A: Nope. The Doctor’s Edit is out-of-network to all insurances, and thus does not bill insurance nor accept insurance payments, including Medicare or Medicaid.

Insurance-based practices need to rely on a high volume of patients, meaning you wait forever for an appointment and/or get inadequate time with the doctor. We’ve all experienced what that’s like, right?

Not being bound by insurance means we can accept virtually anyone (age 18 and over at The Doctor’s Edit) without being limited by any “preferred networks” lists. Sign up for your health edit!

A: Yes! The Doctor’s Edit accepts HSA or FSA cards as payment.

A: Yes, you may use your PPO health insurance the way you’d normally use it to help cover part or most of your labwork done through commercial labs, such as Quest or Labcorp. How much it will cover is at the discretion of the insurance plan. We cannot determine how much your specific insurance plan will cover before-hand, so you may want to call them to ask before you get labwork done.

A: We wish! But insurances are not that progressive. However, there are certain exceptions where health insurance might cover part of a specialty test. You’ll be notified when that option pertains to your test.

The out-of-pocket costs will be quoted for you before you decide to proceed with the testing. 

A: No worries; The Doctor’s Edit will help you order your labwork with affordable cash pricing through Ulta Labs (partnered with Quest) or Access Medical (partnered with Labcorp). Prices will be quoted for you before you proceed to have the labs done.

It’s still highly recommended for you to get health insurance because you never know. Good news is, it should not cost you anything to speak with a local health insurance broker to get the best health insurance deal for you.

A: No problem! Choose the Health Edit that fits your biggest priority. At your initial consultation, discuss other Health Edits that you’re interested in. Other tests can be ordered at your initial consult. Additional advanced testing will usually require its own dedicated follow-up appointment to review it. These will be billed separately from your initial Health Edit package.

Not sure what you need? Sign up for the Foundations Edit and talk with the doctor for guidance.

All tests and follow-ups are available a la carte anytime after your initial consultation.

A: No. The Doctor’s Edit is designed for you to come and go as you need. After establishing yourself with the initial Health Edit package you choose, you are free to purchase and schedule additional services when you want or need them.

Pop-up consults are available to patients who have already established care with at least 1 doctor visit.

Some membership-based practices limit how many visits you get with the doctor per year. We keep it open-ended because everyone’s needs are different.

A: The short answer: Purchase as many visits as you need, whenever you need them!

Your initial Health Edit package comes with either 3 or 4 visits. Each visit is 60 minutes long. These are designed to get you situated with enough time to go over your medical history, test results, and initial health plans with the doctor.

Afterwards, you are free to purchase and schedule additional follow-ups as often as you need. Choose from 30 or 60 minute follow-ups or choose different a la carte Advanced Edits.

If you suddenly get sick or need to be seen for something quick and uncomplicated, you are welcome to schedule through the Quick Care clinic, designed for “one and done” 20 minute acute visits.

Some membership-based practices limit how many visits you get with the doctor per year. We keep it open-ended because everyone’s needs are different.

A: Reality check: nobody can promise to fix years or decades of health damage in just a few visits. If anyone is making such promises, they are full of sh*t.

We’ve designed these packages to get you started in the right direction using advanced tools and technologies not available to insurance-based, broken healthcare systems.

After you complete your initial package, we’re still your health partner and here for you when you need. Think of us as that coffee buddy you catch up with every now and then, except it’s with your precision health doctor.

A: They’re off-shoot, pay-per-video/phone consults with the doctor when a bunch of questions or other issues “pop-up,” or you’d like another perspective on something, and you need some personalized medical advice that’s not from Dr. Google, TikTok, or Chat GPT. These are same day, next day, or within-the-week appointments that are available to patients who have already completed one visit with the doctor in any Edit.

This is not to be confused as emergency care or urgent care, though, because not everything can be examined or evaluated over video. See “Q: Ahhhh! I think I’m dying, what do I do?!” in the General FAQ section below for more insight.

A: Don’t dump your PCP! As a virtual-only practice, Dr. Ng cannot be your primary care physician, nor substitute for your PCP. Dr. Ng offers personalized health consultations through The Doctor’s Edit as an adjunct to your primary care and specialist team. Patients receiving consultations through The Doctor’s Edit are expected to have a PCP or to obtain one through their health insurance network locally. If you don’t like your PCP, it’s okay to find a new one! Dr. Ng recommends establishing care with a local direct primary care (DPC) doctor, who typically offers very affordable membership and better accessibility for your primary care needs. DPC is a great option whether you have health insurance or not.

Pro tip: Primary care physicians must offer a physical office for those times that you need a hands-on examination, along with all of the typical primary care services you’d expect from a PCP. Don’t be fooled by companies that offer virtual-only “primary care”!

A: You’ll need your PCP to:

• See you in person when needed.

• Perform physical exams.

• Handle your acute or urgent needs that require an in-person evaluation.

• Manage and refill your long-term medications.

• Manage and refill your controlled substances.

• Do your disability or FMLA forms.

• Manage post-hospital care.

• “Clear” you for surgery.

• Keep you on schedule with vaccinations.

• Keep you on track with preventative screenings if you’re not doing The Early Edit.

A: The Doctor’s Edit is not a concierge model, as it does not provide on-call services, primary care, in-hospital services, post-hospital management, or retainer services.

It is a consultative practice specializing in prevention and precision health that offers longer appointments with the doctor for in-depth, personalized care. It is designed for you to come and go as you please. Schedule with the doctor whenever you need to, without any monthly or yearly contracts. Think of us as your health partner that you check in with regularly to keep yourself on track.

A: While we’re flattered that you thought of us while you’re having a potential emergency, you’re going to have to call 911 or be taken to the emergency department. The Doctor’s Edit is not the place for emergency care or urgent evaluations and does not perform medical evaluations over email or portal messaging.

Examples that require an emergency department workup include, but not limited to: chest pain, difficulty breathing, anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction causing facial and throat swelling), sudden bodily or facial weakness, sudden confusion/disorientation, loss of consciousness, sudden loss of vision or hearing, severe sudden “worse headache of my life,” vomiting blood, unusual rectal bleeding, suicidal thoughts or plans, physical trauma, severe bodily pain anywhere, etc.

For urgent things that require physical examination, such as, but not limited to, sore throat/strep throat, ear pain, new wheezing, COPD exacerbation, possible bronchitis or pneumonia, mild to moderate sprains and strains, acute back pain, large joint pain etc, please visit your local urgent care or schedule an acute visit with your primary care doctor in person for a proper evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment.

Certain minor and uncomplicated acute issues can be managed online through The Quick Care Edition.

A: Apologies in advance, but no. Paperwork is the responsibility of your primary care physician. They love doing lots of paperwork. But on a serious note, all of these forms require a physical evaluation and to fill them out without a proper assessment would constitute fraud! Schedule an in-person appointment with your PCP or occupational health specialist to have these forms completed with them.

Sick notes can only be written if you were evaluated by the doctor for an acute illness through our Quick Care clinic or during your Health Edit consult. We cannot do FMLA forms for your illness; that must be done with your PCP who can see you in person.

A: Unfortunately, no. Testosterone is a Schedule III controlled substance under the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency). Prescription of controlled substances falls under the Ryan Haight Act of 2008, which requires the prescriber to conduct at least one in-person medical evaluation of the patient to be compliant with the law. Because The Doctor’s Edit is exclusively virtual, no controlled substances of any kind will be prescribed. No testosterone, no opioids, no Xanax, no Adderall, no Ambien, no phentermine, nope. That’s what your PCP or specialist is for.

A: First of all, congratulations on your pregnancy, if you are pregnant! The Doctor’s Edit will be available for you a few months after your delivery.

While you have the bun in the oven, your ob-gyn doctor will be your “go-to” person for lab work, health concerns, and medical management.

Many of the advanced testing done here will not be accurate during pregnancy and for up to a few months after pregnancy, while your body is recovering. Additionally, many treatments are contraindicated during pregnancy or breastfeeding.

Now, if you’re not pregnant yet but wish to be, you can still sign up with The Doctor’s Edit to optimize your health until that pee-stick shows good news, then transition your care to your ob-gyn. You’ll be advised on safe medications and supplements to take during pregnancy and what needs to be discontinued, if anything.

A: Glad you asked. The Doctor’s Edit is focused on prevention with the goal of optimizing healthspan (how long you remain disease-free) and strategies to help reverse or mitigate common chronic conditions. Remember, The Doctor’s Edit is an adjunct to your primary care and specialist team and not a replacement for them. With that being said, there are conditions that will require you to have a specialist to directly manage, such as, but not limited to: type one (1) diabetes, Grave’s disease, infertility (female or male), pregnancy, human immunodeficiency virus, any end-stage disease, active cancer, eating disorders or disordered eating, other psychiatric conditions beyond mild depression or anxiety, severe long-haul Covid, chronic Lyme disease, severe mold illness, CIRS (chronic inflammatory response syndrome). Additionally, any uncontrolled chronic condition will also require you to have a specialist on board. Dr. Ng will refer you to a specialist when needed.

A: The short answer: No.

Listen, if your objective is to only use things like crystals, essential oils, or homeopathy to cure your problems, this practice is not for you. While you’re welcome to incorporate therapies as such, Dr. Ng will use a combination of carefully selected medical-grade supplements with medications where necessary (and where the benefits outweigh the risk) and other science-backed therapies, but with the focus on food and personal lifestyle as your primary “medicine.” Sometimes pharmaceutical drugs are necessary to keep your condition stable, but the goal is to help you earn your way off of chronic prescription medications.

Like the name implies, supplements are supplemental to the edits needed in your life to achieve a healthy body, mind, and spirit. Many supplements are meant to be a temporary aid to help you rebalance things. Additionally, neither pharmaceuticals or supplements work well in the long run if gaps remain in your foundation. The truth is, there’s no magic pill or magical stack of pills that will compensate for a deficiency of good foundational habits!

“Natural” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s safer! Herbs and supplements must be carefully screened when used in combination with each other and with pharmaceuticals, medical conditions, and pregnancy to avoid interactions. Like with pharmaceuticals, stacking on more and more supplements is not necessarily better. Let’s work to streamline the pills you’re taking.

The Doctor’s Edit does not practice alternative medicine. Alternative medicine involves rejecting all conventional (allopathic) medicine and relying solely on non-conventional treatments. Alternative practitioners typically ignore the standard of care and evidence-based medicine. Alternative medicine is often perpetuated by alternative healers with no medical training and others posing as medical doctors who have no legitimate license to practice medicine, and therefore pose a risk unbeknownst to patients. Integrative medicine, on the other hand, practices the standard of care while combining the best of conventional and unconventional treatments. Functional medicine is aligned with integrative medicine in this regard. The Doctor’s Edit integrates conventional, functional, and precision medicine together to bring you precision health.

A: The Quick Care clinic is meant to address a simple and uncomplicated acute issue, like when you get sick. Think of it as a “one and done” appointment. They are short 20 minute appointments, but long enough to go into depth about your acute issue. Most retail clinics will give you 10 to 15 minutes max.

“Acute” means the condition is expected to be temporary or self-limited with treatment and/or support, like the flu or a migraine.

The Health Edits are for addressing all of your ongoing, chronic health issues using the Precision Health approach. They are longer appointments (90 or 60 minutes) to give you and the doctor time to explore and connect the dots. The Foundations Edit comes with 3 appointments to start. The Advanced Edits come with 4 appointments to start. Thereafter, you can purchase follow-ups anytime you need.