Integrative, Naturopathic and Functional Medicine
Individualized wholistic health care using and integrating conventional and of traditional medicines for treatment, early detection and prevention and optimizing your health.
Please note that Dr. Litov does not provide primary care. She provides specialty, adjunct and coordinating care. It is recommended that clients retain their Primary Care Providers and Specialists.
Treatment modalities are individually determined and integrated for optimal health.
How many visits are usually needed to address and an issue?
The number of visits vary depending upon how complex or chronic the health issue is.
For new patients, my experience has taught me that optimal outcome for a persons medical care is to have an initial appointment, thorough evaluation and treatment with at least one follow-up to ensure the initial plan is working and to adjust as needed. Additional visits are usually needed with serious health and chronic health conditions to achieve optimal functioning and health.
Do you bill insurance? Is there a way to get reimbursed by HSA or Health insurance plan?
We do NOT bill insurance, although many HSA plans do cover our services. Please contact your HSA manager and/or your insurance plan to determine how might be the best way to get your care covered. We will provide an invoice with CPT codes and diagnostic (ICD-10) codes to submit for reimbursement. Some HSA programs may need this as well. There are numerous reasons we choose to discontinue our contracts with insurance companies. For example:
Are labs and imaging covered by insurance?
We will order labs at the facility of your choice. It is ideal to check with your insurance to determine where they recommend if you are to get the labs and imaging covered. Labs and imaging facilities can bill your insurance directly or you can pay a cash based rate to the lab or imaging facility. You may also be able to use your Health/Flexible Savings Account to cover these. Please check the requirements of your specific HSA.
If you choose to pay out of pocket for labs rather than go through insurance, we recommend DirectLabs. Here is a link to make it easy. They have highly discounted labs available and all labs are processed through Quest Diagnostics and their draw sites found are conveniently found throughout the country.
Can I order my own labs? How and where?
Should I keep my primary care provider and other providers?
Yes! Although Dr. Litov has practiced as a primary care physician, she now serves as an adjunct provider, utilized in conjunction with other providers, in order to optimize your health. It is important to have a Primary Care Provider on your health care team. You should be seen by them annually, for physical exams, and to stay established for acute and urgent care needs. Please maintain care with your specialists. We believe a team approach to care is vital for an individual’s optimal health and wellbeing.
What do I do if I have an urgent issue or after hours question?
If you have an emergency, please call 911. Please contact your primary care provider and/or urgent care for non-emergency urgent or acute care needs. Dr. Litov is not on-call after hours. You can leave a message via the patient portal and/or voice mail. She recommends going to urgent care or the ER if the issue cannot wait until office hours for a response. In addition, there are resources on the resource page that include mental health hotlines.
How do I know whether to schedule an office visit, home visit, telehealth or phone consult?
All introductory discussion is via phone. The first official appointment is always in-person. Follow-up appointments can be in-person, telehealth/video or phone, and are agreed upon by both the patient and provider.
What are Naturopathic Medicine, Functional Medicine and Integrative Medicine?
Integrative Medicine is defined as a method of healthcare that integrates conventional and complementary treatments for the betterment of a patient. Each individual is different, so integrated treatment often looks different from one patient to another.
Often “Integrative Medicine’ is a catch all for those medical providers practicing Naturopathic Medicine, or on a journey to integrating Naturopathic principles and treatments into their conventional practice. Integrative Health Care systems honor the importance of many types of specialties and providers in order to best serve patients health and wellbeing.
Functional Medicine is a systems biology–based approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease. Each symptom or diagnosis may be one of many contributing to an individual’s illness.
Naturopathic Medicine is a distinct licensed primary health care profession, emphasizing prevention, treatment, and optimal health using therapeutic methods and substances that encourage individuals’ inherent self-healing process. The practice of Naturopathic Medicine includes modern and traditional, scientific, and empirical methods. It is sometimes referred to as ‘The original Functional Medicine system’. But a key distinction of Naturopathic Medicine is in its philosophy that a person and the planet have an innate ability to heal itself. Our job is not just to optimize function or actively treat a symptom or infection, but simultaneously help create the circumstances that will allow the person to heal…mind, body, spirit. Learn more about education, licensing, philosophy.
Does Dr. Litov provide primary care? Does she provide acute care?
Dr. Litov and Navon Health do NOT provide primary care. Acute and/or urgent care are NOT available through our clinic. Those with acute or urgent health concerns should see their primary care provider or go to an urgent care facility or an emergency room, if needed.
Can Dr. Litov prescribe conventional medications?
Yes. In the state of Washington, naturopathic doctors have broad prescriptive authority. Most patients she treats are interested in using a minimal amount of pharmaceutical drugs as possible, while maintaining the patients’ health, so this is not her primary treatment modality. She will utilize pharmaceuticals when indicated. Many people come to Dr. Litov to wean off drugs. She will evaluate the patient and determine what is appropriate and if so, will create a plan. Dr. Litov does not prescribe controlled substances (i.e. oxycontin, etc.) but will refer when appropriate.
Does Dr. Litov make house calls?
Yes, depending on the distance from Bellevue. There is an extra fee for that service. Ask when scheduling appointment.
Do you treat other conditions not listed on the website?
Yes! There are many conditions Dr. Litov has experience and success with, that are not listed. Please reach out via the Contact Page and ask if she has experience and works with your specific health issue.
What conditions do you NOT treat?
Dr. Litov does NOT treat cancer, asthma and Type 1 diabetes. With those conditions, she strongly recommends they get care and follow up with their respective specialists (Oncologist, Pulmonologist, Endocrinologist). She also does not treat pregnant women. She recommends prenatal care through through their ob/gyn and midwife team. Dr. Litov works with women and men to optimize their health and fertility prior to conceiving, she discontinues her care for the woman after conceiving. There are some other conditions that she does not treat as well. The best thing is to ask the office directly via the Contact page.
Do I need to go off of medications or discontinue other treatments?
No! Each person is evaluated for their present state of health and healthcare, including medications. Many people come to Dr. Litov to wean themselves off of drugs or because they had a bad reaction to medication. She evaluates each patient and determines, with the patient, what plan of action is appropriate. Sometimes that means continuing the same medication or transferring to another. Sometimes it means decreasing or discontinuing one or more of their present medications. As people’s health improves, sometimes, they are able to begin decreasing or eliminating some of their pharmaceutical medications.
Where can I get professional-grade therapeutic supplements and herbs?
Wellevate and Fullscript are distributorships that have a long record of quality assurance and relationships with professional quality supplement companies. They are also HIPAA compliant for privacy.
Learn more about professional-grade supplements and for links to order.