Parsley Health | Functional Medicine

I have been happy with my experience with Parsley Health but I understand that it may not be for everyone. My provider Jamie Hilbert has been great to work with and has provided me with additional information and care that I don't feel like I get from my primary care provider. The initial bloodwork was a lot for sure. They took 14 vials of blood but I was happy with the information I received from it and it is one of the main reasons that I signed up in the first place. Referrals to other specialty providers isn't always easy since they are not necessarily local, but the care team has always been very helpful and responsive to any questions or issues I have. I believe it's well worth the $200 per month price tag.

I have had a great experience so far with Dr Teresita Rand, who quickly diagnosed some inflammation, toxins, and gut health issues. Getting the bloodwork ordered was an important step because my general regular doctor would not do it based on how insurance works. The correspondance and communication has been better than my regular dr's office, better than my cardiologist... and it feels like there's a full team of support ready to help, answer questions, schedule things... I'm not sure I'm taking great advantage of the health coach offering, but so far the teledoc appts with Dr Rand have been focused, helpful, insightful, and have gotten me on a WAY better health path than regular doctors.

I have been a patient with Parsley Health for over 7 years and cannot say enough about my positive experience. Dr. Pal is utterly PHENOMENAL. Her calm demeanor, knowledge base, and bedside manner are unparalleled. She is so thorough and addresses every issue with such finesse. I don’t think I will ever be able to find another PCP that would come close in comparison. As far as the Parsley health team as a whole - the comprehensive nature of the practice and overall approach to patient care is beyond what I could ever have expected from a health care practice. I recommend Parsley to all of my friends and family and truly cannot say enough.

Because of them I found out I had gluten sensitivity and a number of other things. They check EVERYTHING and I mean everything to get to the bottom of what's going on with your health! I live over 2,000 miles away from them and I do zooms with them, then they write an order for blood work to your portal and you take it to your lab. It's so easy. Very highly recommended!

My provider is great, but the rest is a logistical nightmare. You have to schedule all your lab work yourself, unlike a regular doctor's office, despite the fact that you're paying a $200 monthly membership fee, and they dont explain how to do this. They send your medication to pharmacies that dont take insurance, they sned you directions to schedule other types of tests and the links are broken. Exactly what you would expect from a venture-capital health endeavor. Because I needed a provider certified in two states this was my best option. I do really like my provider and wish i could see her outside of the context of parsley. Ironically it has been recommended that for my health I work to decrease my stress, but every step with parlsey (aside from my actual appointments) hav ebeen massive, stressful headaches. Of course this doesnt matter to shareholders, though

I highly recommend Dr. Nisha Chellam at Parsley Health. I have been seeing her for 2 years and she has completely changed and saved my life! I was very sick with many health issues including autoimmune and liver disease. With her help I was able to reverse the autoimmune and fatty liver disease. I have been able to reduce medications and am hopeful to get off most if not all medication. I now feel younger than I did 12 years ago. I am able to do things that I haven't done in over 20 years.

I had been watching Parsley Health for a couple of years, and in April, I decided to get an annual membership. I was drawn to their holistic, functional approach to medicine. I also liked the idea of having a team of support, including a doctor and health coach, working together to help me live an optimal life. I'm also very keen on technology and supporting efforts to use technology in innovative ways. Let's just say: The reality of Parsley Health is much different than the painted vision of Parsley Health. To summarize: My doctor and health coach were nice, but I could sense their boredom and exhaustion with one Zoom call after another day after day. Also, Parsley's scheduling and use of technology truly sucks. The Parsley Health model may work for some, but it didn't work for me. I canceled my membership in July. If interested, I've shared some details below that led to my decision. RECEIPTS. I paid for the annual membership (~$2K). I expected to receive a receipt soon thereafter. I never received one. When I asked for one, they said that they were happy to provide a receipt after every doctor visit for ~$400 ($2K total/5 visits). That way, the doctor could provide relevant diagnostic codes for insurance/FSA purposes. When I asked for receipts for my first 2 doctor visits, I was literally shocked at the diagnostic codes my doctor noted. Not only did the codes not apply to me, but it's also nothing we ever discussed. When I asked the doctor about it, her attitude was, "Don't worry. It won't impact your insurance." Excuse me. SCHEDULING. I don't know if it's the doctor/health coach combo I picked, but trying to get a Zoom call scheduled at a decent hour was next to impossible. My first doctor visit was at 5AM PT. If I hadn't taken that slot, the next available appointment was 2 months later. If you live on the West coast, good luck. At one point, I got an email from a Parsley Health employee who wanted me to schedule a 30-min appointment with her to discuss my experience so far. I don't know if everyone got this invitation because when I went to schedule on her online calendar, she had no openings for the next 4 months. I just deleted the email. BLOODWORK. One thing I really liked - or so I thought - was the comprehensive lab work they have you do after your first appointment with your doctor. They tell you it's fine to break into two lab appointments, but I opted to do it all in one visit. Why not just get it done? The lab ended up taking 17 vials of blood. They took all they could out of one arm - 14 vials - then poked the other arm to get the other 3. All I can say is I was glad someone drove me. LAB RESULTS. The most enlightening, new piece of information I got from all the bloodwork is that I have very high lipoprotein (a) levels, which means I have a high risk of heart disease and stroke. I had never heard of lipoprotein (a) before. Through my research, I learned that it's genetic and it's something you can't really fix. When I reviewed these results with my doctor, she was not concerned at all nor did she offer any suggestions on how to mitigate or lessen the blow of this discovery. OTHER TESTS. Not once did we ever discuss getting regular mammograms or colonoscopies. That shocked me. When I looked into scheduling my own tests, the facilities I looked into wanted to send the results to my primary care doctor, which was Parsley Health. However, Parsley isn't into having you upload results from external sources. Like I said, I've canceled my annual membership (without a refund). This experience has reminded me of one of those commercials where the actor says, "I'm not a real doctor, but I play one on TV." Parsley's version is: "I may be a real doctor, and I play one on Zoom." I've scheduled an appointment with my traditional primary care doctor from a few years back, who, I might add, will be happy to review all my results from Parsley and guide me accordingly. She'll also kick my butt and tell me to get a mammogram. Let the good times roll.

The doctor I work with through Parsley is fantastic (she gets 5 stars) but the overall tech platform and service? Well...it takes months to get appointments with your doctor of choice, and sometimes there is no time on their calendars at all. The communication process over email is messy, the lab ordering processing is messy (due to lack of diligence by technicians I've had to go back and redo tests at their labs several times!), and patients are not adequately sent guidelines prior to the labs unless you happen to download and review the lab order prior to (ie patients should be sent notifications the day before when details of when we need to fast, etc.) Also, some tests like Cortisol are best done first thing in the morning…I’ve noticed Parsley’s lab techs don’t seem to monitor this . In conclusion - if you’re a patient, you better be ready to micromanage the whole process and get your labs done elsewhere (ie through Quest). But if you want “Concierge” care, look elsewhere. If you are looking for knowledgeable functional medicine doctors and nutritionists to supplement your primary care, I've been very impressed with my doctor.