•Why is your program different than others?
•What is the program?
•What is body composition analysis (BCA)?
•How do you test my metabolism?
•What is the average weight I can expect to lose on your program?
•Will you prescribe me weight loss medications? If so, which ones?
•What kinds of prescription weight loss medications are available?
•I tried a product I found over-the-counter/online/on TV/in a magazine claiming amazing weight loss results but it didn't work. Why didn't these supplements help?
•Do I have to buy food there?
•Do I need a referral?
•Do you accept insurance plans?
•Will my insurance plan cover a weight management program?
•How does my insurance plan’s out-of-network (OON) benefits work?
•What if my insurance company does not have out-of-network benefits or does not cover weight management?
•What are my other options to help me with the out-of-network deductible and other costs related to the program?
•How much will the program cost me?
•What is the benefit of going to a medical weight-loss clinic rather than other kinds of programs?
•Do I pay by visit, or all of it up front?
•How do I get started?
•What if need to reschedule my first appointment or I don’t show up?
•How long has the doctor been practicing medicine?
Why is your program different than others?
Associates in Medical Weight Management is not your typical weight loss center! You will soon come to realize there are many attributes that differentiates us from other weight loss programs. We don’t believe in a cookie-cutter approach. Patients with serious weight issues or eating disorders can't be properly cared for at impersonal, commercial weight loss centers with “counselors” shuffling clients in and out of a revolving door.
We Care for Patients, not Customers.
Each patient is evaluated individually and personalized programs are tailored specifically for your lifestyle and dietary needs. You will also receive one-on-one time with an specialist extensively trained in obesity management to counsel and coach you to help you overcome any behavioral challenges with which you are struggling. Being able to provide such a personal level of care sets our program apart from other canned commercial based weight loss programs. Additionally, as a medical weight loss program, we do ongoing evaluations of your health status and decrease your medications for weight-related diseases as your health improves. We can also prescribe weight control medications, such as appetite suppressants and others, to assist with your weight loss efforts.
There is no exact answer for this question since every individual’s circumstances are unique and therefore so will be their program. Everyone has different reasons why they seek our assistance, the factor that contributed to their weight gain, the effects the excess weight has had on their medical and emotional health and the type of assistance they are seeking to help lose weight. We also realize that the easiest program to follow is the one that has been created specially for you. Therefore there is no single weight loss plan that defines our treatment protocol. Our doctors use evidence based, up-to-date medical interventions to structure a plan to help you gain control of your weight. There are a variety of dietary programs; some of the diets use grocery store foods, others use food supplements purchased at the center, and some use a combination of the two. All programs have been designed by leading experts in the field of obesity treatments, are clinically proven to be effective and are modified to suit each patient’s individual needs.
The only common element in all treatment plans is building a foundation of behavioral modification that will ultimately translate into lifestyle changes to ensure long-term weight control. If you intend on maintaining your weight loss, the first step is to understand that weight control is much more than going on a diet. All things considered, mastering weight control depends on embracing and implementing just four basic principles for behavior change. From the very first day of treatment, we begin working on strategies to empower you and help you “own” these four behaviors in order to achieve lifelong success with weight management.
During your initial evaluation, the details of your weight gain history and past medical history are thoroughly reviewed. Each patient is assessed for hormonal (glandular) causes of weight gain as well as medical conditions that are consequence of excess weight. You medications are evaluated to asses their contribution to your weight control difficulties. Our protocol includes a comprehensive physical examination, including laboratory analysis of blood, electrocardiogram (EKG), (including and echocardiograms and/or cardiac evaluations when indicated), body composition analysis (BCA), calculation of your BMI, and sometimes measurements of you metabolism to determine your exact caloric needs to lose and maintain weight. Finally, when all the information about you is taken into consideration, an appropriate course of treatment can be recommended.
The doctor will review the proposed treatment options with you and provide nutritional recommendations, make appropriate medication additions and/or changes and offer suggestions for physical activity that are appropriate for your current state of health and physical activity level. The doctor will also bring to light any salient counter-productive behaviors should be attended to primarily, if applicable. For some patients, the additional support of a behavior therapist that specializes in weight and eating issues will be an integral part of the program. The process is a collaborative effort, and working together, the physician, social worker and patient will formulate the best strategy for weight management.
We can discuss all the exciting treatment options we have to offer during your initial medical evaluation. We work with a team of professionals to assist you in mastering all the elements of the weight control process to set you up for long term success. Our services are constantly evolving. Your continual feedback is essential; we listen to our patients and constantly seek to improve our services to meet our patient’s needs and expectations.
What is body composition analysis (BCA)?
Body composition is the amount of water, lean body mass and fat in the human body. The true definition of obesity is based on the percentage of body fat. Standard height and weight charts are inadequate in assessing a patient’s percent body fat. BCA can determine how much of your body weight is fat mass, and therefore what is your percent body fat. Our highly innovative scale figures this number using bioelectrical impedance, which measures the conductivity of different body compartments using very small electrical currents. Differences in water content within fat tissue compared to lean body tissue affects the how the current is conducted. Our goal is to help you have good quality weight loss, which means, loss of body fat mass only. Rapid weight loss can result is sacrificing too much lean body mass (which may ultimately slow down your metabolism making the weight loss harder to sustain long-term). We want to help you lose weight rapidly, but not at the expense of losing lean body mass. This is why we measure your body composition at each and every visit, so we can monitor the quality of your weight loss.
If you were trying to lose weight on your own and are just using a conventional scale, you may start to lose motivation if you aren’t seeing the scale move fast enough. Weight loss progress, as measured on a conventional scale, can sometimes be erratic and unpredictable due to water fluctuations (especially in women who still are menstruating). This phenomenon can be unsettling if it were unexpected and especially if you have been following a program religiously and don’t see the anticipated loss of pounds on the scale. The benefit of having your body composition analyzed at each visit is you will know when your scale isn’t moving simply due to water retention. In actuality, you may still be losing fat mass, which means you are still improving your body composition and making progress with your weight loss.
How do you test my metabolism?
We can actually test your metabolic rate by using technology that analyzes your breathing. Since it take oxygen to make energy, we just measure how much oxygen your body uses in approximately 10 minutes and that tells us how energy (or calories) you are burning. The metabolic test provides information you can understand and use. We can establish your exact caloric needs (instead of using complicated equations to estimate it) so you can know how many calories you should eat to lose weight and how many calories your can eat and still maintain your weight loss. This is the same technology they use to determine energy requirements in critically ill patients in hospitals who can not eat so it is very accurate.
What is the average weight I can expect to lose on your program?
Very rapid weight loss can be achieved when doing a physician-supervised meal replacement program, called a Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) using food supplements purchased at our clinic. Our doctors offer such aggressive weight loss programs. These programs are easy to follow because there is no need to count calories, keep food records or even worry about food choices and portion sizes. The average weight loss achieved in a VLCD is approximately 12-25 pounds in the first month, or 1-2 dress sizes. Patients often lose in excess of 50 lbs over a 12 week program. We have seen weight loss results that well exceed this amount because the more weight you have to lose the faster it will come off.
For other, less aggressive, weight loss programs offered through our clinic, every individual’s weight loss progress is different. Since every individual’s needs and preferences are unique, programs are set up with the patient that best fits his/her lifestyle and dietary needs. There are a variety of dietary programs; some of the diets use grocery store foods, others use food supplements in combination with grocery store foods. Each program can obtain different results and the number of pounds lost is variable. In general, patients can lose 1-2 lbs per week and over a 12-week program, this can translate into 1-2 dress sizes. Metabolic testing can better help to determine your caloric needs, and by extension, your expected weight loss over a given period of time.
Will you prescribe me weight loss medications? If so, which ones?
If you are struggling to lose weight and believe you can use the extra support provided by appetite suppressant medications and if they are appropriate for you medically you may choose to take them, but you are obligated to take them. It is a very personal and individualized decision which should be discussed with the physician. Generally speaking, weight loss medications have modestly efficacy, and can translate to an average weight loss of 5 to 22 pounds above that expected with non-drug obesity treatments. There is no “magic bullet” for weight loss. Medication is a “tool” to assist in the weight loss process. In our practice, medications are prescribed only in conjunction with following a sensible calorie controlled nutrition plan. Taking medication while eating sensibly will greatly enhance the efficacy of the medication. Through our comprehensive program, many individuals have lost well in excess of 20% of their initial body weight using a combination of appetite suppressants and a modified Very Low Calorie Diet (food supplements in combination with grocery store foods).
They are many different medications to assist with the process, just as there are many different tools in a toolbox. You need to find the right tool for the right job. We’d have to evaluate you to see what medication would be most appropriate for you.
For more information about prescription weight loss medication, click here.
While you are under no obligation to purchase food supplements from our clinic, the rapid weight loss programs we offer that utilize meal replacements (Very Low Calorie Diets) and protein supplements (Low Calorie Diets) are supervised using only the products available from our office. The doctor has carefully evaluated and selected a variety of delicious, medical quality protein supplements that are only available through a health care provider’s office. The cost is comparable to other weight loss food supplements available through physicians. When doing a VLCD, these products should only be used under the supervision of a physician. Protein supplements are very effective tools in the weight loss process. They simplify a weight loss plan by limiting choices- a process often referred to as “stimulus narrowing”. The high protein content helps to not only control your appetite but protect lean body mass while burning fat (see question above about body composition analysis). The overall objective is to avoid a negative protein balance and associated loss of lean body mass which commonly occurs with weight loss and minimize the anticipated slowdown in your metabolism usually seen after losing a considerable amount of weight.
We are a direct access facility. One of your rights in the state of NJ is to be able to come to medical providers without a referral. However, although everyone has access to this specialized medical care, insurance coverage is not a guarantee. We recommend you check with your insurance plan about coverage for medical weight loss, but encourage you to pursue reimbursement for your out-of-pocket expenses for the professional services regardless of what you learn. You never know- sometime patients get reimbursed even when they were told otherwise by their insurance company- we’ve seen it all!
Do you accept insurance plans?
We participate directly with Medicare and Coresource. For all other insurance, professional services are provided or a fee-for-service basis and we will help you work with your health insurance company to obtain reimbursement through your out-of-network benefits. We will provide you with a medical receipt and an insurance kit with easy to understand instructions on how to submit an insurance claim for reimbursement. Submitting your own claims is really easy! Some insurance companies only require you mail in the receipt without filling out any additional paperwork and others have you complete an easy online form. If you are not sure what out-of-network benefits are or what your benefit plan provides, just call us! We will be happy to call your insurance company for you and explain your benefits to you.
Will my insurance plan cover a weight management program?
We have a strict policy of not making claims of what is covered and not covered by the insurance companies or guaranteeing reimbursement. For any specific insurance plan, we won’t be absolutely sure if services will be reimbursed or denied until you actually submit your medical receipts and we see how you claim was processed. We have some experience on how several different insurance companies handle claims for our professional services and metabolic tests and our experience has overall been very positive; almost all insurance companies have been reimbursing for our professional services. If you are still unsure, give us more information about your plan and we can tell you what our experience has been.
Most insurance companies will cover our professional services through your out-of-network provisions. We are a fee-for-service facility and payment is expected at the time of your office visit. We will help you work with your health insurance company by providing you with a medical receipt and an insurance kit with easy to understand instructions on how to submit an insurance claim for reimbursement. Submitting your own claims is really easy! Some insurance companies only require you mail in the receipt without filling out any additional paperwork and others have you complete an easy online form. If you are not sure what out-of-network benefits are or what your benefit plan provides, just call us! We will be happy to call your insurance company for you and explain your benefits to you.
In the unlikely event the insurance initially denies your claims for professional services and you believe your weight is negatively affecting your health or quality of life, we will assist you on taking the next appropriate steps to obtain insurance reimbursement if you choose to contest the denial.
How does my insurance plan’s out-of-network (OON) benefits work?
After you reach your insurance company’s out of-network deductible, your insurance company will reimburse you for a percentage of the fees for professional services, depending on what your OON policy provides (usually 70-80% of the charges, sometimes it is 100% after your deductible has been met). Sometimes, after your deductible has been met, the amount you end up paying out-of-pocket for each visit is less than your in-network co-pay! You are welcome to call the office to have us help you determine what your OON provisions are.
What if my insurance company does not have out-of-network benefits or does not cover weight management?
We will be happy to provide a letter of medical necessity to try to help you receive reimbursement. We’ve actually seen patients who have no out-of-network provision receive reimbursement after initially being declined. If after multiple attempts you still are not successful in receiving reimbursement from your insurance company for medical weight treatment you still have other options to assist in reducing your out-of-pocket costs. We encourage you to talk to your accountant about the possibility of taking an itemized tax deduction for non-reimbursable expenses incurred by seeking medically supervised weight management.
What are my other options to help me with the out-of-network deductible and other costs related to the program?
Many patients use their “flex savings plans”, a benefit offered through your employer to use pre-tax dollars to defray the cost of un-reimbursed medical expenses. In our experience your flex spending will cover your out-of-network deductible and might even cover the cost of food supplements since you will be buying them from a physician's office, but check with your plan administrator to be sure.
How much will the program cost me?
One of the benefits of seeking the help of a physician with weight loss is the potential for insurance reimbursement for professional services. We encourage every patient to submit their receipts to their insurance company for reimbursement for professional services rendered, regardless of their insurance plan’s provisions with respect to weight management. In our experience, we have found that almost all insurance companies will reimburse for our services through your out-of-network benefits and have even seen coverage for treatment even when there was no out-of-network provision.
Until the time you start to receive reimbursement from your insurance company your specific out-of-pocket costs would be depends on several things, such as how much weight you need to lose, how fast you want to lose it and which nutritional program you choose to do to meet your weight loss goals. Other factors that will influence program costs include your state of health upon implementing the program (which would define the complexity of care and the frequency of physician visits required to bring any weight-related medical conditions under control) and the level of care you require to provide the essential coaching and support to help you successfully meet weight loss goals. For most patients, the program costs approximately $90/ week during the active weight loss and transition-to-maintenance phases of your plan; this includes all professional services and any food supplements used as part of your program (which will decrease your grocery store budget). Program costs are higher the first month upon initiation and adaptation phases because it includes the costs of the extensive initial medical evaluation.
We are very committed to your success. If weight loss counseling is needed to ensure success, it may increase your program costs, but is well worth the investment. Weight loss counseling is focused, goal directed and time limited- and intended to set you up with skills to keep your weight off for the rest of your life. The doctor will be able to outline more specific treatment recommendations during your introductory consultation or initial medical evaluation after speaking with you to see where you’ve had difficulties and determine what services would best help you.
In the worse case scenario, that is, paying for our program without any insurance reimbursement- most programs cost less than most people’s rent or mortgage payment, from start to finish (including the cost of any food supplements). To help put your decision into better perspective, consider how much you spend a month on your home and ask yourself how long you plan on living in your current house. Now ask yourself how long you plan on living in your current body. Think of the treatment you are provided by our professionals as an investment in yourself- your physical, emotional and spiritual well-being and your future health.
Do I pay by visit, or all of it up front?
We don’t require registration fees or lifetime commitments- you pay on a per visit basis. We assume you are serious about the program from the moment you get your initial lab work completed. By popular demand, we have begun offering discounted 12 weeks programs to all our patients. This may be the best way to go if your insurance company will not cover the program or if you have a high out-of-network deductible.
Through our initial consultation we will be able to identify whether you are ready to begin a weight loss program. We understand that making lifestyle changes is challenging and we are committed to helping you accomplish your goals. We put a lot of time and effort into structuring the best program for you and take pride in your success. For some individuals, this may mean we ask that you demonstrate the same level of commitment by participating in a program and committing to it financially in advance. We have been very pleased with the outcomes for patients who have initiated their weight loss endeavors by doing a 12 week program.
During your introductory consultation or initial medical evaluation, the physician will be able to determine it is in your best interest to proceed in this manner, particularly if there is reason to believe you may struggle and not have the best success possible. Sometime the physician may suggest this route if the physician feels your current circumstances indicate this may not be the best time to begin a weight loss program, but you wish to proceed anyway. In this event, the costs of receiving an evaluation for weight loss therapy will be worked into the cost of your 12 week program.
In general, depending on patient demand, it takes approximately 2 weeks to obtain a new patient appointment. Your initial medical evaluation is time reserved especially for you. We block off a considerable amount of time for you to spend with the physician so the physician has ample opportunity to evaluate your information thoroughly, educate you on the current understanding of obesity and how it is treated, formulate an individualized treatment plan and review the plan with you to your complete understanding.
We require a deposit on your credit card to reserve your block of time for your new patient office visit at the time of booking your appointment in order to be put on the schedule. Your deposit is completely refundable if you provide us at least three business days notice that you would like to cancel or reschedule. At the time of scheduling your first appointment, you will be mailed a packet with a detailed history form and prescriptions for lab work and an EKG. We suggest you go to have the studies completed within 3 days of receipt of the packet. Your lab work and EKG must be completed and faxed to our office at least one week prior to your appointment or your appointment will need to be rescheduled. We will call to confirm the status of your studies if they have not yet been received and will advise further at that point.
Your history form is several pages long (bariatric histories are complex!). It is very important that you complete it in full prior to your appointment. Don’t forget to bring it with you at your first appointment. If you forget to bring it or arrive with it incomplete, we may need to reschedule your first appointment and you will be charged for a missed appointment!
What if need to reschedule my first appointment or I don’t show up?
The time reserved for your initial medical evaluation is valuable and in demand! There are many patients just like you who also want to get started as soon as possible and would be interested in filling any available earlier openings. If you have booked a new patient office visit and have reconsidered participating in one of our medically supervised weight loss programs for any reason, please be considerate of other patients who want to get started and the doctor’s time by canceling or rescheduling your new patient appointment in a timely manner. If you do not show or fail to provide adequate notice of your intent to cancel and we are unable to fill your block your credit card will be charged the full amount of the initial office visit.
For all other routine follow-up appointments, we kindly ask that you provide us at least 48 hours notice if you’d like to cancel or reschedule.
How long has Doctor Solomon been practicing medicine?
Dr. Solomon has been practicing medicine as an MD for 5 years. In 2005, she received her license to practice medicine in NJ, and became a diplomat in internal medicine in 2006.
Associates in Medical Weight Management
Dr. Leah F. Solomon | Donna Woody LCSW
95 Madison Avenue, Suite 304B Morristown, NJ 07960
phone: 973-267-5577 | fax: 973-290-7521 | E-mail: bariatricmedicine@gmail.com
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