LifeMed Clinic

About LifeMed Clinic

What is LifeMed Clinic?

LifeMed Clinic is a direct primary care practice with a focus on lifestyle medicine. It calls itself a non-profit 501c3 organization, and patients join a membership rather than billing insurance. It has offices in Chattanooga and Wildwood, Tennessee, and can be reached at (423) 250-5094. Greg Steinke, MD, MPH, is the clinician and medical director. The other prescribing clinicians are Julia Danforth, MD, John Harrington, MD, Elizabeth Perry, DNP, and Lilly Tryon, DNP. Nurses and other staff are also named, but none is listed as a prescriber.

Membership covers unlimited office and telehealth visits, appointments of 30 to 60 minutes that average 45 minutes, and same or next-day sick visits. Members can reach their clinician after hours through the Spruce app, including on weekends. The clinic also offers discounts on labs, prescriptions and supplements, health education classes, spiritual care, red light therapy at a discounted rate, and wellness retreats with local B&Bs. Its hormone therapy is bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, which the clinic describes as plant-based hormones such as estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. In its own words: "Our membership model includes unlimited visits, longer appointments, and same or next-day sick visits, without the hassle of insurance." It does not describe a medical weight loss program or GLP-1 medication. Its Google listing shows a 4.9 rating from 75 reviews.

What does it cost?

LifeMed does not publish a membership fee or a consultation fee. The only prices it lists are for events. Full Plate Living is $50.00 for an 8-week course, with a hardback resource book, a workbook and a light meal. Lifestyle Support Group is $5.00, and Double-Dutch Wednesdays is free.

The clinic works without insurance. It does not say whether the membership fee includes medication, lab work or hormone therapy, or what the discounted labs and red light therapy cost.

What should you ask before you book?

Ask what the membership costs each month and whether it covers medication, labs and follow-up visits, or whether those are billed on top. Ask who signs a hormone prescription and whether the hormones are brand-name or compounded. Ask what the discounted labs and red light therapy cost, and whether retreats are included in membership.

Ask whether membership has a commitment period and how cancellation works, since it does not say. Ask which office you would be seen at, and whether telehealth is available from either. If weight loss is your goal, ask whether the clinic offers a medical weight loss program with prescription medication, because none is described.

Who is it a good fit for?

This is a good fit if you want an ongoing primary care relationship with a small team, you are interested in lifestyle medicine and faith-centered care, and you are ready to pay the membership and any medication or lab costs yourself. It is a weaker fit if your main goal is a prescription weight loss program.

Sources: lifemedclinic.org, lifemedclinic.org/services-2, lifemedclinic.org/contact, lifemedclinic.org/meet-the-team

Services Offered

Location