Interested in offering the newest weight management medications to your existing and future patients? Medications like semaglutide (active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy) or tirzepatide (active ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound). This class of GLP-1 receptor agonists are currently the talk of the town, and for good reason. With weight loss of between 15-20%, without the side effects of phentermine and amphetamines (weight loss drugs from the past), these really are amazing medications. Here’s how you get started offering these options in your practice:
1. First, you have to get the medications. This is currently possible to get the active ingredient found in these medications from compounding pharmacies. The FDA allows compounding pharmacies to make duplicates of name brand drugs when they’re on the FDA Shortage List. That means you have to find the compounding pharmacies that 1) have the medications and 2) are able to ship to your state (ie have a license from your State Board of Pharmacy). This is harder than you think but we here at BuildMyHealth have a growing list of 3500 compounding pharmacies across the country and we can find one for you.
2. Next, you want to start letting your existing patients know you offer these medications. Either via email marketing or over the phone or when existing patients come in for other services. Everyone wants to lose weight and now you can do it safely with medications that are indicated for weight loss. The other way to make it easy to get patients started in your WMP (Weight Management Program) is by allowing them to purchase their WMP consultation online. This can be done with your existing online e-commerce portal or if you don’t have one, BuildMyHealth’s WMP software allows for online payments for one-time payments but also recurring subscription charges (see below).
Once they purchase their online consultation, send them their intake paperwork like you normally would.
3. After their in-person or virtual consultation, obtain labs. There are easy-to-use web portals that allow you to order baseline labs (4 labs specifically), allowing the patient to go in, get their blood drawn and you get the results back in 24 hours. After reviewing the labs, send the patient a link for their medication of choice.
This is basically like sending them a link to sign up for a Netflix subscription. The patient receives the link for semaglutide or tirzepatide (the link is automatically generated by your BuildMyHealht WMP software), and they can sign up online through a webpage that looks like it’s part of your website. Once they sign up, they’re charged whatever rate you choose for semaglutide ($500 ever 28 days, for example) or tirzepatide ($600 ever 28 days, for example). You’re notified of the purchase and this charge will occur automatically every 28 days! If their card fails, the system will send them a link to update their card – no need for your office staff to try and track them down!
4. Once the patient signs up for the medication subscription and you receive notification, you can order the medication from your compounding pharmacy in the patient’s name. The compounding pharmacy can send the medication directly to the patient or they can send to your office and then you can send to the patient. There are pros and cons to each way of providing medication to the patient which we discuss in more detail here.
Remember that these are once-per-week injections and after every four injections, the dosage increases. This is why patients are charged anew every 28 days and will need their new shipment of injections each month.
5. Now that you’re sending medications to patients and statistically speaking, 83-86% of them are losing weight, you want to ensure good follow up. Sending monthly surveys is a great way to find out how much their losing and to see if they’re having any GI side effects (nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea) most commonly associated with these medications. With their feedback, you can follow up and provide support, reassurance or a prescription for Zofran. It’s also a great opportunity to begin collecting weight loss data which can be shared on your website to educate future patients.
Ready to Start a weight Management Program?
Not sure where to begin? BuildMyHealth WMP (Weight Management Program) offers an easy to follow blueprint, including sourcing of your compounded medication. Get started by clicking here to learn more and get started.
Already have a growing weight management program but want to scale from dozens to hundreds or thousands of patients?! The BuildMyHealth WMP automation software can get you there! Never again will you have to worry about collecting payments or getting updated cards when payments fail. We can help you with online payments 24/7, credit card dunning, or missing out on a lead from someone interested in your program after eating that last slice of late-night pizza! Don’t make this hard on the prospective patient. Because “if you make it easy, they will pay!” Click here to automate your weight management program today.
