What is BHRT?

Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy is the treatment of men’s and women’s unbalanced or low hormone levels using a natural method, as compared to the typical use of synthetic hormones. Bio-identical hormones are chemically identical to those that our bodies produce naturally. These treatments come in many forms, including: pellets, troches, pills, creams and gels. Without question, pellets are the superior form of HRT.

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What are pellets?

Our bio-identical pellets are subcutaneous implants inserted just under the skin in the buttock area. A lidocaine shot is administered prior to the insertion and there are no stitches or sutures required after the procedure. The incision is about 1/4 inch long and there is minimal scarring afterwards. The entire procedure takes approximately 25 minutes. Pellets are superior to all other forms of BHRT because they are the only form of HRT that provides steady, biologic blood levels of hormones. This provides patients with much better results.

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If I don’t want pellets, is there another way to receive your hormones?

Yes! Our provider works with compounding pharmacies and can write a prescription for troches, creams, injections and/or pills for BHRT. The prescription is sent via mail to our patients after it is ordered from our clinic. However, please be aware that pellets are far superior to other forms of HRT in every way.  Pellet therapy is safe, bioidentical, and has been around since the 1930's. It is superior to all forms of HRT because it allows a steady physiologic levels released when you need it. Creams/troches/pills create a situation where the blood levels are going up and down erratically every day, so you don't feel as good as you would on pellets, you can have more side effects and even more risk factors. There are actual medical benefits to having pellets over other forms of HRT and we see this in many studies. For example, one study on bone density in women: showed that E/T pellets demonstrated a 4 fold increase in bone density over oral estrogen and 2.5 increase over patches. They didn't test creams but the cream would perform even worse than the patch. Women on E/T pellets saw an 8.3% increase in bone density over a year. . We have NOTHING else that does this for women other than dangerous osteoporosis meds which come with all kinds of bad side effects. E/T pellets are also proven to reduce LDL (bad cholesterol). 

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Do your clinic fees cover the cost of lab work?

No. You are responsible for the full cost of your lab work. If you do have insurance, you may use this for your lab work, however we are not responsible for any copay due to the lab or your insurance company. It can be very expensive to use your insurance to get lab work drawn, and we have no way of knowing how much the lab or your insurance company will bill you. We prefer to order labs for our patients through Rupa Health, as this cash-based lab service offers price transparency and labs at a fraction of the cost of most retail labs. For example, you can get comprehensive initial lab work including CBC, CMP, PSA, lipids, sex hormones, in-depth thyroid evaluation, Vitamin D, B vitamins for around $170. Your follow-up lab work tends to be much cheaper, depending on what labs your provider needs to recheck, but averages $15-$50.

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Do you accept insurance/medicare/medicaid?

No. We are a cash pay clinic. We are not associated with any insurance companies, which means they are not obligated to pay for our services (blood work, consultations, insertions or pellets). We REQUIRE PAYMENT AT TIME OF SERVICE and, if you choose, we will provide a form to send to your insurance company and a receipt showing that you paid out of pocket. WE WILL NOT, however, communicate in any way with insurance companies.

 

The form and receipt are your responsibility and serve as evidence of your treatment. We will not call, write, pre-certify, follow-up, or make any contact with your insurance company. If we receive a check from your insurance company, we will not cash it, but instead return it to the sender. Likewise, we will not mail it to you. We will not respond to any letters or calls from your insurance company.

For patients who have access to a Health Savings Account (HSA) or Flexible Spending Account (FSA), you may pay for your treatment with that credit or debit card. We also accept all major credit cards.