Parsley Health, a functional medicine provider, is currently in network with all major commercial insurance companies nationwide.
The company’s in-network reach spans plans covering 150 million lives, including Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana, and Centene. Covered services include health care provider visits, diagnostic tests, and prescriptions. Parsley members must pay a $1,500 annual non-qualified program fee for wraparound support.
The announcement follows Parsley’s gradual expansion into insurance over the past two years, starting in New York and then California. According to the company, today’s nationwide rollout means its reach has expanded tenfold. The company provides medical care nationwide via telemedicine or in-person in Los Angeles and New York City.
Parsley was founded 10 years ago with the philosophy that functional medicine should be accessible to everyone. At the time, it was difficult to find health care providers who practiced functional medicine. It was very expensive. And there was little standardization regarding quality. Parsley started working on all three.
“We found that functional medicine, which uncovers and addresses the root causes of disease rather than simply managing symptoms, is the medicine we all deserve,” Parsley founder and CEO Robin Bergin, MD, told Fierce Healthcare.
Functional medicine aims to look at the whole person and get inside the symptoms to identify and address the root cause of illness. Parsley takes a multidisciplinary approach, and members receive access to a care team of board-certified physicians, certified nurses, functional nutritionists, care coordinators, member experience advisors, and a digital platform to track progress, access data, and more. Members also have unlimited messaging with their care team.
Each clinician completes in-house structured training known as the Parsley Fellowship, as well as advanced coursework through the Institute for Functional Medicine. The company also says it has built a documented set of evidence-based functional medicine protocols that are unique, and are continually reviewed and refined.
Three-quarters of American adults have at least one chronic disease, and more than half have multiple chronic conditions to manage. This reflects Parsley’s patient population, with at least 80% of members having one or more comorbidities. Most new members have undiagnosed conditions.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronic diseases, along with mental health conditions, account for a large portion of the nation’s health care spending. But Bergin argues that this system doesn’t address the root causes of these symptoms. That’s why consumers are increasingly concerned about health and longevity. While data is widely available to consumers through wellness services such as wearables and tests, it is often unclear what to do with that data.
“People don’t have the answers, they can’t take action, and they won’t take action. And if they don’t take action, they won’t get healthy,” Bergin says. Parsley brings in the missing piece of a doctor who takes the time to help patients understand their health conditions. “We are closing the clinical loop in the functional medicine and longevity ecosystem,” Bergin said. “We’re bringing doctors back into the fold.”
Parsley’s initial visit is one hour, with follow-up visits lasting either 30 or 60 minutes. The company does not accept 15-minute reservations. “Your health condition is too complex,” Bergin says. The provider panel size is also intentionally kept small. Members will have multiple touchpoints with their care team throughout the month.
Parsley said nearly 90% of members report significant improvement or complete resolution of their symptoms within a year, and the company’s holistic approach has reduced the number of specialists members need to see by 65%. Some patients continue to take Parsley for years, while others leave Parsley for reasons such as childbirth and return.
Parsley has published validated outcome data demonstrating cost savings that are key to its approach with payers. “I really had to prove myself to get my first contract with Aetna in New York,” Bergin said. He added that by that point the company had already seen thousands of patients and had enough data to support its value proposition. The goal is to eventually expand to Medicaid plans as well.
“Having a true care partner who works with you across all changing life stages and stages of health must be the most powerful tool for promoting better health outcomes,” said Bergin.
