Model Comparison Table
We hope the interactive table below will be useful to you in deciding which model(s) might work best for your clinical situation.
You can click cells in the table that seem like a good fit for your practice. Those cells will be highlighted, and a row at the bottom of the table will tally the number of cells you've chosen in each column. You'll notice that you can click multiple cells in a row as well.
| Individual Visits with a Billing Clinician | Group Visits with a Clinician | Individual Visits with a Health Coach | |
| Needed elements (space, clinician knowledge and experience, personnel) | No extra space needed MD, DO, NP, or PA need knowledge to implement No other personnel needed | Need a room to hold these, unless virtual - will need a virtual platform (i.e., zoom) Clinician to lead the groups Clinician to coordinate and schedule sessions | Space for visits or virtual Need person with the training to deliver |
| Ways to pay for it | Insurance billing including IBT, preventative medicine, and E & M based on payer policies | Group IBT code, group medical nutrition therapy, patient out of pocket or insurance billing (if provider visit with each patient included) | MNT, behavioral counseling, IBT ("incident to"), other codes |
| Workflow after identification of patient for the program/model chosen | Schedule for repeat follow-up visits at program described intervals | Scheduling for ongoing set of sessions | Schedule for initial visit; warm hand-off in person ideal; schedule for follow-up visits at program described intervals |
| Approach to weight management | Up to 22 individual visits with primary care clinician in one year focusing goal setting and tracking, healthy lifestyle diet and exercise, planned meals and in some cases medication and/or pre-packaged food options. | Up to 22 group visits with primary care clinician in one year focusing goal setting and tracking, healthy lifestyle diet and exercise, planned meals and in some cases medication and/or pre-packaged food options. | Up to 22 individual visits with RDN, nurse, or health coach in one year focusing goal setting and tracking, healthy lifestyle diet and exercise, planned meals and in some cases medication and/or pre-packaged food options. |
| Your mental model | Part of patient care; something clinicians should do | Patients may benefit by working together and sharing experiences | Someone else with the knowledge should be in charge of this |
| How much of your practice you want to devote to weight management | May schedule specific days/times for weight visits or toggle back and forth between weight and other visits | Unless taking patients from other practices, unlikely to take up a large proportion of practice time | Since this is parallel activity, not necessarily a medical provider carve-out of time; rather an additional service |
What to do with your score: You will notice that the table calculated a score for each column. The score does not mean anything exactly; it is simply a guide to help you to determine which model type might be a better fit for your practice. For example, if you have a score of 3 for “hire a health coach” and a score of 0 for the group program, the idea of hiring a health coach might work out as a better structure than a group program. Consider this information, including the specific elements of the model, as you progress to the Your Path page to determine what you need to get started.