FAQs

Precision medicine is personalized medicine. Precision medicine truly focuses on the individual by taking into account their genetic makeup and their lifestyle preferences when determining how to reduce health risks and optimize their diet, sleep, supplements, and exercise.

We are all genetically different (except identical twins, of course). The reason that different large, prospective studies often have contradictory results when studying the same issue - like does taking vitamin D reduce osteoporosis risk or does a cyclist need more aerobic or power training - is because the answer depends on your personal genetic makeup.

A doctor who doesn’t know your DNA testing results, and who hasn’t been trained how to understand and interpret those results, cannot give you evidence-based recommendations.

Precision medicine doctors are not a substitute for your primary care doctor.

The essence of precision medicine is that it is personalized and proactive. We use your unique genetic makeup and lab results to formulate an understanding of how your metabolism and your different body systems work. We use that knowledge to optimize how you feel and perform. We do this both for patients who have symptoms that are bothering them and also for patients who simply want to live better and longer lives, functioning at the highest level of mental and physical performance they can achieve.

Functional Medicine generally starts with a symptom and then uses a body system-based approach - asking questions about whether the brain, heart, or gut might be contributing - to fix that problem. Lifestyle medicine is a medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as a primary modality to treat chronic conditions including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.

Meaningful change takes some time, but it shouldn’t take forever. For most patients, arming them with the crucial knowledge they need to optimize their health and performance, guiding them to the lifestyle changes they want to make, and then verifying that they are on the right path takes about six months. If, at the end of that six months, a patient is feeling great, is metabolically healthy, and has addressed any long term health risks, they shouldn’t need to pay a monthly fee.

For high-level athletes who want our ongoing guidance to maximize performance, or for patients who still have further to go to optimize their health and metabolism, we can continue the membership after six months at a rate of $149 per month.

Rise Precision Medicine’s approach is straightforward and it is science-driven. We use your own personal eating and training preferences, traditional sports physiology, and performance science, combined with precision medicine to maximize results.

We use state-of-the-art tests to look at your unique genetic makeup. There are certain genes that determine whether your body runs better on high carb, high protein, high fat, or a combination of these. There are other genes that tell us if you are going to improve more quickly with power training, aerobic training, or HIIT. Other genes will tell us whether your muscles and tendons will respond better to higher-volume training or whether they need longer recovery periods. This science is being used by professional and Olympic athletes and has already started to trickle down to the amateur level.

In addition to genetic tests, we’ll request labs to document your cholesterol, vitamin levels, glucose and insulin levels, cortisol, inflammation markers and hormone levels. The results will be incorporated into your personalized treatment plan and we can monitor changes over time.

For most patients, we prescribe a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) to be worn for 2 weeks. You will keep track of how your glucose responds to different foods, exercise, stress, and sleep habits.

We can also track key markers of wellness by following the data provided if you use a wearable health tracker, such as an Oura ring or Whoop device. Using this data, we can determine how much sleep and exercise is best for your performance, whether you need dietary, supplement, or medication changes.

Insurance does cover many lab tests (depending on your plan), and HSA and FSA plans do cover preventive care with precision medicine doctors. Rise and most other precision medicine practices cannot accept health insurance because there is no way to bill insurance for helping patients feel and function their best. This is yet another thing the "healthcare" industry gets wrong. Insurance will pay for a portion of your doctor's visits, medications, and hospital visits when you get sick with type 2 diabetes, develop dementia, and have a heart attack, but insurance will not pay for tests or treatments that are intended to make you feel better today and keep you in great health.

Insurance generally will not pay for a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM), and the out-of-pocket discounted cost at Walmart (they will sign you up for a GoodRx card there) is approximately $42 for each 2-week monitor. This is the best value we have found for CGMs.

We’re based out of the Denver metro area and serve patients virtually through telehealth.

We can serve patients anywhere in Colorado. We are currently only licensed in Colorado and cannot serve out-of-state clients.