Parsley Health - West Hollywood, California

pommom 7.

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!

e S.

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.

Lizzie P.

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

Debbie A.

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.

Tamara D.

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.

Tony W.

I've been a Parsley Health member for over three years beginning in San Francisco and now in Los Angeles. The level of care from the doctors, the health coaches, the phlebotomists, and the concierge service have been top-notch. While there are still many aspects of my health I'm working to improve and optimize, Parsley has been instrumental in create change both in body and habits. From a health standpoint, my health has inexplicably improved (the results are clear in the labs) and all this was accomplished without medication. I'm appreciative of the Parsley team and don't see myself going back to see a regular physician.

Barbara B.

Parsley Health is at the forefront of Functional Health Medicine. They are laser focused on working with you to help you achieve your best healthy self. I've been with them for 7 years and as a health care professional myself, I am amazed at what I have learned and with the care I have received. Thank you Parsley!

Mariana G.

I have been a member of Parsley Health since 2021. Today, I am not as happy with them as and I am even considering cancelling my membership. Back in 2021, they were much smaller than they are now and the quality of care seemed much better.

Today, I feel like it is almost impossible to get ahold of your doctor or to get a message back from the membership team. They advertise “unlimited messaging” when it takes multiple days or even weeks to respond to concerns.

Their recommendations or treatments have no continuity. They will suggest all this stuff and never really follow up with how you are feeling unless you do. It is so hard to know when the “treatments” will be over.

I was shocked to see that they did not suggest any ultrasounds, scans, or physical test for further evaluations. I had to find out through another doctor in my state that my high ALT levels were due to non alcoholic fatty liver—which Parsley health never even suggested.

The recent recommendations I have gotten have been “let’s retest in 6 weeks” or “let’s try lifestyle changes” when I have already tried almost everything and nothing seems to help. The biggest changes I’ve seen so far have been with actual medications that I personally requested. I am tired of trying little things here and there.

They will only care about you during your 30 minutes every 3 months. The rest of the time, they are too busy to even reply to your messages. This is probably not their fault, as they are just overworked.

If any of your questions or concerns fall outside of that 30 minute appointment, good luck getting answers.

Appointments take weeks or months to schedule. If you have a very persistent problem that are desperate to solve, I would probably try another doctor. By the time they see you, prescribe you supplements or “lifestyle recommendations” you will probably be worse.

I really hope someone from their team starts reviewing these concerns because it is making our memberships more difficult. I often fill out their surveys hoping they will change something, but they don’t. We pay a premium and we should be able to feel like we are.

Recently I think they are just too focused on growing their clientele instead of focusing on the ones who have been there from the beginning.