certified strength & conditioning specialists
• nutritional consultation for weight loss, lean body mass gain and health promotion
• blood work to detect your genetic propensity for certain diseases and current health status
• shockwave, electrical muscle stimulation & pneumatic leg compression

You can see by this partial list of treatment and exercise options, that the BTF providers are able to provide the highest level of therapeutic and functional care possible. If you’re ready to make real changes for this new year, you need to hire the best healthcare coaches to help you achieve your goals. Give us a call at 310-534-1900 or email [email protected] and set up a free consultation with one of our BTF doctors today!