A partner in your patients' day-to-day
Do your patients need more support than you have time to provide?
A data-driven health coach for your metabolic and GLP-1 patients, built to extend your care between visits, not replace it.
With ever-increasing demands on an MD's time, there's precious little left over to do collaborative patient education.
I am often hearing frustration from healthcare practitioners that they don't have enough time to support and educate their patients more closely on healthy habits and behavior change. Patients themselves can feel a bit lost when given a list of things to do, but no idea how to integrate new "to-dos" in an already filled day.
As a doctor, your time is a premium. In your patient encounters, you may only have time to make recommendations and outline a plan, but some of your patients need close support and assistance actually implementing it, especially when the plan involves rebuilding sleep, stress, food, and movement patterns around a metabolic diagnosis or a new GLP-1 prescription.
That's exactly where I come in. As a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach specializing in metabolic health, my job is to coach patients through the day-to-day lifestyle changes needed to actually move the numbers you're tracking (triglycerides, fasting glucose, waist circumference, blood pressure, HDL) and to build the habit layer around your recommendations (whether medication, like GLP-1, lifestyle changes, or both) so results hold past the first few months.
I've made it easy for you to refer your patients to me, so they can get the personalized support and accountability they need, and you can have the confidence they're in capable hands.
Why Health Coaching Works
Research is beginning to show that patient outcomes improve with health coaching. The American Medical Association's Steps Forward module on health coaching puts it this way:
"Health coaching is a team-based approach that helps patients gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to become active participants in their care... Two randomized controlled trials showed improvements in HbA1c and LDL-cholesterol management in patients who received health coaching compared with controls who did not receive coaching. Moreover, health coaching improves medication adherence and increases patients' trust in their physician."
— AMA Steps Forward, "Implementing Health Coaching," Thomas Bodenheimer MD MPH, UCSF Center for Excellence in Primary Care
And on what it means for you specifically:
"Improved outcomes are a bonus for patient and provider alike. Physicians can rest assured that their recommendations are being communicated in a way that patients can understand and adhere to... In a survey of physicians working with health coaches, physicians rated patient visits with health coaches as less demanding than visits without health coaches."
— Full source and citation list: stepsforward.org/modules/health-coaching.
Health and wellness coaching is also gaining formal recognition within the healthcare payment system.
The AMA established dedicated CPT codes for coaching (0591T–0593T) in 2020, and only NBHWC- or NCHEC-certified coaches — like me — are authorized to use them. In July 2026, CMS proposed a rule that would build on these codes to establish, for the first time, formal Medicare reimbursement pathways for NBC-HWC coaching. It's currently in public comment, with a decision expected by late 2026 — a strong signal of where this profession is headed.
What a physician (and patients) get from working with me:
Improved outcomes for your metabolic-health patients, backed by data such as CGM readings and repeat performance-based non-diagnostic lab panels, not just a patient's word that "it's going better"
Confidence that your recommendations are being communicated in a way patients actually understand and can act on
Patients who are more engaged and motivated, with better follow-through between visits and excited to show up for their next one
More available time and less visit fatigue, the education and coaching component of lifestyle change is handled, so your visits can stay focused on the clinical picture
For GLP-1 patients specifically: a habit-building partner who never touches the prescription, but builds everything around it that determines whether results hold
I used to say ‘I just want to lose weight, tell me what to eat’ and that’s not what this was about. Looking back, that’s the most brilliant thing. What I actually got was I can go up and down the stairs without being winded. I can bend over and tie my shoes without propping my foot up. My friends ask me what my glucose number is at restaurants now, just for fun. Calling it a game changer does it a disservice. It was lifesaving.
I am on literally one-third of the medication that I was on a year ago, and the goal is to get me off that medication completely, and she is 100% supportive of that, and my blood work is supporting that... there was some pre-diabetes and other things going on that's totally gone...My doctor has been fully supportive of this whole process... she truly wishes that was part of her repertoire, because she does not deny for one second that her patients would be much better off with the same type of knowledge that I have gained.
Who my Services are a Fit For
I work with adults 25+ who are out of range on one or more of the five core metabolic markers (triglycerides, fasting glucose, waist circumference, blood pressure, HDL) and/or who may have been recently diagnosed with a metabolic illness, including patients newly started on or considering a GLP-1 who need the habit and lifestyle layer built around the medication.
What's Included
I work one-to-one with clients, in two ways (both of which are virtual, allowing me to support clients nation-wide):
CustomFit Wellness™ — a 3-month dynamic 1:1
This is a dynamic program built around the needs of your patient, typically including performance-based labs and/or continuous glucose monitoring at the start and end of the program (optional), so we're tracking this specific patient's system, not applying a generic protocol. In all cases we are tracking objective and subjective data points to inform the patient path, using both solution-focused and outcome-based coaching practices.
GLP-1 Support: The Habit Layer Alongside Your Prescription
A medically-reviewed program for patients starting or already on a GLP-1, with weekly sessions and daily check-ins to build the sleep, stress, food, and movement habits that determine whether results hold after a dose change or eventual discontinuation. I never manage or adjust medication, that stays entirely with you. The patient can complete one or both 3 month modules.
How to Refer a Patient
Fill out my Letter of Medical Necessity/Referral form and provide it to the patient. The patient can then contact me and set up a free health consult where we determine mutual fit. I believe fully in supporting patient autonomy and self-efficacy while building their confidence in taking ownership of their health journey. With this perspective, I hold in full respect a patient's decision as to whether they wish to work with me as their partner and guide in attaining their vision for their health.
ABOUT SJP Health & Wellness
Meet Stephanie
I'm Stephanie Pazniokas, a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) with a master's degree in neuroscience from Brandeis University and undergraduate training in psychobiology and biochemistry from Drew University. I'm also a Precision Nutrition Level 2 Master Health Coach and a Culinary Nutrition Expert with honors (Academy of Culinary Nutrition), and I'm currently pursuing a Metabolic Health Specialist certification focused on GLP-1 support.
After lab work, and before coaching, I spent years as a product manager and technical expert in isolated organs/tissues & physiological data acquisition systems supporting life science/pharma research. Following that - many more years auditing health insurance payment claims, so I understand the operational and billing realities your office works within, not just the coaching side.
I specialize in metabolic health: data-driven, CGM-based support for patients working on triglycerides, fasting glucose, waist circumference, blood pressure, and HDL, including patients starting or already on a GLP-1. I never diagnose, treat, or manage medication. My job is what happens between visits, so your recommendations become an actual daily pattern.
M.S., Neuroscience, Brandeis University
B.A., Psychobiology (minor in Biochemistry), Drew University
PN1, Nutrition Coach (Precision Nutrition)
PN2, Master Health Coach (Precision Nutrition)
CNE with honors, Academy of Culinary Nutrition
Let's Work Together!
Thank you for your interest in partnering with me to support your patients' health journeys. Please complete the below form and I will contact you about establishing a patient referral relationship with your practice.
SJP Health & Wellness