Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Younglove.
Hi Courtney, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I obtained my undergraduate degree in women’s studies before entering medical school. After completing a residency in obstetrics & gynecology, I began practicing in Overland Park. About ten years into practice, I began exploring the field of obesity medicine. Most of my patients were asking me about weight and I didn’t know how to help them. I had not received any training in how to advise or manage excess weight – and I myself was struggling with excess weight. I was also witnessing how the obesity epidemic was negatively impacting clinical outcomes – everything from pregnancy complications to cancer incidence to abnormal uterine bleeding.
I eventually obtained board-certification in obesity medicine and began integrating the knowledge into my OB/GYN practice. However, it didn’t take long to realize that practicing both disciplines together was complicated. Although I had previously had a very busy practice, I was soon drowning in patients who wanted to be taken care of by someone trained in obesity management – and who treated them without bias. Patients living with obesity are often much more medically complicated than those without – which meant more inpatient admissions, complicated deliveries, and longer surgery times. Juggling these demands with a busy clinic (also full of complex patients) put a great deal of strain on me – and my practice partners. I was also incredibly passionate about delivering evidence-based obesity treatment and had carved out a small portion of each week to devote to patients specifically looking for treatment – spots that quickly filled up.
Trying to juggle a crazy busy practice and keep up with two fields of medicine – both of which were advancing rapidly – was overwhelming. It didn’t take long to come to the conclusion that I had to focus my energies on only one. Back then, treating obesity as a disease was almost unheard of. Most people were married to the “eat less, move more” narrative. If people sought professional help for excess weight, it was primarily through commercial weight loss clinics and/or snake oil salespeople peddling unregulated treatments. However, the area was (and still is) full of lots of great OB/GYNs. So I gave my notice, gradually handed my patients over to my practice partners, and hung a shingle, determined to create a space dedicated to evidence-based obesity treatment.
Heartland Weight Loss was born in 2018. When we first opened, I knew nothing about running a business – I just knew that the area desperately needed a place where patients living with obesity could obtain high-quality treatment – and figured that the rest of the pieces would fall into place. And they did. Our slogan was (and still is), “Treating Patients With Dignity and Evidence-Based Medicine”. At first, we operated under the umbrella of health insurance and the business grew like wildfire. It was like drinking from a firehose, but I quickly figured out operations and accounting and hiring and HR – and all the other moving pieces that come along with a growing business. We opened a second location in Lawrence, Kansas.
By mid-2023, I had fifteen employees, including seven clinicians, and we were still on a four-month waiting list for new patients. The field of obesity medicine underwent massive disruption that year. Intense media coverage of GLP-1 medications sparked an unprecedented demand and clinicians everywhere began writing millions of prescriptions for these medications, including those FDA-approved for treating type 2 diabetes, which rarely had guard rails around use. As health plans scrambled to adjust to this unplanned increase in pharmacy spend and establish guardrails, they also looked for ways to recoup some of their losses.
Most health insurance plans include a standard exclusion that allows them to exclude the treatment of obesity. In response to the uptick in costs related to obesity treatment, in Q2 2023, one of these companies (who covers the majority of the Greater Kansas City market) applied it to a handful of small private practice clinics practicing obesity medicine around the country. When they began implementing this exclusion, we suddenly had hundreds of claims denied. Citing this obesity exclusion, they also retroactively retracted several hundred claims from the preceding twelve months that had already been paid.
We quickly adjusted our business model, crafting a self-pay model for patients covered by this plan. With continued disruption in the obesity space and uncertainty in the insurance market projected for at least several more years, a decision was made to move toward a fully self-pay model. The number of people willing to pay out of pocket for medical care is much smaller than those who want to use insurance, which required a downsizing of staff. We also made a decision to close the office Lawrence and consolidate operations in the Overland Park location.
Heartland Weight Loss continues to serve our patients “with dignity and evidence-based medicine” but without the hassle and hoops required by commercial health insurance plans. Removing these operations from the business has allowed us to devote the vast majority of our time to focusing on our patients rather than paperwork – operating in a concierge, micro practice model. With a deep understanding of the health insurance market, we can still leverage health insurance to optimize payments for medications and labs, but we are now considered out-of-network for all plans.
The primary demographic we serve is women around midlife. This is common for obesity medicine clinics around the country and is likely amplified given my background in women’s health. I was one of the first OB/GYNs to obtain dual board-certification in obesity medicine and have spent much of time the past eight years speaking and lecturing about topics that live at the intersection of women’s health and obesity medicine – especially around perimenopause and menopause. In addition to my board certifications, I have also earned my MSCP: Menopause Society Certified Practitioner – making me one of only 48 clinicians in the US with this triad. I recently began doing dedicated perimenopause and menopause consults at Heartland Weight Loss – for women with and without excess weight.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Nope – it never is! See the last page. Aside from building the plane while it was flying (without instructions), the field of medicine is constantly changing and subject to a ton of regulations – which means the goal posts are always shifting.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Our primary service is providing evidence-based obesity medicine treatment – leveraging all the pillars of obesity treatment to treat people living with obesity and preobesity. We are highly trained with extensive experience, providing much more than prescriptions. We monitor body composition regularly and address all aspects of health. We also provide in-depth perimenopause and menopause consults for women who want to take control of their health during midlife.
Any big plans?
In addition to speaking nationally about clinical topics related to women’s health and obesity, I have spent much of the past few years in advocacy – fighting for access to evidence-based obesity treatment and advocating for healthcare reform. Although I continue to practice medicine, speaking, writing, and consulting are where I spend the majority of time time.
Pricing:
- Obesity Treatment: new patient appointment: $225
- Obesity Treatment: monthly recurring appointments: $165
- Perimenopause/Menopause: initial consult: $325
- Perimenopause/Menopause: follow-up appointment: $165
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.heartlandweightloss.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heartlandweightloss/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heartlandweight
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtneyyounglove/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@heartlandweightlossKC
