Our Review Methodology
At Health Connect Alliance, we use a rigorous, transparent methodology to evaluate and rank weight loss providers. Our goal is to help you find providers that offer both quality medical care and fair pricing.
The Quality-Price Challenge
Many patients face a difficult choice: affordable providers that may cut corners on medical oversight, or premium providers with excellent care but prohibitive costs. We bridge this gap by identifying providers offering both rigorous medical standards and accessible pricing.
The Health Connect Rating™ Framework
Our proprietary Health Connect Rating™ evaluates providers across three weighted dimensions:
Medical Excellence Standards
The most heavily weighted factor—we evaluate critical safety and quality benchmarks.
- • Licensed Medical Providers: Are consultations conducted by licensed physicians, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants?
- • Comprehensive Medical Evaluation: Does the provider require detailed health history, current medications review, and contraindication screening?
- • Lab Work Requirements: Are metabolic panels, kidney/liver function tests, and relevant biomarkers evaluated before prescribing?
- • FDA-Approved or 503B Compounded: Are medications sourced from FDA-approved manufacturers or properly licensed 503B compounding pharmacies?
- • Ongoing Medical Monitoring: Does the provider offer regular check-ins, dose adjustments, and side effect management?
- • Emergency Protocols: Are there clear procedures for managing adverse reactions and medical emergencies?
- • Nutritional Support: Is there guidance on diet, exercise, and lifestyle modification alongside medication?
Value & Pricing
We assess affordability and overall value for the services provided.
- • Transparent Pricing: Are costs clearly disclosed upfront without hidden fees?
- • Monthly Cost: What is the total monthly investment including medication, consultation fees, and supplies?
- • Insurance Acceptance: Does the provider work with insurance or offer reimbursement assistance?
- • Medication Options: Are both brand-name and compounded options available at different price points?
- • No Long-Term Contracts: Can patients cancel anytime without penalties?
- • What's Included: Does the price cover supplies (needles, alcohol swabs), shipping, and ongoing support?
Patient Experience & Support
We evaluate the overall patient journey and quality of support.
- • Onboarding Process: How easy is it to sign up and get started?
- • Response Times: How quickly does the provider respond to questions and concerns?
- • Customer Support Availability: Are support channels (phone, chat, email) accessible when needed?
- • Educational Resources: Does the provider offer guides, videos, and educational content?
- • Shipping & Delivery: How fast and reliable is medication delivery?
- • User Platform: Is the website or app easy to navigate and use?
- • Patient Reviews: What do actual patients say about their experiences?
Our Rating Scale
We convert our numerical scores into letter grades to make comparisons easy:
Our Evaluation Process
- 1. Initial Research: We thoroughly review each provider's website, policies, and publicly available information about their medical protocols, pricing structure, and service offerings.
- 2. Mystery Shopping: When possible, our team goes through the actual sign-up process to evaluate the patient experience firsthand.
- 3. Medical Provider Verification: We verify that providers employ licensed medical professionals and follow appropriate prescribing protocols.
- 4. Patient Feedback Analysis: We aggregate reviews from multiple sources including Trustpilot, Better Business Bureau, Google Reviews, and Reddit to understand real patient experiences.
- 5. Pricing Analysis: We compare total cost of care including all fees, medication, supplies, and ongoing support to determine value.
- 6. Ongoing Monitoring: We regularly update our reviews as providers change their offerings, pricing, or medical protocols.
Our Independence & Transparency
We don't accept payment from providers for rankings. Our scores are based solely on objective evaluation. We earn through affiliate partnerships when readers sign up through our links, but this doesn't affect our rankings.
Full Disclosure: If a provider pays for better placement or rankings, we believe you deserve to know. That's why every provider on our site is evaluated using the same criteria, and our rankings reflect actual quality—not advertising spend.