FAQs

  • Dr. Abendroth practices a fusion of conventional, lifestyle, functional, and integrative medicine—selecting the most effective elements from each based on the individual patient. His approach is root-cause oriented and aligned with Medicine 3.0, emphasizing proactive, preventive care while also diagnosing and treating active medical conditions. He integrates advanced diagnostics with real-world health data to develop a comprehensive understanding of each patient’s health and guide long-term strategies for achieving the best possible outcomes.

  • We specialize in what primary care should be — proactive, preventive, personalized, and healthspan-oriented. But standard primary care today is something else. It’s rushed, impersonal, based on population guidelines rather than on you, and is almost exclusively sick-care-oriented.

    For our concierge members, Dr. Abendroth is their personal physician. Some maintain a relationship with their conventional PCP, often for insurance purposes, while others do not. We manage nearly all conditions that a conventional primary care doctor would manage, and many that they would not.

    Because our patient panel is limited and capped, we are not able to offer vaccines, which require bulk purchasing and have expiration dates, making an in-clinic vaccination program unworkable. Our members often obtain vaccines at their pharmacy, or if they retain a traditional PCP, they may get them there.

    We do not currently perform Pap smears or pelvic exams, and recommend that women have annual pelvic exams with a gynecologist. We also do not provide pregnancy care.

    Health insurance companies ask you to select or be assigned a primary care provider within their network. We do not accept assignment as a primary care provider with any insurance company, and we are not in-network for any insurance company.

  • At this time, the minimum age for our concierge direct care patients is 18.

General

  • Conventional medicine is the standard system of care practiced in hospitals and clinics, focused on diagnosing and treating disease using established medical therapies. It relies on clinical research, guidelines, medications, and procedures to manage both acute and chronic conditions. While highly effective for acute care and advanced disease, it is often more reactive—addressing illness after it develops rather than emphasizing early prevention or root-cause optimization.

    Dr. Abendroth is board-certified in conventional medicine by the American Board of Family Physicians and has extensive experience as an emergency department physician, inpatient hospitalist, and primary care doctor.

  • Lifestyle medicine is a clinical approach that uses targeted changes in daily behaviors to prevent, treat, and often reverse chronic disease. It focuses on core domains—nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress management, substance use, and social connection—to address the underlying drivers of conditions like insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. Rather than relying primarily on medications, it applies structured, evidence-based interventions to improve physiology at the root level and sustain long-term health and performance.

    Dr. Abendroth is board-certified in Lifestyle Medicine by the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine.

  • Functional medicine is a systems-based clinical approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root causes of disease rather than treating symptoms in isolation. It examines how genetics, physiology, environment, and lifestyle interact to influence health, using a detailed history and targeted testing to uncover underlying imbalances. Care is individualized and often combines conventional treatments with nutrition, lifestyle strategies, and selected therapeutics to restore optimal function and long-term health.

    Dr. Abendroth is board-certified in functional medicine by the International Board of Functional Medicine and was trained by the Institute for Functional Medicine, the gold standard educator in functional medicine.

  • Integrative medicine is a patient-centered approach that combines conventional medical care with evidence-based complementary therapies. It emphasizes treating the whole person—body, mind, and environment—while maintaining a strong foundation in standard diagnostics and treatment. Care plans often incorporate nutrition, lifestyle strategies, and selected non-pharmacologic therapies, alongside medications or procedures when appropriate, to improve outcomes, reduce symptom burden, and support overall well-being.

    Dr. Abendroth is board-certified by the American Board of Integrative Medicine and completed a two-year fellowship in integrative medicine at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

  • Medicine 3.0 is a modern, proactive approach to care that focuses on preventing disease and preserving function long before symptoms appear. It emphasizes early detection of risk, continuous monitoring, and targeted interventions to optimize long-term health. Rather than reacting to illness, it uses data-driven insights, personalized strategies, and a focus on longevity and performance to help patients maintain peak physical and cognitive function over time.

    Medicine 3.0 is more of a medical philosophy than a distinct medical specialty, and while we practice Medicine 3.0, there are no board certifications or other such qualifications available.

Medical Frameworks

  • Yes, frequently. We are experts in both male and female hormone optimization therapy.

  • No. Pellets are a great way for providers and pellet manufacturers to make money, but not a great way to deliver hormones. They are invasive, non-adjustable, and carry a significantly higher risk of adverse effects.

    So why are they so popular? Learning how to provide expert BHRT care is daunting for most medical professionals. Pellet manufacturers provide oversimplified, shallow “education and support” to providers looking to offer hormonal therapy, in exchange for a contract with those providers. This effectively creates a nationwide distribution network for their hormone products and providers who depend on selling those products for a living. As such, pellets offer a simple, lucrative, turnkey approach to BHRT, which is why they are ubiquitous in med spas and among providers who lack rigorous medical training.

  • Yes, we frequently prescribe low-dose physiologically normal testosterone for women to bring levels back to what a healthy woman should have. Like other hormones, levels fall with aging. Replacing it can improve or preserve muscle mass, cognition, mood, sexual function, and energy in appropriate patients.

  • No.

Hormonal Therapy

  • Yes. Most often, we prescribe tirzepitide for its dual GLP-1/GIP action, and look forward to offering retatrutide as soon as it is legally available.

    However, we are fans of going low and slow. We often start with doses below the normal prescription level. And to be clear, we do have concerns about them regarding long-term safety, muscle loss, rebound weight gain, and the exit strategy. But we recognize that obesity is a serious health problem that needs to be addressed without undue delay and with medical assistance when needed. With close monitoring of muscle and fat mass, and when combined with proper nutrition and a structured exercise program, drugs like tirzepitide can be life-changing.

  • Outside of GLP-1s, no, we do not at this time. Most are stimulants or otherwise alter brain chemistry, and we do not believe in their use. They are also all inferior to tirzepitide and semaglutide.

  • We treat each patient individually. As such, we do not have any standardized program. Weight loss may be part of your overall health optimization plan.

Weight loss

  • We accept credit card, debit card, ACH, cash, and for most services, FSA and HSA cards. If using HSA or FSA funds, check with your plan administrator or accountant to verify eligibility.

  • When you pay your doctor directly, your doctor works for you. When an insurance company pays your doctor, your doctor works for the insurance company, even if it doesn’t feel like it.

    We steer clear of health insurance so we can offer you the time, diagnostics, and treatments you need for optimal health. We have a lot to say about health insurance, but we’ll save it for a blog post.

  • Due to unsustainably low reimbursement from Medicare, we must limit the size of our Medicare patient panel. Contact us if you wish to be placed on our Medicare waitlist.

    Due to federal regulations, we must bill Medicare for any service it covers. Doctors are not allowed to charge the patient anything extra for it. We cannot accept payment from a Medicare patient for services covered by Medicare.

    We do not accept Medicaid.

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