Alexis Anvekar MD: The Leela Integrative Medicine Center
"There is an old Sanskrit word, leela, which means divine play...both the delight and enjoyment of this moment...leela may be the simplest thing there is--spontaneous, childish, disarming. But as we grow and experience the complexities of life, it may also be the most difficult and hard-won achievement imaginable...
— Stephen Nachmanovitch —
Concierge Integrative Medicine
Alexis Anvekar MD ABIHM
We've lost ourselves. Hippocrates had it right when he said, "let food be thy medicine and let medicine be thy food." Today we obtain most of our food from boxes and bags which take up about 75% of the space in most grocery stores. More and more research articles are showing that our brains are shrinking, our hearts are getting clogged up, and we are developing more cancer due to our poor lifestyle choices.
Enter Integrative Medicine. Some call it a movement. We call it the right way to practice medicine. Integrative Medicine combines holistic with conventional medicine therapies. It cherry-picks supplements, educates you on how to reverse disease with diet and exercise, even treats you based on your DNA results to optimize your health on the cellular level. It's truly the best of both worlds. The National Institute of Health agrees. Click here for more info.
Dr. Alexis Anvekar, double board certified with the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine, can help you navigate through the maze of options with a whole person approach to your care. You're going to love this.
This type of medicine takes time. And there you go. That's the cornerstone of our practice--time. Dr. Anvekar spends triple the national average with you at each visit. Our team spends time long after your visit to coordinate your care with your pharmacy, insurance company and other health care providers. And when something comes up on a Friday night? When you're in Chicago presenting at a meeting? Can't miss your kid's game? No problem. Just call your doctor. She is available 24/7. Many issues can be resolved remotely so you can get right back to life.
You may even notice that your emergency room and hospital visits decrease because Dr. Anvekar treated you as soon as your symptoms arose, or that your visits to specialists decreased because she spent the time needed to figure out the problem in the first place. We know you're going to love this. We do.
Our testimonials and awards say it all. This is the way to better health.
A letter to my patients:
Since finishing training almost 20 years ago, I have had the rare privilege of practicing medicine in a thorough, unhurried fashion thanks to you.
Over the years, you have joined with me in prioritizing this "village doctor" practice model where we take the time needed to optimize your health, no matter what is happening around us in our country's broken health care system. It is this dedication that allows both of us to feel good at the end of the day, knowing that important issues have been addressed early and thoroughly, preventing more serious problems. And many years ago when you came to me with questions about supplements and holistic treatments, I began the journey to answer them, leading to board certification in the exciting field of Integrative Holistic Medicine which allows me to combine conventional medicine with the best evidence-based practices of holistic medicine. This is, without a doubt, the best way to practice medicine. Thank you for opening my eyes.
As we both know, spending time together is critical to getting to the right diagnosis the first time. And when I have the time to call your specialists and pharmacist to coordinate your health care long after you leave my office, we are both the better for it. I truly wish every doctor and patient could have this luxury of unhurried delivery of health care.
Personally, it is such a pleasure to be a part of your life and to ride along on your journey through graduations, weddings, pregnancies, career changes, and raising children.
And I feel you alongside me as I journey through my milestones. I have learned so much from you, and continue to do so every day.
So my friend, here's to you: May you live and love with joy in good health. May you stop and relish the sweetness in life's simple moments. And may you take them--the simple moments--and breathe them in and slow life down for just that long. It only takes a moment to smile. You remind me of that every day.
--Alexis
Alexis
Anvekar
MD, ABIHM
Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, and
Diplomate of the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine
Dr. Alexis Anvekar was raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. She graduated with honors from UC San Diego, obtaining degrees in Biochemistry and Cell Biology, with a minor in Psychology. She did not have support to attend college due to her gender, so she left home at age 18 and financed 100% of her room, board and education. She was very active in leadership roles throughout college and medical school. Some roles included Student Body President, Student Body Vice-President, Editor in Chief of college newspaper, Co-Editor in Chief of medical school newspaper, Co-Founder of Student Organization for the Medical Awareness of AIDS, Delegate for American Medical Association (AMA) and American Medical Women's Association (AMWA). She received a national leadership award with AMWA given to the most promising female physician-in-training in the country. As a senior at the medical school, she was invited along with the top 0.01% of graduating seniors to complete a coveted leadership fellowship called the USC Presidential Fellowship ran by USC's Marshall School of Business. She was also the sole person in her medical school class selected into USC's highest secret honor society.
After graduating from medical school, she chose to complete her training at the rigorous LAC+USC Internal Medicine Residency Program where she continued her role as a leader. She served as Housestaff President, Southern California Vice President for the Committee of Interns and Residents, and National Vice President for the Committee of Interns and Residents. In this role, she met regularly with politicians in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Washington, D.C. After completing her residency in Internal Medicine, she was honored to serve an additional academic year as Chief Medical Resident.
She has been practicing since 2001 and was amongst the first in California to start a personalized type of healthcare service now known as concierge medicine. Awards include Top Docs of San Gabriel Valley, Most Compassionate Doctor Award (given to top 3% nationwide physicians), Patient's Choice Award (given to top 6% nationwide physicians), America's Most Honored Professionals Award, LA Magazine's Top Doctors Award, Pasadena Magazine Top Docs Award, America's Best Physicians Award and Who's Who Among Women Entrepreneurs.
Being active in her community and fostering a love for charity in her children is a priority to Dr. Anvekar. She Co-Founded a group called "Kids for Change." This is a group of amazing local families who introduce their children to charity by purchasing, cooking and serving meals to the 50+ homeless men, women and children of the Union Station Homeless Services Family Center one dinner a month since 2010.
In an effort to do her part in furthering science education, she has served as Chair of the Science Fair at her local elementary school and middle school from 2011 to 2017. In 2009 she founded Wild 4 Science, an after school enrichment program aimed at fostering a lifelong love for science in young children. Dr. Anvekar believes that by introducing children to the fun and creativity in science at an early age, they are more likely to enjoy and succeed in science in the future.
Dr. Anvekar loves traveling and spending time with her family and friends. She enjoys photography and oil on canvas painting as her primary hobbies.
Ready to Join Us?
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Let's go over some details:
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Dr. Anvekar is available by text, email and phone 24/7, even when she is on vacation. She strongly believes that, if your health doesn't run on bank hours, your doctor shouldn't. This easy access is a unique part of our practice and will keep you healthier as you can get your medical issues treated as they arise so you can quickly get back to work, school and your family.
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We're open for business. Need to come in? We will get you an appointment within a couple of business days, and when you get here we do our best to keep you off of those waiting room chairs.
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Preventative health is the cornerstone of our practice. Your insurance company might not pay for a preventative health exam. Solution? That's easy. We do your one-hour preventative health exam anyway and won't charge you a dime for it (lab fees however are billed as usual to you and insurance by the lab).
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We've got time for you. Our time slots are more than three times the national average. Dr. Anvekar takes the time she needs to learn about you personally, which helps to optimize your health. Then, long after you've left our office, she takes more time to coordinate your care with your specialists and pharmacies. We do our very best to take the hassle out of your health care.
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How do we do this? Two ways: we maintain a small practice size (about 1/5 of a traditional practice), and we collect a monthly fee of $95 (age 14-25) or $195 (age 26 and up) monthly. This monthly fee is in addition to any co-pays or deductible you may have, and it serves to supplement your insurance company payments so Dr. Anvekar can take her sweet time keeping you healthy instead of booking up to 3 patients in each 15 minute time slot. Seeing a patient every 5-7 minutes all day may be the national average, but it just sounds crazy to us. We wish insurance companies would start to notice that it takes time to get your diagnosis and treatment right the first time which saves them money in the long run, but until that happens we need to collect this monthly fee from you.
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If you are underinsured, uninsured or have an insurance plan of which we are not providers (HMO, Cigna or MediCal), we collect a flat fee of $40 per visit in addition to the monthly fee.
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If you are asked to join a wait list, please forgive us. After you're a part of this, you'll know why we limit the size of our practice to ensure that every single person gets the attention they need.
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We can't wait to meet you.
