From direct to consumer microbiome, DNA and nutrient tests to customized daily vitamin packs, there’s no doubt that personalized supplementation is all the rage right now among patients - YAY! Right? Wrong.
Behind those well-marketed labels, ads and systems is a mass marketing scheme making those companies and investors millions of dollars. And they are not actually helping your patients or prospects get and stay healthy. What’s equally awful? They circumvent you, the qualified practitioner.
We already know that patients today are actively seeking guidance in finding better supplement choices. That means that now is the perfect time for you, as the practitioner, to educate your patients on how to make smarter supplement choices.
Because so few people are doing personalization really well, doing it better is your competitive advantage!
Here are four steps to help you develop personalized supplement recommendations:
1. Meet Patients Where They Are
Be your patients’ Uber or Lyft driver and meet them exactly where they are, not where they think they should be. Start off by ordering the labs you need to specifically hone in on key personal data, including nutrients, stool and hormones. Only then can you begin to identify the root cause(s) of their current levels and other biomarkers.
2. Conduct Better Evaluations
Get a clear sense of your patient’s starting point—their total nutrition, which includes supplements and medications along with food and drinks. When you and your patients have that data, you can create a highly personalized protocol and easily eclipse the results they would get if they were basing nutrition decisions on flashy advertising and marketing campaigns alone.
The Better Nutrition Program (BNP) offers over 25 targeted evaluations that help you easily get the information you need to personalize your recommendations. Download one of BNP’s done-for-you tools, The Rainbow Evaluation, and see for yourself the value of conducting better, more targeted evaluations.
3. Show, Not Just Tell, Patients Their Better Choices
Unlike a company that says “You’re a vegan, so take B12”, you can base your recommendations on labs and evaluation results, taking into account your patients’ total current nutrition, health and lifestyle. When you are able to show them exactly why a current supplement choice is better, or why you are suggesting a different supplement, your personalized recommendation is much more likely to be effective.
4. Assess and Reassess Progress And Make Tweaks Along The Way
As you continue to work with your patients, don’t forget to assess their progress. Set specific time frames for re-tests and follow-ups. Continue to evaluate the patient’s journey and realize the adjustments may be needed along the way. After all, personalization means changes to a protocol may need to happen if a patient’s situation changes.
Now THAT is so much better than taking a supplement from an online quiz that groups your patient because of one preference, health goal or biomarker. Again, you know this, but they don’t…. yet.
Truly Personalized Care
Show patients that you are key in their getting a truly personalized recommendation. But first, what does truly mean?
Glad you asked! Here’s how I like to explain it:
Tested - not just one test but labs + total nutrition & lifestyle evaluations give a practitioner and patient the most complete picture
Root cause - better than knowing high or low, is knowing why - that’s what a practitioner can do that a machine or AI quiz can’t
Upgrade - take total nutrition to the next level not just adding one nutrient
Lifestyle - create recommendations fit with who the patient is, and how they live their life
Yours - you wouldn’t take someone else’s prescription medication, don’t take a supplement recommendation that isn’t Yours.
The power of personalization is incredible. And you, colleagues, need to own it. The time is now to begin personalizing supplement recommendations. Wonder twin powers activate! Want an easy yet effective way to do all this? Using Rupa Health and The Better Nutrition Program’s toolkit (evidenced-based total nutrition evaluations, guides and protocols) you can implement these 4 steps right now!
Attend FREE continuing education to up-level your nutrition knowledge and business growth at the following link – Free Event
Learn more about Ashley Koff and The Better Nutrition Program at the following link - thebetternutritionprogram.com