Glossary: the words clinics use

Short definitions, grouped by where you will meet the word. Where a term has its own page on this site or a sibling site, the entry links to it.

Care models

In-person obesity medicine clinic. A practice whose main work is treating obesity as a chronic disease, with exams, labs and often nutrition support on site. Page.

Primary care. Your family medicine or internal medicine clinician, prescribing and following you within routine care. Page.

Telehealth-only program. A remote medical group that assesses you online, prescribes, and follows up by messaging or video, with medication shipped. Page.

Hybrid care. Intake and periodic checks in a room; routine follow-up remote; one clinician or team throughout. Page.

Medical group / professional corporation. The licensed entity that employs a telehealth program's clinicians. Often a separate company from the consumer brand you see. Its name and state are the first thing to ask for.

Visit types

Synchronous visit. Live, both present: video, phone or real-time chat. Asynchronous visit. You submit, a clinician reviews later: questionnaire, uploads, messages. Page.

Intake. The first assessment: history, contraindication screening, labs, consent. Page.

Titration visit. The check at each dose step, at least 4 weeks apart per the labels, where the decision to step up, hold or step down is made. Page.

Standard of care. The level of care a reasonably competent clinician provides in the circumstances. The FSMB holds telemedicine to the same standard as in-person care.

Informed consent. Your agreement to treatment after being told what it involves, its risks, and alternatives. For telemedicine, also the limits of the technology and who the clinicians are.

Credentials

MD, DO. Physicians; licensed by state medical or osteopathic boards. NP (APRN). Nurse practitioner; licensed by the state board of nursing; scope varies by state. PA (PA-C). Physician assistant or associate; licensed by the state medical board in most states; PA-C means NCCPA-certified. Page.

Board certified. Passed a specialty board's examination and maintains the credential. Obesity medicine certification is issued by the American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM). A credential, not a licence.

Full, reduced, restricted practice. AANP's categories for how much independent authority state law gives nurse practitioners.

NPI. National Provider Identifier, a ten-digit number every US healthcare provider has. The public registry confirms identity and specialty, not licence status.

Collaborating or supervising physician. The physician formally linked to an NP or PA where state law requires one.

Pharmacy terms

Compounded drug. A drug made by a pharmacy for a specific patient or in bulk by an outsourcing facility. Not FDA approved, not reviewed for safety or effectiveness, not interchangeable with the brand product. FDA page.

503A pharmacy. Compounds for individual prescriptions under state board oversight. 503B outsourcing facility. Registers with and is inspected by the FDA and follows manufacturing-grade quality rules. Neither produces an approved drug. Page; detail at formblendscompounding.com.

Certificate of analysis (COA). A lab report on a batch: identity, potency, sterility, endotoxin. Guide at formblendscompounding.com.

Non-resident pharmacy licence. The licence a pharmacy needs from your state to ship into it from another state.

Salt form. Semaglutide sodium or acetate rather than the base semaglutide in approved products. The FDA has raised concerns about these.

Billing terms

Membership. A recurring fee for access to care, medication separate. Per-visit. A fee or copay per consultation. Bundled. One price for visits and medication. Page.

Prior authorization. Your plan's requirement that the prescriber justify a drug before it is covered. Step therapy. A requirement to try a cheaper drug first. Formulary. The plan's list of covered drugs and their tiers. Weight-management exclusion. A plan rule that excludes drugs prescribed for weight loss regardless of formulary. Page.

Superbill. An itemised receipt with diagnosis and procedure codes that you can submit to your plan for out-of-network reimbursement.

Savings card. A manufacturer program that reduces the copay for commercially insured patients. Self-pay program. A manufacturer's direct cash price. Both tracked at formblendspricing.com.

Negative option / auto-renewal. A subscription that continues until you cancel. Federal law requires clear disclosure and a simple cancellation method.

Label terms

Contraindication. A condition in which the drug must not be used. For Wegovy and Zepbound: personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma, MEN 2, serious hypersensitivity. Warning and precaution. A risk that requires care but not necessarily avoidance: pancreatitis, gallbladder disease, kidney injury from dehydration, hypoglycemia with insulin or a sulfonylurea, and others. Wegovy label.

MTC. Medullary thyroid carcinoma. MEN 2. Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2. Both are label contraindications.

Titration / escalation. Increasing the dose in steps. Maintenance dose. The dose held after escalation.

Boxed warning. The most prominent warning on a label; for these drugs, the risk of thyroid C-cell tumours seen in rodents.

Records

Right of access. Your HIPAA right to a copy of your record within 30 days (one 30-day extension) for a reasonable cost-based fee. 45 CFR 164.524. Page.

Covered entity. A health plan, healthcare clearinghouse or healthcare provider that transmits health information electronically, and is therefore bound by HIPAA. Clinics, telehealth medical groups and pharmacies all qualify.