TRANSFORMING PRIMARY CARE
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Back in 2008, when Dr. Horvitz founded the Institute for Medical Wellness (IMW), the goal was to provide you the care you need and deserve, regardless of the dysfunctional healthcare system that has and is still evolving. Dr. Horvitz wanted a practice that was based more on Well-Care than Sick-Care. Based on this premise, the IMW was born. Here is how it has evolved and is still evolving.
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While the Institute for Medical Wellness began as a Traditional Direct Primary Care practice, as the Healthcare System has changed, so has the Institute for Medical Wellness. One aspect where the Traditional Healthcare System does a good job is evaluating Acute and Urgent Care health situations. I say all the time that I believe we have the best Urgent and Emergent care in the world. But, it is the preventative care that is sorely lacking in the Traditional system. Their focus on metrics and outdated protocols that do not keep up with all the new thoughts and advancements in care has, again in my opinion, left the Traditional system as not the best place to get your Wellness and Preventative Care. The Traditional System has been said to trap patients in a cycle of disease whereby instead of looking for root cause mechanistic causes and cures, they instead "band-aid" a treatment plan that becomes a treatment for life, usually with use of pharmaceuticals that control the "markers" of the disease process, but never get to the root cause of the issue. One example is High Blood Pressure. The Traditional System will prescribe you a blood pressure medication for life, but I ask,
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"Did that med fix the root cause of your High Blood Pressure?"
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Do not try this at home, but what if you stopped the blood pressure medication without dealing with and fixing the root cause? I would predict your blood pressure would rise again. So ask yourself, "Did that medication actually fix the root cause of the high blood pressure?" I would say, I don't think so. Do you?
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The Institute for Medical Wellness has a different approach.
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We will work with you as an individual to help you reverse your Chronic Disease thru testing, biomarkers and ROOT CAUSE health systems based analysis/treatment while rebalancing your Metabolism, Gut, Nutritional, Hormonal and Immune Systems.
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We will incorporate as needed Traditional and Functional/Holistic options to help you improve your health and wellness while working to reverse your chronic disease.
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Relationship Based Care:
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Having a good trusting relationship with your family physician is of utmost importance. The IMW and Direct Primary Care (DPC) system allows for everyone involved at the IMW to get to know each other very well.
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Benefits of IMW:
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Longer appointments/time with Dr. Horvitz - Appointments average 20-60 minutes
Less waiting time- We do not overbook or double book appointments.
Both In-Office and Virtual visits are available.
Two days a week of in-office lab draws for patients of the Institute for Medical Wellness
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At the IMW we do not try to hide from you or make it difficult to reach us. Instead we provide many different types of communication including in-office consultations, telephone consults, as well as secure patient portal email and text messages via the Spruce app.
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Focus on Wellness and Prevention:
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Most traditional primary care offices are so inundated with Sick visits, that they are not fun places to visit. They are usually overcrowded and often understaffed, which leads to difficulty getting an appointment for Well-Care. This is NOT a shot at my colleagues. I do not fault them. It is a shot at the traditional healthcare system that has evolved to be a system beholden more to insurer, government and corporate interests, than to you, the individual. But one thing they do well when available is to evaluate sick care in a Traditional sense. While I may not have been a fan of Urgent Cares when they first came to be, I now often refer people there for initial sick care evaluations. After that evaluation my patients then contact me for further evaluation/treatment especially for more Functional/Holistic approaches to their treatment AND discussions on how to possibly avoid getting sick again in the future.
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New patients over the past few years have been asked to either have a Traditional primary doc or Urgent Care to handle the acute issues, and the Institute for Medical Wellness then serves as a Virtual back up for these issues and guide you through both the Traditional and Non-Traditional holistic/functional treatment options.
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Our central focus on Functional Wellness and Reversal of Chronic Diseases has moved the Institute for Medical Wellness towards what I believe true Primary Care should be. If we truly want to provide improved care while reducing the cost of that care, we need an improved focus on truly preventing chronic disease, and I believe that is where Functional medical thought is leading the way!
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At the IMW, we do things different. Our primary focus is on you, the individual. Our mission is to help you learn how to best remain healthy and free of chronic disease processes so that you can lead a long, healthy, happy and productive life. Since we do not contract with insurers or third parties, we are not beholden to anyone but you!
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Nutrition and Lifestyle:
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Dr. Horvitz puts a strong emphasis on nutrition and lifestyle. While Dr. Horvitz believes there is a primary foundation of healthy nutrition and lifestyle, he also realizes there are many differences and everyone is unique. Dr. Horvitz uses your Annual Wellness exam and Advanced Wellness Testing (AWT) to guide him to proper nutrition and lifestyle advice individualized for you. Dr. Horvitz has a goal in mind. This goal is to help you become or remain healthy without using medications, or at least as few medications as possible. Dr. Horvitz has had great success over the years helping many people discontinue medications once they fixed their nutrition and lifestyle. Deprescribing medications once you learn how to fix your health issues via nutrition and lifestyle is one of Dr. Horvitz's favorites.
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Functional/Holistic Care:
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In 2019, Dr. Horvitz completed a fellowship in Anti-Aging and Functional Medicine. Prior to this formal training, Dr. Horvitz had been practicing a blend of Traditional and Holistic care since 1994. However the formal Functional training has allowed Dr. Horvitz to utilize even more avenues of treatment outside of traditional care. So at the IMW, we can help you with either Traditional or Functional approaches to your health. It's not one or the other. It's both, with a slight edge to Functional care for reversal of chronic disease.
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What should you expect from your physician?
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Compromise is a word that should never be associated with your personal healthcare. Yet many patients today have been forced to compromise when it comes to their care. In recent years, the focus of healthcare has become centered on a system rather than the person. The result: hurried, impersonal office visits, lack of accessibility, and a lower standard of care. This shift has alienated both patient and doctor. Like my father, I entered the medical field with a passion and commitment to provide comprehensive, quality care. But, policies and procedures have threatened to compromise my ability to offer the high standards and attention I believe my patients have a right to expect. The Institute for Medical Wellness is dedicated to your health and well-being – not quotas and administrative regulations. Here you can expect to be greeted with a warm smile, and an open mind. The Institute for Medical Wellness is your personal medical home.
Finally, a family practice where the emphasis is on YOU!
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