Weight Loss Management in Portland, OR
We move patients from struggling with their weight on their own to feeling supported, feeling encouraged, and reaching the weight loss goals they set.
Reach Your Weight Loss Goals Safely, With Expert Guidance
There is no reason to fight your way through a weight loss journey alone, and bariatric surgery is not the only thing that works. Thanks to advances in weight loss medications like semaglutide, Vancouver Direct Primary Care in Portland can help you manage weight gain, high blood pressure, body fat, sleep apnea, and more.
Our Family Practice and Internal Medicine trained professionals build a personalized medical weight loss program designed around the goals you want to reach.
Below we walk through each of the following topics, so you leave with the information you came looking for:
- Medical Weight Loss: A Brief Introduction
- Weight Management: Is It Worth It?
- The Way Medical Weight Loss Works
- Treatments & Drugs for Weight Loss
- Weight Loss Management & Insurance
- The Side Effects That Come Up Most, and Tips for Avoiding Them
- Nutrition’s Role in Weight Loss
What Counts as Medical Weight Loss?
In a medical weight management program, your weight loss plan is built by a licensed provider (Doctor / Nurse Practitioner / Physician Assistant) who is trained in obesity medicine.
The advantage of a medical weight loss program is that medications can be used to help you make the lifestyle changes a healthy weight requires. Medical weight management frequently also includes referrals to Registered Dietitians, who provide nutritional counseling for meal planning.
Is a Medical Weight Loss Program Worth It?
A medical weight management program is worth it. It hands you control of your overall health without bariatric surgery or any other surgical weight loss method. Because it sharply reduces how many times a day food is on your mind, the lifestyle changes that improve your eating habits become easy to make.
The medications change your eating habits, so that a low-calorie diet results in weight loss.
Losing weight improves your overall health and your weight related conditions: your metabolism increases, body fat decreases, sleep apnea improves, your body mass index (BMI) comes down, and many other health conditions improve alongside them.
All of those metrics are easy to track with body composition scans. Other weight loss programs cannot reach the core of the obesity issue without bariatric surgery.
Want to know more?
Whether you are weighing treatment options, reading up on side effects, or simply after expert insight shaped around your goals. Get the answers from our expert team at VDPC in Portland.
Related Articles
More helpful reading on weight loss options and the latest updates.
How Does a Medical Weight Management Program Work?
The best medical weight loss method puts a licensed Internal Medicine professional trained in obesity medicine (Doctor, Nurse Practitioner, Physician Assistant) in charge of designing a program that addresses the underlying medical conditions causing the obesity in the first place.
Our healthcare professionals prescribe weight loss medications, work alongside registered dietitians on meal replacement, and treat the underlying health conditions.
Throughout all of it we monitor your body composition and can track BMI. For many people, this weight management program is the way to avoid bariatric surgery.
Effects of excess weight
- Aches and Pains
- Difficulty Sleeping
- Fluctuating energy levels
- Feeling tired
- Fluctuating mood
- High Blood Pressure
- Pre-Diabetes and Diabetes
- High Cholesterol
- Back and neck pain
- Knee pain
Feeling Better Is the Whole Point
Helping people feel better is why we went into medicine in the first place. It is our heartbeat, and it is what drives and motivates us. It is why we gave decades to school and gave up countless weekends and holidays learning how to help people feel better.
What we have found is simple. People feel better when they are heard, when they feel accepted, and when they experience compassionate care. That is our Heart and Soul. That is the core of our Weight Loss Program.
Our members are successful. They are guided by medical professionals including Morgan Powell FNP and Ed Kauffman AGACNP (Founder of this practice) who is on a GLP-1. The guidance you get here comes from firsthand experience.
Keep reading to learn how our medical weight loss management works. Whenever you are ready to sign up, just click the Enroll Now button.
We would love to meet you!
Medications Used in Medical Weight Loss
Ed Kauffman (Founder) takes these medications himself. That is why patients at Vancouver Direct Primary Care in Portland do so well on them. Our program was built out of firsthand experience, and that experience is what lets us guide you to the best outcome possible.
Ozempic/Wegovy/Semaglutide
• Semaglutide, Ozempic, and Wegovy are one and the same medication, sold under different names
• Treats obesity by lowering body mass index while encouraging healthy eating and physical activity
• Our wellness focused network of dietitians helps you get the most out of it
Phentermine
• Encourages healthy eating by reducing your appetite, which is what makes low calorie meal planning succeed
• For many people, straightforward nutritional counseling from dietitians makes a big difference in the behavior changes required. That often includes meal replacement shakes.
Zepbound/Mounjaro/Tirzepatide
• Tirzepatide, Mounjaro, and Zepbound are one and the same medication, sold under different names
• Paired with a weight loss plan, it can change eating habits in a way that makes a low calorie diet possible
• Increases metabolism and physical activity
• A great healthcare option for avoiding surgical weight loss and bariatric surgery
Real insight, from someone who has been there:
Ed Kauffman is on Tirzepatide, and he will guide you from his own firsthand experience.
Here is what happens once you enroll:
1. We want to help you however we can. Your first appointment is a thorough medical evaluation, and we set aside between 60-90 minutes for it. We go through your past medical history, surgical history, medications, family history, allergies, current medical issues, and anything else that surfaces.
2. We review your most recent lab work. Prescribing every medication safely is very important, so depending on your medical history we may need to repeat labs. If you have insurance, we can use it. If you do not, the typical lab panel costs around $60, and that can go up when several medical issues need further evaluation. We will do our best to stay cost conscious and work within your budget.
3. We review your weight loss options, which may or may not include medications. Saving our members as much money as we can matters to us. If your insurance covers the medications, we are happy to prescribe in the way your insurance will cover. If it does not, or if the requirements for coverage are unrealistic, no worries. We can use compounding pharmacies. All in, most patients pay between $150 to $400 per month if we cannot use their insurance, depending on which medication is the best option for them. Either way, we work within YOUR budget, and we are here to help you succeed.
4. Once the medication is determined to be safe for you and we have built a plan that fits your budget, we get started. Depending on your health history, there may be monthly check-ins to confirm the medication is being safely tolerated.
We hope to see you before long!
Which side effects are common with Tirzepatide and Semaglutide?
Some people taking Tirzepatide and Semaglutide may notice some degree of nausea, lightheadedness, constipation, diarrhea, and exhaustion. A few simple habits make these medications easier to manage:
- Do not skip meals. Your body needs that fuel for energy
- Begin every meal with water, then vegetables, then lean protein. That order makes sure your body gets the nutrition you need.
- vegetables to prevent constipation
- Because of how much weight our patients lose, they are at risk of losing skeletal muscle mass. That is why we prioritize lean protein here, so you do not lose muscle mass
- Take the injection at night, right before bed. That way, if you respond to the medication more immediately, it happens while you are asleep
- Certain medications, ondansetron among them, can be very helpful for the nausea
- No FAD diets. The point of the medications is meaningful change, not crash dieting.
Does Insurance Pay for Medical Weight Loss?
Very few insurance companies cover any weight loss option besides bariatric surgery.
Weight loss medications are unfortunately part of what gets excluded. They will often, though, cover the cost of a weight loss plan that uses dietitians to improve your overall health through meal planning and lifestyle changes.
To bring the cost of these weight loss options down, there are special compounding pharmacies that greatly reduce medication costs to as little as $75 per month.
We're here for you.
Has weight gain been a struggle for you? You do not have to face it alone. We are here for you.
Extensive research has established that extra weight is a chronic condition.
It is treatable, and it deserves to be treated that way.
Our Weight-loss management program starts with an extensive assessment of your needs, your health, and your goals.
Once we understand the causes specific to you, we can develop a plan tailored to you individually to help you lose weight.
For many people, that plan includes medications such as GLP-1 Receptor Agonists (Wegovy, Semaglutide, Ozempic), Metformin, Contrave, Topiramate, and Phentermine.
Thoughtful care that helps you:
- Reach your weight-loss goals
- Feel genuinely supported
- Sleep more soundly
- Ease aches and pains
- Wake up more rested
- Carry more energy through the day
- Reach your nutritional goals
- Reach your health goals
High Quality Primary Care.
This program, along with every other one, comes with your membership at our low monthly rate of just $149. There is no minimum contract, and you can cancel any time with a single text message.
Vancouver Direct Primary Care is a membership-based medical clinic in Vancouver, WA. We operate the way a gym membership does, with one monthly payment.
That model is what lets us cap the number of patients per provider and make sure you get thorough, thoughtful care built on our values of being heard, feeling accepted, and receiving compassionate care.
There is real hope when it comes to your weight management. With VDPC in Portland, we will build a weight management program that puts your needs first.
Sign up today and get the most value out of your weight management.
Individuals
$149/month
- Cancel any time with a single text
- Secure, direct provider access by phone, email, video, or in person
- Care That Is Thorough, Thoughtful, and Compassionate
- Care built around the goals you set
- 10% off for partners & families
Additional Services Included
Your membership covers every primary care need as well. That includes checkups, medication prescriptions and refills, lab orders, specialist referrals, imaging studies, and plenty more. It is Portland’s most thorough and affordable option for your health.
Our Testosterone Replacement Therapy evaluation and treatment program is included in your membership as well.