Questions are common. Learn a bit more about how we operate.
Click here to skip to Frequently Asked Questions about KNX, our new Health Optimization project.
Click here to skip to Frequently Asked Questions about PNOĒⓇ, our new metabolic breath testing option.
Thrive Adult Primary Care FAQ
Q: What are the benefits of membership?
Direct Primary Care (DPC) membership includes annual exams for screening and preventive health review, routine and sick visits, chronic disease and medication management, all with streamlined, direct physician access. In addition to visiting us in our office, you can call, text, or email your doctor without layers of barriers. Virtual visits via video chat are an option as well. Beyond all this, we also provide ongoing open-minded counseling about the best lifestyle habits for optimal health with fewer or no medications when safe and possible.
What it does not include are co-pays, co-insurance, hidden fees, or back-door costs for any primary care services we can provide. There is also no minimum time commitment for membership – the membership plan renews month-to-month with the option to discontinue at any time. Our goal is to keep things simple and provide care directly from doctor-to-patient without hoops to jump through.
Reminder: We are not an emergency care center, so for true emergencies please call 911.
Q: Do I need to be a member to have a medical visit at Thrive APC?
Not at all! In addition to seeing Medicare patients via the standard method of filing claims for coverage of individual visits, we also offer Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) services at ThriveAPC for patients who only need physician care one visit (or virtual visit) at a time.
Please note: we do not provide medication refills for these Pay-As-You-Go visits, because medications that require refills should be supervised on an ongoing basis by the prescribing provider for the sake of safety.
Q: Why don’t you accept insurance?
Because we believe in transparency. There are no guessing games with respect to cost at ThriveAPC. We are honest with prospective patients and clients about our costs so you can decide for yourself whether it is worth it before receiving care.
Q: Can I use my Health Savings Account (HSA), Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) or Flexible Spending Account (FSA) to pay for my membership?
We absolutely recommend using dedicated benefit accounts to cover out-of-pocket medical expenses whenever possible! Generally HRAs and FSAs have been used at our practice without difficulty. Because of rules that can accompany HSAs, monthly recurrent payments might not be an option, but we gladly offer discounts on annual prepayment of memberships which have been used seamlessly many times by our patients over the years. Ultimately, our advice is to contact your benefits manager to discuss this, and we would be happy to look at things with you to figure it out as well.
Q: Do I need to change my health plan to receive care at ThriveAPC?
Health care with a Direct Care practice often helps patients reduce annual health care costs compared to using services covered within a typical health plan, but it may involve changing coverage depending on the situation. In other cases, it may be most cost-effective to maintain your current health plan. Ultimately, each patient’s or family’s situation is different and needs to be looked at case-by-case. Patients interested in this analysis should feel free to contact the practice to discuss.
Q: How do I make an appointment?
To schedule a visit please contact our office by phone at (774) 318-4205 or by email at info@thriveapc.com.
Q: Can I walk in for an urgent visit?
Because we are a unique practice supervised by only one medical professional with a variety of services (including intermittent home visits), we strongly discourage walk-ins. However if you have a pressing need, we can often provide care or at least advice to our patients efficiently enough to improve the process compared to rushing to an Emergency Room or Urgent Care.
Q: How can I get in touch with you to find out more information?
You can also find more information right away on our website: www.thriveapc.org, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thriveapc, or on Instagram at www.instagram.com/thriveapc.
You can also call us at (774) 318-4205 during business hours M-F between 8:30am – 3:30pm, or send us an email: info@thriveapc.com.
PLEASE do not send personal medical information via email or via the website contact page for your own privacy and protection, but do feel free to contact us!
KNX Vitality FAQ
Q: What is KNX Vitality?
KNX is a subdivision of Thrive Adult Primary Care dedicated to optimizing wellness using the power of your body’s own physiology. Our mission is to help people understand the root of their emotions and symptoms without relying on labels or diagnoses, then use this knowledge to build habit patterns that directly promote health and happiness.
It’s a framework for lifelong clarity. We call it “connects” because wellness is integrative, and our goal is to bring it all back together for you.
KNX Vitality 5D is our physician-led, fully personalized coaching program guided by clinical-grade metabolic testing, that optimizes health, longevity, and quality of life through strategic lifestyle change.
Q: What’s with the “5D”?
Our Vitality lifestyle program hinges on a 5-dimensional (5D) framework which looks at life as a process of dynamic balance which is unique to each individual, rather than stacks of perfectionist goals that might not apply to everyone. The “dimensions” are listed here, but please visit this link for more detail: https://thriveapc.org/vitality5d/
- Perspective / Mindset
- Outflow / Emission
- Intake / Absorption
- Signaling
- Engine
Q: How is this different from medical care?
This infographic explains it best:
Q: Is there a doctor involved, or not?
All services with KNX are personally delivered or directly overseen by a fully licensed Doctor of Medicine (MD), with Board Certifications in Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine, and more than 20 years of experience practicing both Acute Care (hospital medicine) and Primary Care in Massachusetts. Click here for more on Dr. Medeiros’ story.
Q: How can I get started?
So glad you asked! The first step is to complete this no-obligation questionnaire so we can figure out what services best match your needs. We would also be more than happy to answer your questions and schedule you an appointment to get started if you just give us a call at 774-318-4205.
Metabolic Testing (PNOĒⓇ ) FAQ
Q: What is metabolic breath testing?
The testing we do, using the PNOĒⓇ metabolic breath analyzer, provides clinical-grade, gold-standard measurements of 23 biomarkers, yielding actionable information to evaluate overall health and bring you closer to important wellness and fitness goals such as weight loss or improving athletic performance.
Tests can be done in a resting state (Resting Metabolic Rate test, or RMR test), or while exercising (VO2 Max test) to provide a wide range of data to help optimize your wellness. Details about how these tests are useful can be found on our website at https://thriveapc.org/metab/.
Q: What happens during a test?
PNOĒⓇ testing is non-invasive and involves breathing in and out for 10-15 minutes while wearing a mask that looks kind of like what is used for CPAP machines. We also have antibacterial single-use filters to keep the mask safe for every user.
Each test begins with a simple questionnaire which gathers your basic biometric data like age, gender, height and weight, as well as health-related goals, and so forth.
For the RMR test, you literally just sit still and breathe in and out naturally while wearing the mask for about 10 minutes.
For the VO2 Max test, you will wear the mask while performing a guided protocol on our Assault Bike, designed to safely maximize your exercise capacity and ensure the most accurately measured data.
Q: Do I have to prepare for this test or can I just show up?
In order to ensure the most accurate data from the PNOĒⓇ test, it is important to avoid food, alcohol, smoking, caffeine for 3 hours and also avoid rigorous exercise for 24 hours prior to the scheduled appointment, as these factors can affect aspects of breathing and cause false results about your general baseline.
For this reason, it is critical to schedule the test in advance and plan appropriately.
Q: What sort of information comes from this test?
PNOĒ measures 23 clinically relevant biomarkers through a non-invasive breath analysis, offering a complete picture of cardiovascular, pulmonary, metabolic, and cellular function including parameters that show metabolic efficiency, fat burn, and cardiorespiratory performance.
Here’s how they break down:
Pulmonary & Respiratory Function
- Breathing Frequency
- Tidal Volume
- Minute Ventilation
- Forced Expired Volume
- VE/VCO₂ (Ventilatory Efficiency)
- End-tidal CO₂
- End-tidal O₂
- Fraction of Expired CO₂
- Fraction of Expired O₂
Cardiovascular & Circulatory Health
- Heart Rate
- Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
- O₂ Pulse
- VO₂/BF (Oxygen to Breathing Frequency Ratio)
Metabolic Function & Energy Utilization
- VO₂ Peak (VO₂ max)
- VCO₂ (Carbon Dioxide Production)
- Respiratory Exchange Ratio (RER)
- Caloric Burn
- Fat Oxidation
- Carbohydrate Oxidation
- Mechanical Efficiency
- Crossover Point (fat-to-carb switch point)
Performance & Threshold Markers
- Aerobic Threshold
- Anaerobic Threshold
Q: How often should I be tested?
Testing metabolic parameters approximately once every 3 months will provide an excellent picture of the effectiveness of lifestyle and management changes that have been made in the interim.
Q: How can this information help me lose weight?
PNOĒ measures metabolic rate, fat oxidation efficiency, and metabolic flexibility—the body’s ability to switch between burning fats and carbohydrates for energy. Many diets fail because they don’t align with these metabolic realities. PNOĒ enables personalized nutrition and training plans that optimize calorie intake and macronutrient balance, helping clients overcome metabolic slowdown and achieve sustainable fat loss.
Q: Does metabolic testing address other issues besides weight loss?
Yes, absolutely!
PNOĒ assesses breathing quality and autonomic nervous system balance, both of which directly influence brain oxygenation and metabolic activity. Because breathing patterns regulate stress responses and brain function, PNOĒ’s insights help tailor lifestyle, nutrition, and breathwork interventions that can improve mood, cognitive performance, and overall mental well-being. This makes PNOĒ a valuable tool for supporting mental health alongside physical fitness.
PNOĒ provides clinical-grade measurements of VO₂ max and O₂ pulse—two of the most reliable indicators of cardiovascular fitness and heart disease risk. These biomarkers reveal how efficiently oxygen is transported and utilized by the heart and muscles, helping practitioners assess risk for conditions like coronary artery disease, heart failure, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Personalized nutrition and training recommendations based on these metrics support heart health and disease prevention.
Abnormal breathing patterns and chronic hyperventilation can destabilize core muscles, increasing risk of musculoskeletal injuries and lower back pain. PNOĒ evaluates breathing mechanics and symmetry to identify dysfunctional respiratory patterns that affect posture and musculoskeletal health. These insights allow practitioners to develop targeted interventions to reduce injury risk and improve functional stability.
PNOĒ analyzes biomarkers such as ventilation efficiency and end-tidal CO₂, which can reflect breathing quality and gas exchange efficiency. Abnormalities in these biomarkers may indicate breathing mechanics linked to sleep disturbances like sleep apnea, as well as neurological imbalances that affect autonomic regulation. While not a diagnostic tool for disease, PNOĒ provides early warning signs that can guide further clinical evaluation and personalized intervention.
Q: Does this fall into the category of Lifestyle Coaching or Medical Care?
While there are heavily researched forms of cardiopulmonary testing to inform management of medical conditions, the assessment of metabolic testing using a breath analyzer like PNOĒⓇ fundamentally drives recommendations for lifestyle changes and does not require formal professional training in any clinical discipline to perform or interpret. In essence, this type of analysis fits best into the category of “Health Optimization” which correlates with fitness and wellness, much like personal training.
Q: How can I get in touch with you to find out more information?
You can also find more information right away on our website: www.thriveapc.org/knx, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/knxvitality, or on Instagram at www.instagram.com/knxvitality.
You can also call us at (774) 318-4205 during business hours M-F between 8:30am – 3:30pm, or send us an email: info@thriveapc.com.
Thrive Adult Primary Care 
