What is the Vida Medical Prescribing Service?
The Vida Medical Prescribing Service is available to members enrolled in one of Vida’s chronic condition or weight loss management programs (including Whole Health or the Medical Weight Loss programs) who would benefit from working with a prescribing provider.
What’s should I expect from the Medical Weight Loss experience?
It’s a fast start and medically supervised from the beginning. We want to honor your commitment to lose significant weight to improve your health.
First you’ll download the Vida app and fill out some questions. You’ll join the program and select your registered dietitian. Schedule your first appointment, so it is in your calendar. In the first few days of the program, Vida asks you to fill out several forms in the app. These ask about your health conditions, contact info, primary care provider and contact info, and weight history. We also ask you to confirm your weight. Plan on about 30 minutes to fill out the forms and provide your doctor information. Remember, you deserve this focus on your health.
You’ll attend your first 30-min video call with your Vida dietitian. You can then order a smart weight scale shipped to your home. Stand up on the scale regularly to power your weight loss.
For medical safety, we ask you to share recent lab results, from your most recent visit with your primary care doctor. If any are missing, we write a lab order for you. You go to a lab and get the tests.
Once those results are in the Vida system, you are able to schedule a call with your Vida medical provider. In that call, the clinician confirms your medical information and talks about recommended treatment for you. You start treatment, which may or may not include medicine at first.
We ask you to weigh in at least weekly, keep filling out check-in forms, meet weekly at first with your dietitian or coach, and attend all scheduled medical appointments. You must fill out required check-in forms, log your weight, attend sessions, respond to provider messages in the app, and get re-check labs in order to continue receiving monthly refill prescriptions.
What if I miss a session?
We know sometimes life gets busy. We ask you to reschedule 24 hours or more in advance if something comes up and you can’t make a session. And to message your provider or Support if an unplanned situation means you have to miss a session.
Keep in mind that if you start weight loss medicine and tolerate it, you must avoid skipping doses. If you do, you won’t get the maximum effects and may have to start over. That wastes time and money.
How long is the program?
We work with you for up to 2 years, as long as you are eligible for the Vida benefit, are participating as required, and telehealth treatment is right for you. That is because we aim with you for significant and stable weight loss, and on-target blood pressure and cholesterol, so that you reduce the risk of heart, brain, kidney, type 2 diabetes and other weight-related problems.
What happens if I don’t meet Vida’s target within the timeframe? Will they stop my prescription?
By “target,” you seem to be asking about a weight loss goal during your first year of the program. There may be clinical safety reasons to stop a prescription. But as long as you participate fully, we are here to provide treatment that’s right for you.
If you start a weight loss medicine with Vida and your body tolerates it, the goal is to get to significant weight loss and health improvements that are stable. In other words, results and good value from the efforts you’ll make and the cost of the medicine. You’ll be asked to make nutrition and exercise changes, get lab tests, weigh in regularly, participate in video calls with Vida providers, build skills, fill out health check-in forms, and stay in communication with your Vida providers to keep getting prescriptions. So your participation is required.
Keep in mind that not all people in the Vida Medical Weight Loss program start a medicine. Many participants start to see results from making focused changes in eating and exercise.. Being in the program means that your treatment is medically supervised, so that we can adjust it together to get results.
In fact, results that last are part of the Vida experience. Once you get the desired and stable weight loss and health improvements, you and your provider will have a conversation about what’s right for ongoing treatment. You’ll talk about the pros and cons of continuing any medicine.
The Medical Weight Loss program is designed to figure out—with you—what works best to help you achieve a clinically significant amount of weight loss while treating obesity. That includes improving high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and prediabetes—if your body is dealing with those health risks.
Why is Fortune Brands Innovations using Vida Health as the sole prescriber for weight loss medications?
Weight loss medication is a powerful tool for those seeking to achieve significant weight loss. But these medications are complex and are most effective for long-term success when paired with lifestyle changes. Vida Health offers support for these changes through health coaching, an easy to use app, and access to medical providers who can help prescribe and help manage side effects, so the medication works the best it can for those who need it.
What if I was taking weight loss medication before October 1, 2024?
If you are currently taking a prescription weight loss medication, you will be required to enroll in Vida and be prescribed this medication by a Vida provider before January 1, 2025 for this medication to continue to be covered under your Fortune Brands Innovation pharmacy benefits.
If you are working with another provider to obtain your prescription and would like the medication to be covered by your pharmacy benefits in 2025, you will need to download the Vida Health app, enroll in Vida, and be assessed by a Vida provider to determine if you are approved for a prescription.
What if I am prescribed a weight loss medication for the first time after October 1, 2024?
After October 1, 2024, you will be required to enroll in Vida Health and be prescribed this weight loss medication by a Vida provider for this medication to be covered under your Fortune Brands Innovation pharmacy benefit. To enroll in Vida, please sign up at www.vida.com/fortunebrands or call 833-732-2242.
I’m already working with a physician, and I’m concerned about moving to a new medical provider that I don’t know or have a trusting relationship with. How does my Vida provider work with my regular doctor?
Your medical weight loss treatment with a Vida medical provider is in addition to the care you already receive from your current doctor or primary care provider.
Your Vida provider focuses on obesity treatment. Your primary care provider is responsible for all other aspects of your healthcare. This includes services such as in-office visits, preventive mammograms and prostate exams, vaccinations, follow-ups after emergency care and planned surgeries, and care for conditions other than obesity/overweight.
Your Vida medical provider is a licensed doctor or nurse-practitioner who can write lab orders that are used in obesity treatment, review the results, and prescribe weight loss medicines to directly treat obesity. These providers can also prescribe basic blood pressure and cholesterol drugs. They follow your health plan’s drug coverage formulary. They’re not in charge of all your medical care.
If you are being evaluated for or are preparing for bariatric surgery, Vida will work with your surgical team to ensure that needed weight loss medicines are prescribed.
We encourage you to share your primary care provider name, clinic, phone, and fax number with Vida. And to consent to Vida sending info to your PCP, so your records are up to date. With your consent, Vida will send an after-visit summary by secure fax to your PCP. The after-visit summary may include lab results or other clinical findings of concern and medicines that your Vida provider starts, adjusts, or discontinues.
I’m taking a GLP-1 medication for a different condition, for example to manage A1C or cholesterol, not weight loss. Do I need to do anything?
No, this change is related to prescription weight loss medications and used for weight loss, not as treatment for another condition such as diabetes.
I need to get my medication refilled now and I’m not set up with Vida.
Getting started with Vida is easy. Please go to www.vida.com/fortunebrands to enroll. In the meantime, you can refill your medication through your prescribing physician until the end of the year.
While the change to Vida as our Center of Excellence occurred on October 1st, anyone currently receiving a weight loss prescription has until December 31st to make these changes to move your prescription and get enrolled with Vida.
What if I already had my labwork done this year. Why would you ask me to get bloodwork re-done?
Associates are able to upload and share recent lab results with Vida. We’ll look at those first, to see if we have what’s needed to create your treatment plan. Medically professionals cannot safely prescribe treatment and medicine without reviewing lab tests. If a result is too old or some results are missing we’ll write a lab order for you to get new results. For the lab services, you will be responsible for any deductible amount, copayment, or co-insurance based on your health plan coverage.
Do I have to use a certain lab for bloodwork, if needed?
Quest is the preferred lab for bloodwork, but you can have your bloodwork done anywhere you choose.
Members will communicate with their care team on what lab they’d like to use for lab work that may be prescribed.
I am already working with Vida on a different program – can I continue my current Vida program and enroll in the weight loss program?
You can only be enrolled in one Vida Program at a time. If you are already enrolled in another program, your Vida coach will complete an assessment for the Medical Weight Loss Program. After that assessment is completed, you and your coach will discuss next steps in your health journey.
How does my Vida provider work with my regular doctor?
Your medical weight loss treatment with a Vida medical provider is in addition to the care you already receive from your current doctor or primary care provider.
Your Vida provider focuses on obesity treatment. Your primary care provider is responsible for all other aspects of your healthcare. This includes services such as in-office visits, preventive mammograms and prostate exams, vaccinations, follow-ups after emergency care and planned surgeries, and care for conditions other than obesity/overweight.
Your Vida medical provider is a licensed doctor or nurse-practitioner who can write lab orders that are used in obesity treatment, review the results, and prescribe weight loss medicines to directly treat obesity. These providers can also prescribe basic blood pressure and cholesterol drugs. They follow your health plan’s drug coverage formulary. They’re not in charge of all your medical care.
If you are being evaluated for or are preparing for bariatric surgery, Vida will work with your surgical team to ensure that needed weight loss medicines are prescribed.
If I get a new medicine prescribed by Vida, how do I send my prescription to my pharmacy?
After active engagement in Vida’s Medical Weight Loss Program, members can partake in thoughtful discussions and assessments for prescribing support. If a Vida medical provider recommends anti-obesity medications to support your weight loss goals, prescriptions will be submitted electronically to a pharmacy of your choice. It can be a local pharmacy or a mail-order pharmacy, depending on the type of medication being prescribed. The Vida medical provider will ask you which pharmacy you prefer.
How often will I meet with my prescriber?
You’ll have an initial consultation with your prescriber to assess your medication needs and a follow-up visit to review progress. Additional visits depend on your situation and can be scheduled as needed. You also have the option to message your prescriber within the Vida app on an unlimited basis.
Can I communicate with my prescriber outside of a scheduled appointment?
Yes! You’ll be able to send messages to your prescriber at any time. Response times from providers are usually within 1-2 days, but often the same day.
Will the Fortune Brand medical plan cover the cost of my anti-obesity prescription?
Anti-obesity medications may be covered by your medical plan after any applicable deductibles and cost sharing if you are a Fortune Brands Innovations associate, spouse or dependent 18+ located in the US and enrolled in a BCBS medical plan and are prescribed the medication by a Vida medical prescriber.
The Fortune Brand pharmacy benefit under the medical plan will not cover prescriptions written by non-Vida prescribers for those enrolled in a BCBS medical plan.
What if I stop the program, or need to pause the program, can I and how do I restart?
If you need to pause the program, please contact your Vida Care Team members. That way, you can discuss options so you don’t lose the benefits of treatment that you’ve started. We also help people safely stop weight loss treatment, when appropriate. Some reasons for stopping include a new health condition, becoming pregnant, or other factors that make medical weight loss in a telehealth program unsafe.
What happens if my pharmacy is unable to process or refill my prescription?
Please contact your Vida prescriber through the chat screen in the Vida app. If you need further assistance, you can also contact support@vida.com.
