Common Questions

Questions Patients and Families Ask

If you don't see your question here, please reach out directly at contact@prathermedicine.com.

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About the practice

  • Prather Medicine is a geriatric specialty practice led by Dr. Christina Prather, a nationally recognized expert in Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Medicine. Formerly the Director of the George Washington University Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Program, she is a sought-after clinician, educator, and public health advisor for aging, memory care, and advanced illness care for older adults. After over a decade leading the field in academic medicine, Dr. Prather started Prather Medicine to ensure older adults living in the community have access to specialty geriatric care that can be life-changing for individuals and their families.

  • We focus on the parts of later-life care that need time and expertise, with the goal of protecting function, dignity, and joy:

    • Evaluate memory and cognitive changes with honesty and thoroughness

    • Provide a big-picture medical perspective for older adults with multiple conditions

    • Offer age-friendly geriatric assessments to help people age their best

    • Help families understand what a diagnosis means and what to realistically expect next

    • Offer palliative care support at any stage of serious illness, alongside your other treatments

    • Provide medical clarity after a hospital stay, so you know what has changed and what comes next

  • Most of our patients are 60 or older. We also welcome younger adults, particularly those noticing memory changes earlier in life who may have a family history of memory loss. A good time to call is when you notice changes in memory or thinking, when several health conditions or medications have become difficult to manage, after a hospital stay or a new diagnosis, or when you want a specialist’s perspective on aging well. We encourage you to meet us early in your healthspan, since a baseline assessment gives all of us a valuable starting point.

  • Yes! Your primary care provider and specialists continue to lead your day-to-day care, and we join them as a partner. We add extended, focused visits with a specialist who has deep expertise in aging, memory, and serious illness. We will coordinate with other members of your care team, so that everyone is working from the same plan.

  • A neurologist specializes in the brain and nervous system, diagnosing and treating conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, stroke, seizures, and some types of dementia. A geriatrician looks at the whole person: how memory changes fit together with other health conditions, medications, mobility, mood, and daily life, and what matters most to you and your family. Some people benefit from both. Evaluating and diagnosing mild cognitive impairment and dementia is a core part of geriatric medicine, so it makes sense for many people to begin with us. We work alongside neurologists if you already have one on your care team, and we can help you decide whether a neurology evaluation makes sense if you don’t.

  • Palliative care is specialized medical care for people living with serious illness. It focuses on relief from symptoms, support with difficult decisions, and making sure your medical care reflects what matters most to you. You can receive palliative care at any stage of illness and alongside all of your other treatments, even when your goal is still treating to a cure. Some people who benefit from palliative care are older adults going through cancer treatment, as well as people living with Parkinson’s disease, dementia, advanced lung disease like COPD or emphysema, or heart failure. Hospice is a specific type of care for the final months of life, when the focus turns fully to comfort. Our palliative care is about living as well as possible, and if hospice ever becomes the right choice, we will help you and your family understand your options.

  • No referral is needed. Because Prather Medicine works outside of insurance, you are welcome to contact us directly. We also welcome patients whose doctors have suggested they see us.

  • We are currently located at 3541 W Braddock Road Suite 110, Alexandria, VA. Our office site includes free covered and uncovered parking. An accessible entrace is available.

Your visits

  • Your Initial Assessment is specific to the service you choose. A Memory & Brain Health Assessment or Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment includes a 60-minute new patient visit and a separate follow-up visit. A Palliative Care Consultation includes a 90-minute visit, and a Transition Visit includes one visit of up to 2 hours. You’ll receive a written care summary with clear recommendations and interpretation of any test results we order, and we will recommend the best membership to meet your and your family’s needs. With your permission, we will share this summary with your existing primary care provider.

    A Memory & Brain Health Assessment also includes personalized cognitive testing and may include blood biomarkers to diagnose or rule out Alzheimer’s disease. The visit is thorough and unhurried, covering your history, current concerns, functional status, medications, goals, and priorities. If you have already had a cognitive or memory evaluation, we encourage you to bring any lab results, clinic notes, neuropsychological testing, imaging results, or other records to your assessment.

  • Please bring every medication and supplement (the bottles or a complete list), recent records and test results, a list of your other doctors, and your top two or three questions. Our free Family Guide includes a checklist to help you prepare for this visit.

  • Initial Assessments are usually in person so that we can complete a full evaluation, and we will work with you to find the right setting when coming to the office is difficult. Membership visits may be in person or by telehealth, based on your preference and what is clinically appropriate. Home visits are reserved for specific situations, such as when very limited mobility makes coming to the office difficult. If home visits are likely to be your primary need, please let us know during your introductory call; patients who need them regularly are generally best served by our Cultivated Care membership, which includes home visits. In our other memberships, home visits are available for a travel fee.

  • Yes. We welcome you to reach out on behalf of a family member. Please schedule a complimentary call to discuss how our practice can support you in caring for your loved one. With the patient’s permission, family members and care partners are encouraged to join visits in person, by phone, or by telehealth.

  • Yes. Our clinicians will order the tests and referrals that we recommend for you as part of your assessment and membership. We will also prescribe and refill the medications that we recommend and are managing on your behalf. Your other doctors continue to prescribe the medications they manage, and with your permission we keep them informed of the changes we make.

  • Membership includes support between visits, so that you and your family can bring us questions as they come up instead of waiting for your next appointment. For many families, a supportive phone call with our team between visits provides the touch needed to give you confidence, education, and support. You can reach us in several ways, which are provided at enrollment, and we respond within one business day, Monday through Friday. If you have a medical emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.

Membership and cost

  • Prather Medicine is a direct-pay and membership-based practice. Patients pay the practice directly. Our services are not billed to Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance, and they cannot be submitted to Medicare for reimbursement. This structure is what gives us time for unhurried visits, careful review of records and medications, family conversations, and support between visits. Your Medicare or insurance still applies to care you receive elsewhere, including primary care, hospital care, and tests. All fees are shared clearly before you make any commitment.

  • Fees depend on the assessment you choose and the membership that fits your needs. Assessment fees are listed on each service page. Memberships fees are listed on the membership page; Cultivated Care pricing is shared on your introductory call. We review all fees with you on your complimentary introductory call, before you schedule an Initial Assessment. Home visits are included in Cultivated Care and are available in our other memberships for a travel fee, which we confirm in advance.

  • We offer three memberships to support patients and families based on their health needs, goals, and care preferences. Following your Initial Assessment, we recommend the membership that best fits your needs and work with you to choose it. Optimized Aging Care is for older adults who are in good health and want a geriatrician in their corner. Steady Supportive Care is for older adults living at home with early memory changes or several chronic conditions, or who want more regular check-ins with their geriatrician. Cultivated Care is for older adults living with advanced illness or a major care transition, who benefit from the closest contact with their physician. Memberships are built around your needs, not a set number of visits.

  • Every care relationship starts with an assessment. This enables our team to dedicate the time and resources to get to know you and your health needs. You receive the membership agreement after your assessment and before you enroll. Membership plans begin with an initial membership period and continue month to month after that. Once the initial period ends, you can cancel at any time with 30 days’ notice. Because we reserve time for each member, fees already paid are not refundable. If your needs change, we can move you to the membership that fits best. We encourage you to contact us at contact@prathermedicine.com if you have questions or would like to discuss how we can work with you. Initial Assessments can be scheduled on their own and do not require a membership.

  • Memberships are billed monthly after an initial commitment period. Our intention is that this helps you feel confident knowing you aren’t committed to high annual fees at a time when health care costs are high for many families.

  • No. Our aim is to avoid surprise health care costs, and the membership fee allows for a predictable monthly cost, independent of how many calls or visits you need. The only potential fee is a home visit travel fee, which will be discussed prior to any home visits.

  • It is a privledge to take care of the partners and spouses of our patients. Please inquire directly with your care team to discuss adding family members to your membership.

  • Prather Medicine is pleased to care for the veteran community and does offer discounted memberships to veterans and their current spouses. Please inquire at the time of membership discussion. 

Getting started

  • Clinic visits take place at our office in Alexandria, Virginia, and telehealth visits are available to patients who are in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia at the time of the visit. We are not a home visit–based practice; home visits are reserved for patients with very limited mobility.

  • The best first step is a short, complimentary introductory call. We will listen to what you are navigating, explain how the practice and its fees work, and help you decide whether an Initial Assessment is the right next step.

    You can also reach us at contact@prathermedicine.com. We are scheduling introductory calls for December and will begin seeing new patients in January 2027.

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