If you do testing on your own, how do you interpret the results?

[tlkinser]

Hi everyone,

I am taking my son in for some testing this week and am starting to question whether or not I am going about this the right way. If I go with the environmental physician, it will cost us nearly $2500 for the tests I want. I think if I go on my own, it will be much less expensive. My question is, how will I interpret the results if I do this without the environmental dr? My father is retired but was in the clinical lab industry and has implied that $2500 is a lot of money for what I am having done. He wanted me to look deeper into the dr to make sure everything was/is legit. (To be fair, my father is a little leary about the entire holistic approach, however he wants the best for his grandson and is willing to support us no matter what we choose to do for ds.) I was under the impression that I was dealing with a board certified medical dr and now that I've looked him up, I see that he is a Naturopathic Doctor (N.D.) and a Masters of Science of Oriental Medicine (M.S.O.M). I'm sure he is great, has our best interest at heart, and will lead us in the right direction, but now my father has my wheels spinning. Should I try to get some of this testing done on my own or should I just stick with this guy that seems genuine and let him interpret the results for me?? For those of you who ordered the testing kits on your own, what did you do with the results once you received them?? We are wanting to test for everything: yeast, vitamins, amino acids, delayed foods, metals, etc. Urine, blood, saliva, hair and stool... I can't imagine trying to figure this all out without someone who knows what he/she is doing. Is it possible?? Will I save much money??

 

Thanks again for all of your help and input. It means more than you know.

 

tlk

[Guest]

Hi tlk,

 

Have you talked to anyone that's used this doctor before? In my opinion, there's doctors in all fields including MD's, DO's, N.D's, etc. that are in it just for the money. I've found that people who have used the doctor's are often a good source of knowing whether the doctor's a good doctor or not. I had one doctor that was truly in it just for the money. In the end, I found out that some of his patients consider him a saint and others have left him because of his overly high charges.

 

Does your doctor accept insurance and will he file insurance for the tests? My doctor files all insurance for me including testing. For example, I pay $22 for a urine toxic metals test which costs $119 from DirectLabs(you can order from them alone as you may already know & the results come in interpreted form). I do think it's good to have a doctor going over lab work with you because even though the results explain things, doctors can make suggestions about things seen in the results. $2500 for the lab work you mention seems expensive to me because I'm used to getting much of mine covered by insurance.

 

Carolyn

[Claire]

Carolyn hit on a big one. If you order the tests yourself, insurance won't cover it. If an MD orders it, they will. Unless you have an HMO and this isn't covered anyway.

 

Worth checking out.

 

Each lab typically sends an explanation of the results with the results. Some, like a vitamin deficiency, are potentially pretty straight forward. Others, like heavy metals, would be better addressed under guidance.

 

A good doctor is worth his or her weight in gold. Others can be a hindrance or worse. No matter what you do, trust your own instincts when it comes to 'treatments'.

 

We do some of our own testing now, but I still check with my son's doctor each year.

 

Good luck.

 

Claire

[tlkinser]

Thanks Claire and Carolyn for your input. This dr does take our insurance but we have a $6000 deductible with this out-of-network dr, so this would be out of pocket anyway. I got a good feeling about the dr and felt positive when I left there, but would rather save some money if possible. I wonder if my son's pediatrician would order any of these tests for us so our insurance will cover it?? He is pretty supportive of us, but I'm not sure how he would feel about all this. When I went for a quick visit last month and met with his Physician Assistant, I mentioned our upcoming appt with the environmental dr. She was very disapproving, told me to "be careful" because they can do some pretty extreme and dangerous procedures that don't work (chelation), and told me I should go back to the neurologist. I guess she is representative of most of the pediatricians there.

 

Anyway, I will keep reading and researching until Wed when we are scheduled for the blood work. I feel much better about having a dr guide me through this, but I just wish I could find one that my insurance will cover.

 

Thanks again,

tlk

[Guest]

Tlk,

 

What labs do you plan on using for the testing? Are they labs like LabCorp? Or Doctor's Data, Genova Diagnostics, Metametrix, Great Plains, or other labs? I suggest checking to see if the labs you plan on using are in-network or out-of-network. If they're labs such as the ones I listed above, you should have the option of sending payment with the test kit & filing your own insurance or have the lab file your insurance. In this case, it shouldn't matter if your doctor's in-network or out-of-network. On the other hand, I have the labs charge my doctor for the testing. Then my doctor goes through and files insurance with test procedure codes that are covered in-network. So if you're pediatrician is open to ordering the test, this might be workable to get them covered in-network. However, I'm guessing my doctor's (secretaries) have done quite a bit of work to figure out which diagnostic codes equals the amt. that the labs such as Doctor's Data, Genova Diagnostics, Great Plains, etc. charge. Once he receives my insurance payments, he pays the lab. Maybe it hasn't taken them much work to be able to file insurance this way, but it just seems like it would take quite a bit of work at first. This is the first time that I've ever had a doctor handle payment/insurance for these lab tests this way.

 

Carolyn

[faith]

I'm pretty sure any tests if ordered by a naturopathic doctor will not be covered. I beleive the doctor must be a "licensed" medical physician. You should call your insurance company to verify what type of testing is covered. I Even if you get a docs signature, there would have to be good reason to have the test or treatment, like tics or ts may not be an approved reason. It is complicated, but try and do the inquiries before your appointment. I did talk to our insurance to inquire and basically nothing by our naturo would be approved. However, some things the DAN type doctor did was covered, I never asked how, but I believe it was probably under the "allergy" umbrella because he is also an environmental allergist. But we only did blood testing with him and the allergy testing. If we were to do any metal testing or chelating, I think I would have to pay for that out of pocket.

 

My opinion is that if this is a doctor with a legitimate respected practice, well the 2500 dollars is alot, yes, but if really want to see where you stand on these issues, I don't think there is any other way, mainstream doctors are not into this stuff. Personally, I would love to get more testing for my son, we are still working off of the food and environmental allergies testing, and we did the urine challenge for metals, and our naturo looked over the blood testing done by the DAN doc. Somewhere along the line I am going to look into more things, but just taking it one step at a time. ..... I guess I'll have to sacrifice the botox for myself!!

 

Good luck,

Faith