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.
| Incorporated with Patient Care | Group Program | Hiring a Professional | Purchasing or Developing a Program | |
| Needed elements (space, clinician knowledge and experience, personnel) | No extra space needed Clinicians need knowledge to implement No other personnel needed | Need a room to hold these, unless virtual - will need a virtual platform (i.e., zoom) Someone to lead the groups Someone to coordinate and schedule sessions | Space for visits or virtual Need person with the training to deliver | No extra space unless program requirement Program provides knowledge and structure Additional personnel may or may not be needed |
| Ways to pay for it | Insurance billing including IBT, medical nutrition therapy, 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 | Patient out of pocket payment mostly; may do some E&M billing |
| Workflow after identification of patient for the program/model chosen | Schedule for repeat follow-up visits at 1-4 week intervals | Scheduling for ongoing set of sessions | Schedule for initial visit; warm hand-off in person ideal; schedule for follow-up visits at 1-4 week intervals | Depends on the program; often regular visits such as weekly for weigh-ins |
| Approach to weight management | Any approach, but often utilizes medications and/or evidenced-based healthy lifestyle advice | Any approach, but often utilizes evidenced-based healthy lifestyle advice; some use high protein | Most RDNs are focused on healthy lifestyle advice based on nutrition recommendations; behavioral therapists may use mindfulness-based or other therapeutic approaches | Often these are high protein weight loss programs; can be healthy lifestyle curriculum also |
| 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 | A purchased program has the structure needed for patients to follow |
| 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 | To make a purchased program worthwhile, may wish to consider making it a portion of the practice (i.e. carve out of specific work/time) |
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 professional” and a score of 0 for the group program, the idea of hiring a professional 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.