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If you're looking for a more boutique experience and being able to see an actual doctor, I highly recommend Forward Medical (goforward.com) which I've used for

If you're looking for a more boutique experience and being able to see an actual doctor, I highly recommend Forward Medical (goforward.com) which I've used for a few years and have had nothing but great experiences with.

FollowingTheDao 4y ago
I am just looking for health care but what can I do? I am just a homeless guy with schizoaffective Bipolar and Ankylosing Spondylitis trying to get better so he can work again.
- hammyhavoc 4y ago
  Rough hand. Know you've got someone thinking about you in the UK.
- pibechorro 4y ago
  Charity can more than help those who fall through the cracks. Th Charity of individuals, nonprofits and private companies that realize investing in helping people will help their brand. Think of all the money that is wasted in todays system. Its not a lack of money,its how its badly spent and all the red tape in between. Much more efficient to let individuals manage it than a burocracy based on forced taxation which leads to a lack of accountability as poor performance still gets funding.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
sithadmin 4y ago
Forward went from being great in 2020 when it launched in Washington DC to absymal these days. Lots of MD/DO turnover, really poor follow-up, and you have to argue with them to get an appointment within a reasonable time (no, I don't want an appointment 5 weeks from today for what is a very painful ear infection today, thank you very much). They've also dropped the ball several times for me when referring to specialists. Forward's 'body scanner' thing and 23andMe results interpretation are both embarrassing farces, imo. The former much more so than the latter, but even the docs will admit that their use of genetics information is basically a dog and pony show that rarely if ever impacts how they approach care. I've given up and joined a concierge medical practice attached to a local hospital instead. It's only ~25% more expensive than Forward.
- nerdjon 4y ago
  I don't like the genetics or that weird scanner side of Forward. For me Forward has primarily been an anxiety thing. I have really bad anxiety largely around health issues. (Real or not) and I have found that since being with Forward that at least the idea that I can talk to someone at any point helps with that anxiety. I do recognize that a lot of that is placebo, but being able to help with anxiety without medication is preferred to me. That being said, they are only just now opening up in Boston so it will remain to be seen how they actually perform in person and not virtual. But their competition here is... its a low bar to be better.
  - orzig 4y ago
    Thanks for the details, I was surprised at the 23andMe outsourcing of genetics. I didn’t want to give mine to that company and (while I’m sure that was in the fine print) I assumed I was only going to be dealing with the company I actually signed up for. Forward outsources a lot of their clinical stuff, so the service ends up being much less premium
- srockets 4y ago
  It's as if for-profit health isn't really useful for quality of treatment.
  - sithadmin 4y ago
    For the population in general, no, probably not. Especially not for basic primary and preventative care. But it's also a matter of perspective. As someone that is privileged enough to shop for improved healthcare quality and access, I've jumped from an old-school cash-basis solo practitioner, to One Medical, to Forward, to about the highest end concierge practice available in my metro region. Every time I've increased my spending, the quality of care and accessibility has generally increased. One Medical and Forward were still improvements over what I'd had access to previously even though I chose to move on and pay more money elsewhere for an improved experience.
curiousgal 4y ago
> medical care > boutique experience Man, Americans say the weirdest $h@t
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  Price segmentation and product tiering is an inevitable consequence of supply not meeting demand. I expect the same to happen (or already happening) in the UK.
- beej71 4y ago
  It makes perfect sense in the context of one of the most insane healthcare systems in the world. :)
- dixie_land 4y ago
  One medical offices I’ve been to are definitely much nicer, the lobby / waiting area (not much wait, that’s the selling point) feels more like say a WeWork reception than a doctor’s
- orzig 4y ago
  We know it’s bad, and while we vote for better, we also need to get problems solved in the near term.
  - curiousgal 4y ago
    Voting won't fix anything until the electoral college and gerrymandering are abolished but that's an entirely different debate.
orzig 4y ago
Strong disagreement Forward was expanding to my city and I joined based on SF friend’s recommendation. They charged me a total of $500 without ever actually opening the office. When I requested a refund they said they could only give one month, then took so long to process that I got another monthly charge in the meantime! I had to follow up weekly for months just to get back to the original promise. Bad, bad experience, and I’m not even medically complex.

FollowingTheDao 4y ago

I am just looking for health care but what can I do? I am just a homeless guy with schizoaffective Bipolar and Ankylosing Spondylitis trying to get better so he can work again.

hammyhavoc 4y ago
Rough hand. Know you've got someone thinking about you in the UK.
pibechorro 4y ago
Charity can more than help those who fall through the cracks. Th Charity of individuals, nonprofits and private companies that realize investing in helping people will help their brand. Think of all the money that is wasted in todays system. Its not a lack of money,its how its badly spent and all the red tape in between. Much more efficient to let individuals manage it than a burocracy based on forced taxation which leads to a lack of accountability as poor performance still gets funding.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

sithadmin 4y ago

Forward went from being great in 2020 when it launched in Washington DC to absymal these days. Lots of MD/DO turnover, really poor follow-up, and you have to argue with them to get an appointment within a reasonable time (no, I don't want an appointment 5 weeks from today for what is a very painful ear infection today, thank you very much). They've also dropped the ball several times for me when referring to specialists. Forward's 'body scanner' thing and 23andMe results interpretation are both embarrassing farces, imo. The former much more so than the latter, but even the docs will admit that their use of genetics information is basically a dog and pony show that rarely if ever impacts how they approach care. I've given up and joined a concierge medical practice attached to a local hospital instead. It's only ~25% more expensive than Forward.

nerdjon 4y ago
I don't like the genetics or that weird scanner side of Forward. For me Forward has primarily been an anxiety thing. I have really bad anxiety largely around health issues. (Real or not) and I have found that since being with Forward that at least the idea that I can talk to someone at any point helps with that anxiety. I do recognize that a lot of that is placebo, but being able to help with anxiety without medication is preferred to me. That being said, they are only just now opening up in Boston so it will remain to be seen how they actually perform in person and not virtual. But their competition here is... its a low bar to be better.
- orzig 4y ago
  Thanks for the details, I was surprised at the 23andMe outsourcing of genetics. I didn’t want to give mine to that company and (while I’m sure that was in the fine print) I assumed I was only going to be dealing with the company I actually signed up for. Forward outsources a lot of their clinical stuff, so the service ends up being much less premium
srockets 4y ago
It's as if for-profit health isn't really useful for quality of treatment.
- sithadmin 4y ago
  For the population in general, no, probably not. Especially not for basic primary and preventative care. But it's also a matter of perspective. As someone that is privileged enough to shop for improved healthcare quality and access, I've jumped from an old-school cash-basis solo practitioner, to One Medical, to Forward, to about the highest end concierge practice available in my metro region. Every time I've increased my spending, the quality of care and accessibility has generally increased. One Medical and Forward were still improvements over what I'd had access to previously even though I chose to move on and pay more money elsewhere for an improved experience.

curiousgal 4y ago

> medical care > boutique experience Man, Americans say the weirdest $h@t

lotsofpulp 4y ago
Price segmentation and product tiering is an inevitable consequence of supply not meeting demand. I expect the same to happen (or already happening) in the UK.
beej71 4y ago
It makes perfect sense in the context of one of the most insane healthcare systems in the world. :)
dixie_land 4y ago
One medical offices I’ve been to are definitely much nicer, the lobby / waiting area (not much wait, that’s the selling point) feels more like say a WeWork reception than a doctor’s
orzig 4y ago
We know it’s bad, and while we vote for better, we also need to get problems solved in the near term.
- curiousgal 4y ago
  Voting won't fix anything until the electoral college and gerrymandering are abolished but that's an entirely different debate.

orzig 4y ago

Strong disagreement Forward was expanding to my city and I joined based on SF friend’s recommendation. They charged me a total of $500 without ever actually opening the office. When I requested a refund they said they could only give one month, then took so long to process that I got another monthly charge in the meantime! I had to follow up weekly for months just to get back to the original promise. Bad, bad experience, and I’m not even medically complex.