Dr. Lindner seeks to make state-of-the-art hormone restoration affordable for everyone. He charges for his time, as needed,
on a pay-as-you-go basis at a rate of $7 per minute, $140 for 20 minutes, $420 per hour. See the contract for details. For
most persons, the physician fees will add up to $400 to $800 the first year and can be as little as $140/year afterwards.
Those who just need simple sex hormone replacement or only thyroid optimization will usually require minimal time. Dr.
Lindner responds to e-mail questions/problems in a timely manner, and usually at no charge (see fee schedule). This is an
important benefit and it necessary for handling dose adjustments or problems between consultations.
Dr. Lindner does not accept any insurances nor is he a Medicare or Medicaid provider. He will provide a receipt so that those persons with recognized diagnoses can submit the bill to their health insurance for reimbursement. Dr. Lindner does not profit from any tests, hormones, or supplements he recommends, patients purchase these directly from labs and
pharmacies. Health insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid will usually cover the cost of blood tests and many of the hormone
prescriptions. For postmenopausal women, the estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone made by a compounding pharmacy
are not covered by insurance, but cost only $45 to $50/month. Thyroid and adrenal hormones cost another $20 to $40/mo.
each but are usually covered by insurance. Contrary to drug company propaganda, their commercial bioidentical
hormone products are much more expensive and no better than compounded hormones. However, for persons
with some medical insurances, commercial bioidentical products may be cheaper if their co-pays are low. Dr. Lindner will
prescribe whatever product is bioidentical, convenient, and affordable for the patient. Saliva cortisol testing through LabCorp or Quest is covered by insurance.
Dr. Lindner will answer preliminary general questions by e-mail for free, but he cannot order insurance-covered blood tests
until a doctor-patient relationship is established by a formal phone or office consultation. He cannot prescribe hormones to
anyone without an in-office consultation. Initial appointment forms can be downloaded here. Fill them out and bring them with you to your first visit.
At the initial office visit, Dr. Lindner can initiate hormone restoration if a deficiency is already established by prior test results or history--for instance if a woman is clearly in menopause and having estradiol deficiency symptoms. Otherwise he'll give you a laboratory request for the relevant hormone levels as required. If fatigue, pain, or depression are a problem, he'll also give you a kit for saliva cortisol testing. His assistant will notify you when she has received all the results--usually in about 2 weeks from the test date--so that you can set up a follow-up visit to discuss the results and decide upon hormone restoration. Additional follow-up tests will be ordered as needed, to be done soon after the time Dr. Lindner suggests. Doses are adjusted
according to symptoms primarily, and blood test results secondarily.
Individuals vary greatly in how they absorb and eliminate hormones and how their body responds to them. In addition,
hormones must often be started one-at-a-time in order to see how the body responds before adding another hormone. It can
take many months or even years to fine-tune hormone restoration, especially if thyroid and/or cortisol supplementation are
required. It can also take many months for the body to fully benefit from higher hormone levels. All hormones affect all other hormones--mostly by counteracting them--so getting the dose, form, and delivery method right for each hormone for each person is a complex art, requiring much trial-and-error. This is especially true for those persons who need to restore and
balance 5 or more hormones including thyroid and cortisol.
