Methodology
Last updated: 2026-04-18
This page describes how we evaluate telehealth services, GLP-1 programs, and prescription medications across our comparison pages, best-of rankings, and drug catalog. The same framework applies whether the service is a paid affiliate partner or not (see our editorial policy).
The five-factor framework
Every service we review is scored on five factors. Each factor contributes to the overall score with the weighting shown below. We chose this weighting because clinical and pricing transparency matter most to readers; brand polish and marketing matter least.
| Factor | Weight | What we check |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical model | 30% | Who prescribes (MD/DO/NP/PA), their state licensure, whether the program uses asynchronous-only or includes synchronous visits, how follow-up care is structured, escalation paths for adverse events. |
| Pricing transparency | 25% | Headline price vs full out-of-pocket, what's included (medication, consultation, follow-up, shipping), how dose escalations affect cost, what happens to billing on cancellation. |
| State availability and access | 15% | Which states the service operates in, whether intake requires a specific state of residence, whether the service prescribes controlled substances or specialty medications across state lines. |
| Cancellation and refund terms | 15% | How easy it is to cancel (one-click vs phone-required), refund eligibility, money-back guarantees, what happens to unused medication. |
| Customer experience | 15% | Intake friction, time-to-first-prescription, shipping speed and packaging, customer support responsiveness, third-party review patterns (Trustpilot, BBB, Reddit) including how the service responds to negative feedback. |
What our review is based on
Our scores come from documents each service publishes: pricing pages, terms of service, cancellation and refund policies, state availability maps, prescribing-model descriptions, and the medication lists on their own sites. We read the same pages a prospective patient can read, and we record the date we read them.
We do not enroll as patients and we do not review any service on the basis of care we received, so nothing on this site describes what happens after you sign up. Where a claim about intake friction, shipping speed, or support responsiveness appears, it is sourced to the service's own published statement or to named third-party reports, and it is labeled as such.
Fields we cannot verify
When a service does not publish a figure, we leave the field blank rather than estimate it. A blank means unpublished, not zero and not unknown-to-us. We do not carry a number over from a third-party listing, a press release, or a previous year's page and present it as current.
When fewer than five of the nine inputs behind a score exist for a service, we show no score at all and say why, rather than publish a score computed from a thin base.
How we score and rank
Each factor is scored on a 1-5 scale based on objective criteria documented per category. Scores are aggregated into a weighted total displayed as a 1-5 star rating. We do not round individual factor scores up to inflate totals.
Best-of ranking pages list services in score order, with ties broken by the higher score on the most-relevant factor for that category (e.g., pricing transparency for "cheapest GLP-1 programs", clinical model for "most rigorous weight-loss intake").
When we update reviews
Services change. Prices change. We re-evaluate every review on a quarterly cadence and immediately when we learn of a material change (price update, new offering, FDA action, state availability change). The visible "Last reviewed" date reflects the most recent review of that specific page.
What we do not score on
- Marketing claims that are not independently verifiable
- Celebrity endorsements or influencer partnerships
- Brand aesthetic, logo design, or website polish
- Founder backstory or company history
- Affiliate commission rate paid to WeighedHealth
Drug-page methodology
Drug catalog pages (e.g., Wegovy, Zepbound, finasteride) summarize the FDA prescribing information, peer-reviewed trial data, and clinical guidelines. We do not score drugs against each other — drugs are tools used in clinical decision-making, not consumer products. Comparison pages between drugs (e.g., "Wegovy vs Zepbound") describe trial-supported differences without declaring one "winner" since the right choice is individual.
Insurance coverage methodology
Insurance carrier coverage pages summarize general patterns observed across published formularies, patient reports, and our own intake testing. Coverage within a single carrier varies dramatically by employer plan, region, and formulary tier — we describe representative patterns, not guarantees. Every insurance page includes a prominent disclaimer instructing readers to verify with their specific plan.
Conflicts of interest
WeighedHealth is independently owned. We have no equity in any telehealth service or pharmaceutical manufacturer. We earn affiliate commissions from many of the services we review (see affiliate disclosure); commissions do not influence ranking or scoring. Editorial staff have no equity or compensation tied to any specific service's performance.
Contact
Methodology questions or to challenge a specific score: [email protected].