Getting to the Root of Health: A Functional Medicine Approach with Dr. Erica Armstrong, Founder and CEO of Root Functional Medicine

[00:00:01] This podcast is produced by Outcomes Rocket, your healthcare exclusive digital marketing agency. Outcomes Rocket exists to help healthcare organizations like yours to maximize their impact and accelerate growth. Visit outcomesrocket.com or text us at 312-224-9945.

[00:00:29] Hey everyone, welcome back to the Outcomes Rocket Founder Stories. I am so excited that you guys tune in again because we have the outstanding Dr. Erica Armstrong with us. She is the founder and CEO of Root Functional Medicine. She's the author of PCOS, Thyroid Connection, and also the host of the Get to the Root podcast. I'm so pumped to have her on our show today.

[00:00:57] She's got so much value. She's helping so many people and organizations live healthier, more fulfilled lives, and just excited to share her work with everyone here today. So Erica, thanks so much for joining us. Erica Armstrong Thank you for that wonderful intro. Dr. Justin Marchegiani Of course, of course. So you're up to a lot. Just to get things started, and before we dive into Root Functional Medicine, tell us about you and what got you started and what you do. Erica Armstrong Yeah, so I was a family medicine doctor for about eight years.

[00:01:26] Erica Armstrong I'd always wanted to be a family medicine doctor, but once I got into the practice and I was following my patients over years, I realized that I wasn't actually optimizing their health or reversing their conditions. What was happening was like medications would start to pile on. People would continue to age, but not optimally. Erica Armstrong And so I needed a different model of care, a different way to approach things. Erica Armstrong And I found functional medicine. I started training in this back in 2016.

[00:01:52] Erica Armstrong Started to piece it in, but realized to do functional medicine as a specialty, I needed to start my own practice. Erica Armstrong We were the first practice here in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Erica Armstrong And it kept growing and growing, and we decided to scale it out, to hire more doctors and dieticians, to get licensed nationwide, to take this online so that we could help as many people as we can.

[00:02:11] Erica Armstrong Well, I love it. I think what you do is so important. Getting away from sick care and getting to well-being, I'm all about it. Talk to us about your business. What do you guys do? How is it different? And why does it matter? Erica Armstrong Yeah, so at Root, what we do is in our name, we focus on the root causes of chronic conditions rather than just managing symptoms. And so through our online platform, we provide advanced lab testing with personalized recommendations and expert guidance from our team.

[00:02:41] Erica Armstrong And this is all within a membership-based model that makes high-quality care more accessible and efficient. Erica Armstrong So a root access membership allows people to either work with our team without the typical barriers of functional medicine, like long wait times or needing visits for lab orders. Erica Armstrong And members get comprehensive lab testing, one-on-one expert care if they choose that, with ongoing support to optimize their health, whether they're dealing with hormone imbalances, gut issues, fatigue, or they simply want to optimize their health.

[00:03:11] Erica Armstrong So we enable access to the right testing. That was often a limitation in conventional healthcare. I couldn't do things like stool microbiome tests. Erica Armstrong And then we provide insights and recommendations from our team of top functional medicine doctors without the need to spend the time and costs in a visit. Erica Armstrong And so what makes us different is that we have a validated and tech-enabled approach that allows us to scale functional medicine while keeping it deeply personalized. Erica Armstrong We're solving a huge gap in healthcare, helping people who have been dismissed, misdiagnosed, or stuck in this cycle of temporary fixes,

[00:03:39] Erica Armstrong Or just don't have time to visit a doctor and get a comprehensive evaluation. Erica Armstrong And so we work with all types of people with all types of conditions, most commonly hormone disorders, gut health issues, autoimmune conditions, where costs are skyrocketing, and yet conventional medicine often fails to address the underlying cause. Erica Armstrong And so our approach helps people take back control of their health, Erica Armstrong Often reversing issues that they were just told that was part of aging, or where the only options were previously escalating medications and doses.

[00:04:09] Erica Armstrong Well, I think it's critical, the work that you do. Erica Armstrong We need more of it. Erica Armstrong One of the common questions that I'm sure you hear and a lot of people think about, and I want to make sure that we iron out while we're together, is like, well, what insurance do you take? Or are you cash only? Erica Armstrong Help us understand some of that, because I'd love to empower people today to consider working with you. Erica Armstrong Yeah, so we're a membership model. Erica Armstrong That means direct, transparent pricing.

[00:04:37] Erica Armstrong That means we get our lab prices for less than the cost of a typical co-pay, because you don't have all that administrative overhead and all that billing overhead and all that surprise billing. I'm guessing what things are covered. And we provide everything that you need within the membership, and then you can add on lab testing or supplements or visits as needed. So we work with individuals who pay for this directly or also employers actually sponsor this type of care for their employees.

[00:05:07] I love it. I think that's fantastic. And so that was my next question, Dr. Armstrong. What end customer do you serve in the healthcare ecosystem? Erica Armstrong Yeah. So both individuals, people who are either struggling with chronic conditions like PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome, other hormone imbalances, gut issues, autoimmune diseases, or people who want a more personalized, data-driven, and sustainable approach to health, just want to optimize their health. And then employers who want to provide better healthcare

[00:05:36] solutions for their teams. So chronic health issues are a leading driver of costs and decreased productivity and absenteeism. And so by offering Roots functional medicine programs as a benefit, they can improve their team's health outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and support a healthier, more engaged workforce. And we're licensed throughout the U.S. So we work with employers who have employees in multiple states. That's phenomenal. So all 50 states?

[00:06:02] I think we're in 46 right now. Amazing. Almost all of them. Well, I think that's so great. And when people think about the work that you do, what's one thing that most don't know about the problem you solve? Yeah, I think most people don't realize that a lab being called, quote, normal doesn't mean healthy. And so, yeah, conventional lab ranges are based on population averages, not optimal health, which means many people are told their labs are fine.

[00:06:31] I should give you my labs because I literally just went through them with my primary care. We should talk offline. Yeah. So we use functional lab ranges to identify imbalances earlier. And so we can intervene before disease sets in. And so, yeah, by enabling this access to functional testing and functional interpretation, we are disrupting the healthcare status quo by giving people their own important health data with actual insights in a very convenient way with transparent pricing.

[00:07:00] Thank you, Dr. Armstrong. Folks, did you know, I didn't, did you know there was a functional range? Because I had no idea. I always knew there was a range. And just yesterday, I patted myself on the back for being within the range of my cholesterol levels. I have a history of high cholesterol in the family and also myself. So I was happy. So I actually, I'm excited to unpack. Dr. Armstrong,

[00:07:26] is this something we could share the functional ranges? I feel like people are probably very curious about what those are. Yeah. You're going to find different ranges from different factors. We have our own root protocols that we've developed over six years of interpreting these labs and seeing where people feel it optimally and then using evidence as well. And so one of the things we're trying to do at root is actually validate and create some consistency across the functional medicine community because it does vary. But we have our own functional lab ranges,

[00:07:55] which are probably similar to other functional docs, but yeah, they're unique to our program. No, that's really great to know. We want to know. I want to know. I'm sure you want to know, folks. Definitely something to benchmark up against what you've been getting if you're not currently working with a functional medicine doctor. Look, Erica, you were a successful physician. Now you've built this platform that's serving most of the United States. We like to learn from successful people. So we'd love to hear from you what your favorite business resources

[00:08:25] or a business hack that our listeners could benefit from and why. So as far as what business, one of my favorite business hacks is leveraging technology to scale personalized care. So healthcare is notoriously inefficient, but we're building the world's first functional medicine operating system to make root cause medicine scalable. Other like business hacks, one of my favorite tips that I've read is the touch it once principle. So we waste a lot of time rethinking things. So for example, only open your email if you have time to

[00:08:54] deal with everything you've read. That way you don't have to reread and rethink through the same email multiple times, although sometimes that is necessary. Yeah. So I've just switched gears a lot during the day from tech meetings, operations, B2B sales calls, and marketing and podcasts. So I often do even short tasks that we talk about during the meetings that are needed while I'm in the meeting. So I literally will say out loud what I'm doing while I'm doing it, when I'm sitting with my team. That way I don't have to create a list and come back to it that ends up causing delays and

[00:09:24] sometimes forgetting items. And then the team has what they need right away to hit the ground running. Touch it once. That's awesome. Total productivity hack there for us. One that we should all take a look at. Look, something that we talked about today, something that you mentioned today, Dr. Armstrong, resonates with our listeners. Where can they get in touch with you and the Root Functional Medicine

[00:09:47] team? By the way, before I even forget, like your podcast as well, tell us a little bit about that. And I would love to help plug the great work you're doing on that. Well, thanks to you and your team's help. We've gotten it off the ground. This has been years in the making of wanting to talk about things on a podcast. But yeah, we're really excited. It launched in February last month and it's called Get to the Root. And we talk about how to get to the root for

[00:10:15] optimizing your health for both individuals and employers. We'll link that up in the show notes, folks, so you could listen. Dr. Armstrong and team are really doing an awesome job with getting the word out on things that will make you better. And if you're already great, it'll make you better. I've had a sneak peek and trust me, it's working really well. So where can people reach out and learn more about you and the team? You can find us at rootfunctionalmedicine.com. You can order your own testing today if you like.

[00:10:43] We're most active probably on LinkedIn and I'm active there too. If you're an employer who wants to learn more about our approach, you can connect with me there at Erica Armstrong, MD. Amazing. Thank you so much, Erica. This has been a true pleasure to have you on the podcast. Really appreciate you joining us. Thanks, Al.

[00:11:09] This podcast is produced by Outcomes Rocket, your healthcare exclusive digital marketing agency. Outcomes Rocket exists to help healthcare organizations like yours to maximize their impact and accelerate growth. Visit outcomesrocket.com or text us at 312-224. 945-9945.