December 2020 Updates

To Our Patients,

As we approach the end of 2020, we wanted to take the time to extend a note about changes at IHM. We are growing and adapting, and we have some big announcements on how we intend to bring even more quality healthcare to East Texas.

Provider Updates

It is with sadness that we announce that Dr. Adrienne Carmack is stepping away from clinical medicine. We are all facing challenges these days, and she is moving towards a career that will allow her to best meet new and urgent needs in her family. Dr. Carmack says, “It has been an absolute honor to work with every single patient at IHM, and you will be deeply missed. I leave with full confidence that IHM is on a path to serve more people than ever, knowing that we have built a wonderful team who can serve the functional and regenerative medicine needs of East Texans.” Dr. Carmack remains available for patient care through December 29, 2020, and will not be seeing patients after that time. All of your medical records will remain at Integrative Health Matters and can be obtained by calling 903-595-8077. You may continue to seek care at IHM or have your records transferred to another provider of your choosing.

We are extremely excited to announce that Dr. Carmen Keith will step in as our new medical director. Many of you know her already; she is a board-certified pain management physician and anesthesiologist and is a certified practitioner at the Institute for Functional Medicine. She has been working part-time at IHM, providing pain management and regenerative options for our patients, and she is thrilled to be stepping into a full-time role with IHM. In addition to functional medicine, hormones, and pain, Dr. Keith will be overseeing the sexual rejuvenation program along with Brad Fisher. Visits may be scheduled with Dr. Keith starting December 1, 2020.

Dr. Kevin May will be stepping into an administrative supervising role at IHM as well. He has taken an exciting patient care position at the Department of Veterans Affairs at the Tyler Clinic, and will be focusing on the new VA initiative including a more integrative approach to health care. He is looking forward to further developing that model similar to what we have embraced at IHM. Though Dr. May will continue working with Dr. Keith and Brad Fisher at IHM, he will no longer be seeing patients at IHM as of January 1, 2021. If you do not wish to transfer your care to another IHM provider, please contact our office to request your medical records be sent to another provider of your choosing.

We are also thrilled to announce that our lead clinical nurse, Brad Fisher, will soon be graduating from nurse practitioner school! Brad is looking forward to delivering high quality care to our patients. Brad will see patients with both chronic and acute needs. Dr. May will be helping Brad, as our new nurse practitioner, and Dr. Keith, by continuing to provide guidance and expertise in internal medicine.

Many of you have met with Alexis Ormes, ND, for health and wellness consultations. We are immensely grateful that so many are benefitting from the expertise she brings from her extensive training in naturopathic medicine at Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington. If you have yet to meet Alexis Ormes, ND, please do not hesitate to call our office to schedule an appointment with her.

Insurance Updates

We are extremely pleased to announce that we will now be accepting Medicare! Since coronavirus, Medicare is paying for more preventive and wellness services than ever. We love our Medicare patients and hope to bring you even more care. We will continue to provide a full spectrum of functional medicine services, but we will begin billing Medicare for any covered services. Members who have Medicare will no longer be charged for membership effective December 1, 2020. At this time, we can only bill for those on traditional Medicare. We are not yet able to bill Medicare for those on Medicare Advantage plans, but we are in the process of gaining this approval.

We are also working on accepting most major insurances. We do not know when these will come in, but as they do, we will make announcements.

With Medicare being accepted now, and other insurances in the future, our membership model is changing. Rather than the membership including provider visits which are covered by Medicare and insurance, the membership will offer discounts on non-covered services such as supplements, as well as free therapies like hyperbaric oxygen therapy and infrared sauna. If you would like information about the new membership model and pricing, please contact our office. Details will be available soon on our website, www.ihm.life.

This year has brought a lot and required many new adaptations. Above all, our goal is to bring East Texas the holistic care they need to achieve and maintain wellness. We are honored and thank you for allowing us to be a part of your journey.

With love and gratitude,

The Team at IHM