MD Exam: Real Facts and Figures About the GLP-1 Prescriber From Brand Co-Founders!

Like other telehealth providers that offer GLP-1 medication, the process starts when you fill out a medical questionnaire to see if you qualify. Co-founder Dev Rangarajan told us:

You’re going to sign up, and you’re going to do our medical intake. We will gather your history, and screen you for the five most common obvious disqualifiers for the medication. If you elect that you want medication, you’ll be matched with a doctor who’s licensed in your state. They’ll review your history before they ask any questions.

While compounded GLP-1 medication is the main attraction, MD Exam provides an in-depth weight loss program with nutrition and exercise coaching, progress monitoring and treatment adjustments if necessary. This is all done via telemedicine visits with an experienced medical team.

Dev stressed that the process is much easier than traditional doctor visits: “It’s not like going to a regular doctor’s office where you spend 20 minutes filling out paperwork in the lobby, some nurse talks to you about it, and then the doctor comes in and then asks you all the same questions again. It’s not a great use of everyone’s time.”

“Our doctors will review your chart. We have software to help them find anomalies, class patients and do those sorts of things. They might ask you a couple of questions about other medications you might be on, your cancer history or some of the more common types of things.” says Dev.

After the MD Exam medical team evaluates your case, they will prescribe your medication. If you do not qualify for its weight loss program, the telehealth provider will give you a 100% refund.

GLP-1 Medication Options

• Injectable semaglutide
• Injectable tirzepatide
• Oral semaglutide

Weight Loss

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Additional products and services

Although weight loss is the only healthcare service available currently, MD Exam is looking toward the future beyond GLP-1 medication. Dev told us: “The next big product for us is a post weight loss product. We’re looking into different therapies for muscle growth and preventing atrophy.”

Hormone therapy is another area that MD Exam wants to consider. Dev says: “We’re bringing in some hormone doctors and starting to design those protocols. Male hormones are pretty well covered but it’s female hormones that we’re really exploring right now.” 

Because MD Exam uses a network of compounding pharmacies to produce its GLP-1 medication, costs are generally lower than name-brand medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, or Mounjaro. The telehealth provider also offers a discounted rate for three or six-month commitments. Dev says that he doesn’t want to go beyond a six-month commitment:

“We haven’t done bulk pricing on later months yet but we’re looking into it. It’s not even really a price issue. It’s more of, ‘I don’t know what type of medication you’re gonna need in six months. Maybe you won’t need medication at all’.”

Some online GLP-1 prescribers have a membership fee (we’re looking at you, Noom Med and Henry) but MD Exam’s monthly cost includes medication, coaching and continued support from your medical team. The tables below show the month-to-month pricing for each type and level of medication.

Injectable semaglutide costs

Compounded injectable tirzepatide costs

Oral semaglutide tablet costs

Name-brand GLP-1s are also available

MD Exam offers name-brand medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound and Mounjaro, but they prefer more readily available and cheaper compounded options. Dev says, “If your insurance covers it, we’re happy to facilitate that and provide the education. A lot of people can’t get them because of shortages, uneven distribution and complex pharmacy logistics.”

Additional discounts and promotions

According to co-founder Sergio Padron, MD Exam provides a few more ways for you to save money other than buying in bulk:

“We’re launching MD Exam for employers, which will have special pricing for employees and their spouses. We will also be doing a first responder program. For employers, it’s $150 per month and the first responder and spouse is $125 per month. That comes with everything that we offer inside the dashboard for support.”

Sergio also mentioned a double-blinded multi-peptide outcome study that MD Exam will help conduct: “We’re starting a program at the beginning of the year. You have to sign up for a year. It’s a three-phase, 18-month study. The first six months is weight loss, the next six months are maintenance and then the last six months are data collection.” 

Weight Loss

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Although MD Exam is still fairly new to the telehealth world (registered in 2019, started doing business in 2022), co-founder Sergio Padron brings over 2 decades of experience to the table. “I’ve been at this for 20-something years, helping people lose weight better. I had a telemedicine network by the summer of 2003 with about 70 doctors in every state. I was able to get you a 90-day supply pretty fast but, I never looked at how I help people keep the weight off. ”

Sergio says that with MD Exam, the new focus is to help patients not only lose weight but keep it off: “MD Exam has been an evolution of understanding. How do you help someone on a long journey, and what does that journey mean? Lose weight or lose weight and keep it off? If you lose 30 pounds and then gain 20, our job isn’t done. We failed.”

MD Exam growing pains

After about three years in the telehealth industry, co-founder Dev Rangarajan says that MD Exam has faced several patient and supply-chain challenges: “In last year or two ago, we had some pretty big growing pains on fulfillment times, getting doctors and pharmacies to do the right process and all that sort of stuff. Our customer service was not nearly as good. ”

Dev explained some patient experiences early in MD Exam’s growth period: “What happens when a patient is getting a $25 copay? They think life is great and they’ve lost their first five pounds. Then suddenly they go back to the pharmacy and there’s a $1,200 charge waiting for them to pick it up. Oh and by the way, we don’t have the dosage you wanted, so you’re going to be on a lower dosage than you should be.”

That said, Dev explained that they’re in a very good place for both customer service and medication delivery times: “We’ve spent the last 18 months dialing all of that to where our median patient is getting medication in under two days. It’s been a lot of work.”

Getting affordable GLP-1 medication to the most people

Even with these issues, Dev is optimistic about the future of MD Exam and its weight-loss program: “Society has spent maybe 120 years, maybe longer, trying to find a weight loss drug that’s safe, effective and affordable. We’re very close. We’ve got one now that’s safe and that’s effective. Our company mission is, how do we make that affordable, and how do we get it to a lot of people?”

MD Exam has LegitScript certification

MD Exam is a LegitScript-certified pharmacy website, which is important because it ensures that they are complying with all applicable laws. Many payment service providers also require their telehealth companies to be LegitScript certified.

One of the challenges related to GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy is getting them covered under your insurance plan. Dev says: “Carriers are starting to drop GLP-1s. I know a lot of government insurance is dropping GLP-1s. Some private insurance may never cover it. There were a lot of games played two years ago by some of our competitors, trying to get people qualified on insurance and stuff like that.”

This is why many telehealth providers offer compounded or generic, GLP-1 medication. Not only is it significantly cheaper, but it is also more readily available. Dev explained: “Insurance is a complicated problem. It doesn’t make a ton of sense because the prices they’re asking insurance companies to pay are just too high. As those prices come down we’ll continue to help patients get access to medication.”

MD Exam will help facilitate insurance to get you the best price

While the telehealth provider would prefer to offer compounded GLP-1 medication, it will work with most insurance providers to get you the best price on your medication. Dev told us, “We’re going to help you navigate your insurance and figure out an affordable option, or maybe you should be on this drug instead of that drug. If your insurance covers it, we’re happy to facilitate that and provide the education. ”

Weight Loss

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MD Exam has a customer service and member support team ready to answer your questions via a toll-free number or email, 24/7. After you sign up for the weight loss program, the telehealth provider also offers support via its online patient portal.

MD Exam contact information

• Phone: 833-210-4080
• Email:support@mdexam.care
• Patient portal

Customer experience

After calling MD Exam’s direct number, I got through to a person in less than 60 seconds. The customer service representative was friendly, extremely helpful and easy to understand. They answered all my questions thoroughly and made me feel confident in doing business with the company. But Sergio says they still want to get better: “If I don’t give you good service, you will not come back. It hasn’t been perfect. I rate ourselves a C+. We’ve got a lot to do and we will get better. It’s about hiring not good but great people.”

I had a similar positive experience when I emailed MD Exam. The representative responded to my email in less than 21 hours and answered all of my questions thoroughly. I did notice that both 5 Axis and MD Exam were in the email subject line, which could lead to some confusion. When I asked Dev about this, he said, “5 Axis Health is our technology company and MD Exam is the telemedicine brand to the consumer. They’re two separate companies.”

Online experience

At first glance, I had trouble finding a customer service phone number, direct email address or any type of contact page on MD Exam’s website. I then noticed that they have two separate websites. The first website is simply its “get started” page, which encourages you to fill out the quick health questionnaire, connect with a doctor and receive your weight loss treatment plan.

After some research, I found a second more helpful page. This page offers general information, a FAQ section, a direct phone number and email contact.

MD Exam’s site is very well laid out and easy to navigate. I found most of the answers to my questions in the thorough FAQ section. The large infographics are also a nice touch and it helped keep me engaged. There’s also a patient dashboard but it requires you to sign up for the MD Exam weight loss program to access it.

Mystery shopper results

Weight Loss

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• Average delivery time of four days for GLP-1 medication
• Completely virtual care
• Offers bulk discount pricing
• Extremely helpful customer service via phone and email

After your virtual consultation, MD will ship your medication from a pharmacy in its network. Dev mentioned, “We partner with compounded pharmacies, outsourcing facilities and regular retail pharmacies.” Sergio also chimed in about its network of compounded pharmacies: “We partner with five of the top ten 503b (pharmacies). The 25 that are private I know all the owners and are my speed dial.”

“We’ll essentially facilitate you getting that medication. That whole process is usually three to four days tops on the first time, and then refills are typically faster. We’ve gotten it pretty streamlined at this point,” said Dev.

Getting refills of GLP-1 medication is also very easy

Dev says that refilling your medication is fairly easy but still thorough: “We’ve developed a weekly check-in. We ask all our patients to log into the portal once a week. You’re going to do a five-minute checkup, answer some questions, let us know if you have side effects and all that sort of stuff.

This is to help keep your doctor informed on your progress. Dev notes once your doctor approves everything, “we’ll make a next dosage recommendation to you, and then that’ll be sent out. Our refill process or our monthly process is fairly smooth from that perspective.”

Pros

• Fully virtual process
• Offers fast and affordable compounded GLP-1 medication through pharmacy network
• No insurance necessary
• Great customer service
• Available in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

Cons

• No in-person care
• Insurance can be an issue
• Requires payment to access the patient portal

With so many telehealth providers offering GLP-1 medication on the market, we asked what makes MD Exam stand out from the crowd. Dev said that, “As a society, I think obesity will essentially not be a thing in ten years, which is amazing. It’s one of the biggest inventions this century that we’ll look back on. We want our company to be a big part of that. We want to be the company that unlocks that not just for the ultra-wealthy but for the average American.”

“One of the big things that Sergio has always emphasized from day one, and has become a core value of our company, is to pick up the phone. I think most tech companies shy away from really talking to people. You can call one of our support numbers right now and you’ll get to talk to a human who knows what they’re talking about and has pretty good knowledge.”

Woman’s World wants to hear YOUR experiences with MD Exam, or your experiences with prescription weight loss or telehealth in general. Email us at reviews@womansworld.com, we’d love to talk to you.