Choosing a telehealth program: questions to ask any provider, including us

Check who is actually providing your care

Federal telehealth guidance says clinicians generally must be licensed in the state where the patient is located at the time of the visit. Ask which clinician will treat you, what their credentials are and whether they are licensed in your state. You can look up most licenses on your state medical or nursing board's website.

Physician-led can mean many things, from a physician seeing every patient to one physician overseeing a large team. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants provide excellent care in many settings; what matters most is that the person treating you is properly licensed, trained in the area and reachable when you have questions. At HealifyMD, care is provided by independently licensed clinicians, and HealifyMD itself is the technology and administrative platform.

Measurement before medication

For hormone therapy, testosterone, GLP-1s and peptides, a careful program reviews your medical history and current medications and usually orders baseline labs before prescribing. Labs catch safety issues, such as a high hematocrit before testosterone or kidney problems before a GLP-1, and they provide a starting point to measure change. A program that ships hormones or peptides after a short questionnaire and no labs is skipping important steps.

More biomarkers are not automatically better. A sensible panel answers questions that could change your care; dozens of extra markers can generate false alarms and anxiety.

Know whether your medication is FDA-approved or compounded

Branded medications such as Wegovy, Zepbound and FDA-approved estradiol patches have been reviewed by the FDA for safety and effectiveness. Compounded medications are made by licensed pharmacies for individual patients and are not FDA-approved; the FDA does not verify their safety, effectiveness or quality before they reach you. Both can have a place, but you deserve to know which one you are getting and why.

Also be wary of peptides labeled research use only. They are not meant for human use, and nobody is accountable for what is in the vial.

Ask about the pharmacy

A legitimate program can tell you which licensed pharmacy fills your prescription and how it ensures quality. The FDA's BeSafeRx resource offers guidance on recognizing safe online pharmacies and a way to look up state-licensed pharmacies. Be cautious with any seller that does not require a prescription, offers prices that seem impossibly low or ships from outside the United States.

Understand what FDA-cleared, FDA-approved and lab-developed mean

FDA approval applies to drugs and some high-risk devices after a review of safety and effectiveness. FDA clearance usually applies to devices, such as over-the-counter continuous glucose monitors, that are shown to be substantially equivalent to existing devices. Many specialty lab tests are laboratory-developed tests run within a single lab and have not been cleared or approved by the FDA. None of these labels guarantees the product is right for you, but they tell you how much independent review it has had.

Red flags to watch for

No single item proves a program is unsafe, but several together should give you pause.

• Guaranteed weight loss, guaranteed results or anti-aging promises
• Prescriptions issued without reviewing your history or medications
• Prepaid multi-month packages required before any labs or evaluation
• No named clinician, no named pharmacy or vague answers about sourcing
• Claims that a compounded drug is the same as, or a generic of, a branded product
• No plan for follow-up, monitoring or stopping treatment
• Pressure to buy add-ons that do not connect to your goals

Telehealth works best alongside your regular doctor

Online specialty programs are not a substitute for primary care, routine cancer screening, vaccines or urgent care. Keep a primary care doctor if you can, and share your treatment plans and lab results with them.

It also helps to ask any program how you would stop treatment, what happens to your records and how quickly someone answers a question about a side effect. Clear answers to those practical questions often say more about quality than the marketing does.