Google and Uber alums have created a doctor’s office that’s like an Apple Store meets ‘Westworld’

Forward

Somewhere between stepping into a full-body scanner that measures the elasticity of my veins and watching a cup used for urine samples disappear into the bathroom wall, I realize Forward is not your average doctor’s office. It’s like an Apple Store meets “Westworld.”

Staring down a massive touchscreen monitor in the exam room, I tell Adrian Aoun, founder and CEO of Forward, that I feel like I’m inside HBO’s sci-fi thriller.

“Yeah, but the good, not-creepy version, I hope,” Aoun says.

Forward emerged from stealth mode on January 17 to announce the opening of its first doctor’s office in San Francisco. The company offers a futuristic take on the popular concierge medical practice model, complete with state-of-the-art diagnostics tools, an AI system that listens and takes notes for physicians, and a pricey $149 monthly membership.

I recently toured Forward’s flagship location before opening to see what it was like.

This is what you get when several dozen former employees of Google, Facebook, Uber, and Palantir put their heads together to reinvent the doctor’s office.

About a year ago, Aoun was riding his bike to Google’s offices in Menlo Park, where he worked on artificial intelligence and ran the Special Projects division at Alphabet, when he got a call.

“Don’t freak out, but, I’m having a heart attack. I’m in an ambulance on my way to the hospital. So what do I do?” said his thirty-something relative over the sounds of sirens blaring.

After months of doctor’s appointments, phone calls with billing offices and insurance, and countless hours on Google trying to figure out what all the jargon meant, Aoun grew frustrated by how difficult the healthcare system was to navigate.

“Doctors are kind of awesome. They’re incredibly smart, they’re crazy well-educated. They mean well. … But the problem is, they’re totally set up for failure,” Aoun tells Business Insider.

“It’s kind of not their fault as much as, I would actually argue, it’s my fault. [If I'm] representing the engineering community, we totally dropped the ball,” he says.

His relative’s near-death experience was an eye-opener, Aoun says. He set out to bring more predictability, consistency, and convenience across the healthcare system.

He assembled a team of some of the most brilliant minds in Silicon Valley, including one of his cofounders, Ilya Abyzov, an early Uber employee who helped launch UberX.

Founded in 2016, Forward makes over every touchpoint in healthcare. The company’s engineers built everything from diagnostics tools to a mobile app that patients use to book appointments. The technology creates a better user experience for members and their doctors, according to Aaliya Yaqub, a Forward physician and a Facebook Health Center alum.

Forward’s vision has made an impression on venture capitalists. Its investors include Khosla Ventures, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Eric Schmidt, and Marc Benioff.

Forward’s flagship location, which opened January 17, mimics the look and feel of an Apple Store. When members arrive, they sign in on an iPad at the reception desk.

After signing in, members can make their way to the body scanner, a diagnostics tool built in-house that could easily be a prop from Westworld’s sophisticated lab facilities.

After patients hop on and slide two fingers into the scanner, the screen lights up with their biometric data, including height, weight, and body temperature. Sensors project an invisible thermal map on top of the patient and sends light through them, measuring their heart rate and how much oxygen is in their blood. It’s non-invasive, Aoun says.

In 45 seconds, the data sends to Forward’s backend system. Patients can view their results from an app on their phone, while their doctors can access them from the exam room.

Forward isn’t reinventing the wheel here. Tools like blood pressure cuffs and fingertip pulse oximeters have existed for a long time. But the company’s all-in-one scanner does help make members’ visits to the doctor a few minutes faster, Aoun says.

The exam room is where the real magic happens. The first thing members see when they walk in is a massive touchscreen display on the wall.

The algorithms that power it listen to the conversation happening in the room and cull relevant information for the physician’s notes, which appear on-screen in real time. This way, the doctor can focus on the human sitting in front of them, rather than a laptop.

It also shows the member’s history and sensor data, and makes suggested diagnoses and treatment plans based on what it knows about the person. For example, if the doctor and patient decide to make weight loss one of his or her ongoing wellness goals, the display might recommend new exercise and dieting habits to help the member reach that goal.

This technology performed well during a demo I saw at the office, though it’s unclear how reliable it is in a real-life setting. 

Aoun also wanted to create a solution to one of the most embarrassing parts of a doctor’s visit: carrying a urine sample back to the nurse’s station. At Forward, members can place their sample in a hole in the wall that closes and delivers the cup to where it needs to go.

A light wood display case at the entrance shows off wearable sensors, vitamins and supplements, and skincare products that members can buy at discounted rates via their membership. These products are not sold on-site, however.

Though patients traveling outside the country might walk out with a free tote bag containing the essentials, including antibacterial soap and a reusable water bottle.

Patients can view their lab results anytime from the mobile app, or message their doctor with follow-up questions.

Tech-savvy medical practices increasingly offer online access to lab results, but Forward might be the only practice to make a promise that members will receive a response within one minute of sending a message, day or night.

Membership starts at $149 a month, and members are still encouraged to buy insurance. Aoun says he expects the price to drop with time, drawing a comparison between the price tag on first generation iPhones and Teslas and their cost today.

Still, $149 a month — roughly the cost of an annual One Medical Group membership — is a steep price to pay.

It’s worth it if the member starts making smarter lifestyle choices, according to Aoun.

“What we’re really focused on is, how can we make the experience so great that you’re willing to engage your healthcare and you’re willing to engage it early and constantly,” Aoun says.

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