Frequently Asked Questions
Step 1: Book your free discovery call.
Step 2: Talk to a physician about your needs.
Step 3: Choose and pay for your Initial Assessment.
Step 4: Continue your care with a Program or A La Carte Services.
Fees for Assessments, Programs and A La Carte Services are for uninsured services (services that are not insured by provincial health insurance plans and are not billable to OHIP).
For PAP or IUD referrals covered by OHIP, please have your family doctor send us a referral.
We have different programs to meet your needs. Please contact our Clinic Manager for more details.
Yes! When you enroll in a Kartar Health Program, you have online secure email support from 9-4 pm Monday to Friday. If your issue cannot be resolved through email support, you may need an appointment to speak with your Kartar Health Practitioner or Physician. If you have urgent/emergent issues not related to your care at Kartar Health, see your family physician, visit an urgent care center, call 911 or go directly to the emergency department in your area.
Some providers and professionals from our A La Carte services may be covered by your insurance. You can call your insurance provider to inquire.
You will be sent a lab requisition to take to a local lab that is convenient for you.
Clients have the option to be cared for virtually or come physically to the clinic. For some services, you will be asked to visit the clinic. Mobile home service will also be available for certain services (additional fees apply).
No. Physicians at Kartar Health do not replace your family physician.
No. Kartar Health physicians are not accepting family practice patients. Please reach out to Health Care Connect if you need help finding a family doctor.
Kartar Health Physicians can assess your hormone prescriptions given to you by other providers. It is at the discretion of the Physician to make recommendations to continue/adjust medications or hormone prescriptions prescribed.
No. Kartar Health Physicians do not renew medications prescribed by other physicians unrelated to your care at Kartar Health.
We will complete referrals needed for new urgent findings that require more investigation. Referrals unrelated to your care or for preexisting conditions followed by another doctor or provider may not be completed by Kartar Health Physicians.
Yes! We offer professional-grade supplements that can be compounded into custom formulas. Supplements will be shipped directly to you as needed. Please note, supplements you have access to from us are for your convenience only. You can purchase supplements anywhere and do not have to purchase from Kartar Health.
Definitions
Integrative medicine is a field of medicine that uses evidence and science-based medicine addressing the whole person’s needs (lifestyle, physical, social, emotional, mental, environmental, spiritual) through a combination of allopathic, complementary & alternative medicine. Preventative medicine includes all aspects of morbidity and mortality prevention. Our Preventative Integrative approach uses a whole-person approach to help you promote and optimize health.
Since most modern diseases are caused by lifestyle, lifestyle changes must be part of promoting health and preventing the causes of disease. Lifestyle Medicine uses evidence-based lifestyle therapeutic approaches to prevent, treat and oftentimes reverse lifestyle-related chronic disease. The Lifestyle Medicine approach includes a predominantly whole food, plant-based diet; regular physical activity; adequate sleep; stress management; avoidance of risky substance use; and use of other non-drug modalities that promote health and prevent disease*. At Kartar Health we use Lifestyle Medicine to help promote health. Our Lifestyle Medicine Physician is Board Certified in Lifestyle Medicine from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.
*American College of Lifestyle medicine Board review manual
*Shurney, D., S. Hyde, et al., CHIP lifestyle program at Vanderbilt University demonstrates an early ROI for the diabetic cohort in a workplace setting: a case study. Journal of Managed Care Medicine, 2012. 15 (4): p. 5-10.
A Healthy Lifestyle is beneficial. It affects gene expression (epigenetics); reduces insulin resistance (which is the underlying cause of high sugar and related metabolic dysfunction); reduces systemic inflammation; provides antioxidants and much more.**
**USPSTF. A healthful diet and Physical Activity for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Adults With Cardiovascular Risk Factors: Behavioral Counselling. Final Recommendation Statement 2014
Yes! Effective use of Lifestyle Medicine lowers healthcare costs and makes the healthcare system more sustainable.***
***Herman, W.H., The cost-effectiveness of diabetes prevention: results from the Diabetes Prevention Program and the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study. Clinical Diabetes and Endocrinology, 2015. 1(1):p. 9
***Neamah, H.H., A.K. Sebert Kuhlmann, and R.G. Tabak, Effectiveness of Program Modification Strategies of the Diabetes Prevention Program: A Systematic Review. Diabetes Educ, 2016. 42(2): P. 153-65.
Culinary Medicine helps you eat well, enjoy food that optimizes your lifestyle, and feel great. It merges the science of nutrition with the art of cooking. With a Culinary Medicine consult, you’ll get an in-depth look into your nutrition and cooking habits with personalized recommendations to help you prepare and enjoy quick, healthy, delicious meals. And through interactive cooking sessions, we build your confidence in the kitchen so you can become a better and faster cook, saving you time for what matters to you.
It’s food that looks good, tastes good and feels good – created by you. Culinary Medicine at Kartar Health is offered by a Physician who is a Certified Culinary Medicine Specialist.
At Kartar Health, we believe in promoting Spiritual Care as an essential and integral part of preventative and achieving optimal health. Connecting with our patients about their spirituality is an important part of prevention because spiritual distress can often appear before chronic disease manifests. We strive to understand what is meaningful, vital, and sacred to a person. We believe the Spirituality of a person is essential to build resilience, prevent diseases, improve longevity & vitality and optimize health.
Spiritual Health is a vital part of being human. Those people who engage regularly in their spirituality have less incidence of diseases, are more resilient, and live 7-13 years longer than those who do not*. Spiritual Health Coaching is a client-centred relational approach to working with you collaboratively to address the dynamic and intrinsic aspect of your humanity through which you seek ultimate meaning and purpose. It includes exploring how you experience relationships to self, family, others, community, society, nature, and the significant or sacred. For some, it includes religions and for others it does not; for example having a sacred moment or feeling connected in nature are seen as things that bring meaning and are part of your Spiritual Health. Spiritual Health Coaching will help you gain clarity of your meaning, purpose, and your deeper held values.
*Koenig 2002
**Pulchalski Et Al.
Yes! You do not need to believe in a religion to explore what gives you meaning and purpose in life. It is about truly understanding what deeper-held values and beliefs that drive you. Understanding your value conflicts can help you feel grounded when things are chaotic around you. Your spiritual health is a fundamental part of your health and well-being.
Integrative Health (IH) Coaching is a client-centred, relational approach to working with individuals collaboratively to address the health and wellbeing of the whole person. An IH Coach supports individuals in making key lifestyle and behaviour changes that promote health and wellbeing using coaching methods that empower and support you to achieve your personal goals related to optimal health and wellness. IH Coaching acknowledges the interdependent roles of mind, body and spirit, and the innate healing capacity within each person, with an emphasis on self-care.
- Coaching works with the whole person – addressing all core areas that influence your health and wellbeing.
- You are in charge of your health and wellbeing – coaches ask powerful questions and facilitate the process to maximize your potential for success.
- You and your coach partner to identify and articulate your goals and the actions to achieve them.
- Coaches have wealth of knowledge in lifestyle and integrative approaches for optimal health and wellbeing.
Ayur = Life, Veda = Knowledge
Ayurveda is a medical system that has its roots in the Vedic knowledge of ancient India. It is thought by many scholars to be the oldest healing system extant on our planet. The principles of many complementary and alternative healing systems now familiar in the West, such as herbal medicine, homeopathy, and polarity therapy have some, if not all, of their roots in Ayurveda.
Ayurveda is based on the practice of living in harmony and cooperation with nature. The goal of Ayurveda is to maintain health and cure dis-ease by natural means. Ayurveda comprises self-healing techniques with a focus on diet, exercise, rest and relaxation, herbs, besides using additional techniques including chanting (mantra), breathing (pranayama), and purification or tonification (panchakarma therapies).
Ayurveda considers all of the following elements of health and holds them paramount and of equal importance.
- Elimination of the cause(s)
- Treatment of the condition
- Rebuilding of the body
- The continuing support of a rejuvenation program
Ayurveda has the goal of alleviating all disease and suffering, both physical as well as mental, including that related to consciousness (Chitta). This means everything that crosses our minds whether it is mental, spiritual, psychological, or emotional can invite ease or dis-ease.
Ultimately Ayurveda teaches the key to health lies in continuously remembering one’s true nature as spirit, which is not physical but eternal in nature. When one remembers this truth and abides by this knowledge, one chooses actions that are consistent with maintaining good health and wholeness.
Biologically Identical Hormones are hormones that have a chemical structure that is identical to the hormone naturally produced by the body.
Hormones either are extracted from plants or synthetically manufactured.
What is most important is that the end product is a molecule that is identical to the hormone found naturally in the body. This applies to all hormones, thyroid, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and DHEA.
Synthetic hormones have a structure similar to but not exactly the same as a hormone produced by your own body.
These chemical differences mean that synthetic hormones act differently and produce different effects.
You may see the word micronized in front of your Bio-identical hormones Progesterone and Testosterone.
Micronized means that the product is a fine grain that is well absorbed.