Exploring Life & Business with Summer Holmes Mason of Nurture Gynecology and Wellness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Summer Holmes Mason.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Wow! My journey really begins as a bright eyed newly minted attending physician back in 2014. I had graduated residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology and was ready to change the world. After practicing on my own, I found that my strong skillset was honed to practice medicine with a certain level of efficiency and yet there was a constant push and pull between that and my desire to listen and ensure my patients were seen and heard. Stories from women, in all stages of life, expanding on their health challenges and how these challenges affected their dreams, goals and relationships revealed that my training was lacking in precision. I had a cookbook of treatment options, but things didn’t always turn out as intended for everyone even when I followed the recipe to a “T.” The worst days were often when I found myself saying that there were no other options available – they had reached a dead end. I knew there had to be more. I explored options to enhance my training and for some time I contemplated leaving traditional medicine when I realized that a fair number of women do not fit in an algorithm. I was grateful to hear the Fertility Friday podcast that tuned me in to restorative medical models of reproductive health care. I found footing there where I learned about fertility awareness as a diagnostic tool, which led me to study NaproTechnology, functional medicine and integrative health care.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My journey has certainly had some bumps in the road. When I started this work almost 10 years ago, the road was lonely. There were few physicians practicing integrative women’s health care for me to learn from. For a while, I practiced in a long-established private practice that allowed me the freedom to incorporate the new skills I was learning to help women with complex care needs. When the practice switched hands, I jumped at the opportunity to partner with a like-minded physician starting a new practice. I was on call almost every day for two years as we built the practice up through an insurance-based payment model. The administrative cost of billing insurance, chasing reimbursements that were often denied, and limited bargaining power was heavy, and I ultimately had to leave that work behind. Leaving that work – the investment and the relationships I built with my patients and community – was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I always start a task with the intention of finishing, but I was provided the most valuable lesson though this loss: It is okay to change direction.

As you know, we’re big fans of Nurture Gynecology and Wellness. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I am a board certified OB/GYN providing functionally minded, integrative specialty care designed to complement well care with the patient’s primary care team. My practice is focused on hormonal health optimization including perimenopause and menopause, restoring abnormal menstrual cycles, preconception care including fertility awareness and infertility evaluation and treatment, and treatment to prevent recurrent pregnancy loss. Every treatment plan starts with lifestyle basics to nurture the body – treating the whole person through sleep, movement, community and spirituality, nutrition, avoidance of toxic substances, stress management. Functional and hormonal testing may be layered into this based on the patient’s goals. I use a mix of mind-body techniques, supplements, medications and trusted community collaborators, such as physical therapy or psychologists, to help optimize those lifestyle health pillars to restore health and vitality. Women in my care most of often see me intensively for co-care for 3-12 months, then return to their usual care team.

My practice is direct specialty care and is small by design. With direct care I remain out of network with insurance. This allows flexibility in timing of appointments and scheduling with initial visits averaging 60-90 minutes. New patients are often surprised to hear me answer the phone or call them back directly. I offer virtual and in person visits, as well. Patients have the option to pay for care as needed or enroll in a monthly membership. This practice provides access to affordable self-pay labs tests for patient who enroll as monthly members. Patients with insurance can use their insurance to cover outside labs or imaging.

Educating women about their bodies is my passion, and I’m grateful to share the wisdom that so many have shared with me over the years with my patients. More than that, I take great satisfaction in seeing my patients thrive. I am always humbled that they let me play a part on their care team. I give back by teaching medical students and residents about the work that I do through the non-profit FACTS About Fertility, and occasionally have these budding physicians shadow in my office.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
For my own practice, I see growth while maintaining its identity as a haven for women seeking personalized, precision-based care for gynecologic issues. Direct care itself is rapidly growing, particularly amongst advanced practice clinicians and physicians. I expect to see more physician specialists and surgeons returning to the direct care model as patients want and deserve without the constraints of the insurance-based model and as patients continue to educate themselves about the value of direct care through social media.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nurturegyn.com