Every GLP-1 telehealth journey starts with the same artifact: the intake questionnaire. Most patients click through it in eight minutes without realizing it's the single best diagnostic tool for evaluating the provider. Here's the standard 2026 intake, annotated — what each section screens for, and which questions' presence or absence tells you who you're dealing with.
Key Takeaways
- Every question on a legitimate intake maps to a contraindication, drug interaction, or dosing decision.
- The highest-signal questions: thyroid cancer family history, pancreatitis, current insulin/sulfonylureas, pregnancy plans, eating disorder history.
- A thin intake isn't convenient — it's a provider transferring clinical risk onto you.
- Time yourself: a real intake takes 15–25 minutes; anything under five minutes is processing, not screening.
Section 1: Height, Weight, and Weight History
BMI establishes the on-label indication (typically 30+, or 27+ with a weight-related condition). Weight history questions — highest weight, recent trajectory, prior attempts — screen for unexplained rapid changes that could signal another condition, and calibrate realistic goals. A form that asks only current weight is skipping the clinical reasoning.
Section 2: The Medical History Grid
The checkbox grid is where contraindications live. The items that matter most:
- Personal/family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN2 — the boxed-warning contraindication. Its absence from an intake is disqualifying for the provider.
- Pancreatitis history — the classic caution flag requiring individual judgment.
- Gallbladder disease — rapid weight loss raises gallstone risk; prior history raises it further.
- Gastroparesis or major GI surgery — GLP-1s slow gastric emptying; pre-existing motility problems compound.
- Diabetic retinopathy — rapid glucose improvement can transiently worsen it; needs ophthalmology coordination.
Section 3: Medications
Two screens run here: hypoglycemia risk (insulin and sulfonylureas need dose adjustment when a GLP-1 joins) and absorption timing for drugs sensitive to slowed gastric emptying. Free-text medication entry with clinician review beats a checkbox list; a form with no medication section at all is a walk-away signal.
Section 4: Mental Health and Eating History
Screens for active eating disorders and significant psychiatric history. Appetite suppression layered on restrictive eating pathology is genuinely dangerous, and legitimate providers screen for it even though it costs them conversions.
Section 5: Pregnancy, Plans, and Contraception
GLP-1s are stopped before conception. Any intake serving patients who can become pregnant must ask; the good ones also ask about plans in the next year.
Section 6: Lifestyle and Expectations
Alcohol use, activity level, goals. This section feeds counseling quality more than eligibility — its thoroughness predicts how personalized your follow-up care will be.
The Meta-Test
Count the safety questions and time the form. Fifteen-plus minutes with all five high-signal items present: you're at a medical practice. Five minutes and a credit card field: you're at a fulfillment company with a prescriber attached. Programs whose intakes consistently pass this bar in our testing:
Embody
Injectable semaglutide — $149 first month
Physician-supervised injectable semaglutide with fast async intake and flat pricing after month one.
Compounded medications are not FDA-approved.
Visit Embody Paid linkEnhance MD
Injectable GLP-1 program
Established telehealth clinic with injectable GLP-1 protocols and live provider access.
Compounded medications are not FDA-approved.
Visit Enhance MD Paid linkSesame Care
Brand-name only — Rybelsus and oral Wegovy from $149–$299/mo
Brand-name FDA-approved medications only through a transparent marketplace — no compounded products.
Visit Sesame Care Paid linkAffiliate disclosure: Links marked "Paid link" are affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you sign up through them, at no extra cost to you. This supports our independent research.
Compounded medication notice: Compounded medications are not FDA-approved. The FDA does not verify the safety, effectiveness, or quality of compounded drugs before they are marketed. Brand-name alternatives (Wegovy, Ozempic, Zepbound, Rybelsus) are FDA-approved.
Medical disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. GLP-1 medications are prescription drugs. Always consult a licensed healthcare provider about diagnosis, treatment, dosing, and whether these medications are appropriate for you.