Drs. Winslow, Duffy, Freeman, and McCoy at the Florida Institute for Reproductive Medicine operate under the philosophy of treating others the way they would like to be treated. A credo that offers personal care at affordable rates in the most convenient way possible. By focusing on the “Three C’s” (care, cost, and convenience), the Florida Institute for Reproductive Medicine has become the largest provider of infertility care in North Florida/South Georgia for the last 21 years. Our pregnancy rates have consistently been amongst the highest in the Nation. In 2005 our program was cited by Child Magazine as one of the 10 best in the country.
Our practice is comprised of four board certified or board eligible reproductive medicine subspecialists and a total of 42 employees, including one nurse practitioner, seven registered nurses and four medical assistants. Our nurses average over seven years of infertility care experience. We have a team of four embryologists and two andrologists. Our embryology and andrology laboratories are headed by a doctorate level embryologist/andrologist, Dr. Yang, with over 25 years of experience who has obtained the distinction of highly complex lab director. Dr. Yang is known internationally as one of the pioneers in the area of intracytoplasmic sperm injection, as well as egg freezing. Healing starts with the person who answers the phone and extends to all personnel. Everyone at the Florida Institute for Reproductive Medicine is indoctrinated with our service philosophy of being treated the way we would like to be treated. One of the most unusual aspects to our practice is that patients on each visit are seen by their individual physicians; we do not use technicians for monitoring, thereby giving patients feedback at every visit. Our doctors have all received “Best Doctor” and “Compassionate Care Giver” awards. We offer a full range of infertility care services. Our IVF program has been responsible for over 4,000 IVF babies born in the North Florida/South Georgia area over the last 10 years. Our pregnancy rates have consistently been amongst the highest in the country. We have a low percentage of higher order multiples because of our commitment to transfer, in most cases, no more than two embryos to individuals 38 or less. To reduce the twin rate, we offer elective single embryo transfer to appropriate patients. For women age 39-42, we transfer in most cases no more than three or four embryos. For most individuals age 43 and above, we strongly encourage donor egg in vitro fertilization because chances for a healthy ongoing pregnancy are very poor, less than 5%. We have the largest donor egg IVF program in North Florida/South Georgia, accounting for many babies born from donor eggs over the last 10 years. We offer a pre-embryo genetic diagnosis (PGD) program for couples faced with inborn single gene mutations or sex-linked disorders. We offer pre-genetic screening (PGS) for women older than 40 who are high responders. We also offer PGS for women with higher order pregnancy losses (greater than three miscarriages). Our fertility preservation program offers a full range of services, including semen, egg, (pre)embryo, testicular and ovarian tissue cryopreservation. Our program has the distinction of having the first baby born in the world to a cancer patient who froze her eggs. We have worked for several years with Fertile Hope as well as the Livestrong program to help individuals faced with potentially sterilizing therapies afford their treatments. All of our physicians are experienced in the full breadth of reproductive surgery. Dr. McCoy, the newest member of our team, is one of the most experienced laparoscopic robotic surgeons in the country, routinely performing difficult myomectomies (removal of fibroids) and endometriosis surgeries as an outpatient. To care for our patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) who are not trying to conceive, we developed the Center for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, a center focused on the comprehensive long term healthcare needs of the PCOS patient. Our center includes a PCOS dietitian as well as a laser hair removal specialist. We believe this center is the first of its kind among private practices.
Infertility care is expensive and often is not covered by insurance. Across the country, only fifteen states have a mandate to cover infertility treatment. Florida and Georgia are not mandated states. A handful of larger companies offer insurance coverage for infertility treatment, including in vitro fertilization. Clearly, the major barrier for most patients is cost. Florida Institute for Reproductive Medicine has always tried to keep costs to a minimum for all services. We provide IVF at a cost of $6,500, exclusive of medications. This does not include ICSI ($800) or assisted hatching ($700) or embryo cryopreservation ($650). We also have a one-time assistance program for individuals who qualify, i.e. with combined incomes of less than $70,000 and who do not have any insurance coverage, whereby the Institute will furnish $2,000 worth of medications. This program is know as the F.I.R.M. Compassionate Care Assistance Program. We offer individuals in the military a 10% reduction in costs for IVF, in addition to our Compassionate Care Assistance Program – our way of saying “thank you” to those who serve to keep us safe. If a couple is not successful with their first IVF cycle, there is a $1,000 discount on their second cycle and a $2,000 discount on their third. We have several cost sharing and guarantee programs for individuals who are interested in these options.
Our primary facility is in Jacksonville, FL, where our andrology and embryology lab is located. We have satellite andrology labs available in Jacksonville Beach as well as Daytona. We have nine locations to see patients in the Jacksonville, Daytona, and South Georgia areas. We have monitoring facilities available in Daytona, Tallahassee, as well as our three South Georgia facilities. This minimizes travel for our patients. Our office is open seven days a week, 365 days a year to allow infertility care when it is most convenient for the patient. Infertility therapy is seven days a week – inseminations, IVF retrievals and transfers have to be done on a certain day, if they are not, care is being compromised. The only time our IVF program is closed is the last two weeks of December to over go over incubators and do quality assurance. We have a comprehensive website and social media outlets. Knowledge is power; we endeavor to help educate our patients, keeping them informed with regular blogs. Importantly, we are very transparent about our patient programs, treatment options, and prices.
The Florida Institute for Reproductive Medicine is a center of excellence, comprised of proficient, compassionate, dedicated people. No one takes what we do for granted. Care, cost, and convenience are very important to us. We treat others the way we would like to be treated. At the Florida Institute for Reproductive Medicine, it is not solely about making babies; it is about providing the highest level of patient care – the babies will come, over 10,000 to date!
