Hello and Happy Holiday season to all of you!
I wanted to remind everyone that the office is completely closed from December 24 through January 2, 2025, and we will re-open January 3, 2025.
Completely closed means even if you forgot to look at your refills before we closed, and you now realize you need something. This happens every year and while it is only a handful of people, it is disruptive to us taking time off with our families and it also isn’t fair to the vast majority of our patients (>95%) who understand and respect this annual closing.
Please look to check if you need a refill or to be seen for something before the closing date and we will be happy to accommodate you. The three of us otherwise keep the practice open and running 24/7 the other 352 days of the year.
For 2025, we will likely be hiring a new physician in the Libertyville office as we have had a waitlist there for some time and we would like to accommodate more people. The practice is > 98% full so if you refer someone that you personally know, please let one of us know as we do give priority to those new patients.
The supplement store and product rental library will be open in 2025. The supplement store will be a place to access brands I use and trust for specific health concerns or health optimization. One of our core values is cost transparency and not profiting from medications and supplements. We value you as a patient and value our relationship and want to pass along these significant cost savings to you. I also personally don’t feel it is ethical in medicine to profit from things that I am recommending. There is an inherent conflict of interest when profit is tied to recommendations. Please know that if I recommend something, it is because I believe it is useful or helpful to you and not because it is revenue stream. I also want some of these pricier supplements or devices to be accessible to all patients, regardless of income level. We are able to pass on these savings so that you all have access to quality products and medications. We prefer to profit from our knowledge, not our sales.
To that end, we have all continued to greatly expand our knowledge. Here is a short list of things we have used our Thursday education time for in 2024:
Laura went and got a whole dang Masters degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (with an emphasis on trauma and crisis)- all while working full time at Medlogic and busting her tushy. She has always been a mental health advocate for our patients. Heck, she’s been my mental health advocate when I’m losing my mind (usually about once a week). She choose to get formalized training in an area she loves and is proud to offer those services to our patients or other referrals. She is able to see patients for cash pay or with Medicaid at this time while she finishes up her final hours of practicum. She will remain in her practice manager/mother hen role to us at Medlogic as well (or I would have both trauma and be in crisis).
Michele continues to grow her aesthetics practice and knowledge and has taken advanced trainings in IV infusion therapy, hydrofacials, Emsella and Emsculpt, and Lymphatic massage. She took extra time in 2024 to focus on family and is looking forward to a great 2025 with Medlogic and Elevation Health (www.ElevationHealthKenosha.com)
I have also continued to “nerd out” on all things longevity and functional medicine. I have taken courses this year on Peptide therapy, exosome therapy, functional dermatology, nutrition and hormone replacement therapy. I finished up a two-year program on using psychedelics for mental health. I am in a current year long immunology and autoimmune course. I continue to practice with a functional medicine approach – to treat the root cause so that continued medication is no longer needed where possible and appropriate and to restore baseline health. For those of you who know me, you know that I am fairly anti-establishment and do not find value in getting a lengthy list of certifications or more letters after my name in exchanging for courses that are no more than “check the box and write a check”. That is why I was happy to be a founding member of CFIP- College of Function and Integrative Medicine Physicians which is a physician led and driven organization. I feel like I can meaningfully continue to advance this field of medicine with this organization.
Other health news- have you ever had that one friend that bought a stock when no one cared about it and is now wealthy beyond measure? That’s how we all feel about the DPC movement and you all being members in our practice. Medicine was bad when we left in 2016 and it’s worse now. I feel for our Primary Care colleagues that are dependent on third party payers, dealing with endless insurance denials and pharmacy benefit managers. They should be spending their time with you- the patient- not on the phone 18 times to get one medication approved. Healthcare “out there” is pretty bad, and we are so grateful that you are all “in here” with us doing the direct primary care thing. We love the price transparency, longer visits, and knowing you personally. We don’t miss the useless EMR clicks, “Clicking for dollars” is what I used to call it. We don’t miss the intrusion of privacy and data sharing, and we certainly aren’t missing the EMR cyberattacks on patient private health information. The dark web is teeming with goodies taken from large health system attacks this year. We plan to continue offering good primary care and learning as much as we can on your behalf. We are truly grateful that you are our patients, and we wish you all a Merry 2025.
With kindness,
Jill Green MD