Know what to expect
- Which link is for intake and which is for the consultation.
- The practice’s completion deadline and contact details.
- A quiet, private space and help with video access if needed.
Virtual clinics · GLP-1 & obesity medicine
Patient intake for virtual clinics.
Patient intake for virtual clinics, GLP-1 and obesity medicine. Collect the history, prepare follow-ups and support clinical review.
Emily uses physician-defined questions in video conversations before new-patient visits and follow-ups. Each practice can tailor the intake across specialties.
Read online: https://facemed.ai/resources/small-virtual-clinic-workflow/
One intake. A clear clinical handoff.
- 01 · Prepare
Set expectations
Explain the purpose of intake, when to complete it and how to reach the practice for help.
- 02 · Gather
Collect the history
Emily uses physician-defined questions in a video conversation and prepares a draft for review.
- 03 · Review
Consult with context
The clinician checks the history, resolves gaps and conducts the appointment before making the care plan.
Assign the next action at each stage.
Use your existing scheduling or task system to track these steps. In a solo practice, one person may hold several roles; every action still needs an owner. HHS recommends planning staffing, patient support and documentation as part of the telehealth workflow. [1]
| Stage | Owner | Action before moving on |
|---|---|---|
| Appointment booked | Coordinator | Send the correct intake and consultation links. Confirm the visit type and support needs. |
| Before the review window | Coordinator | Check completion. Contact patients who need help and identify missing information. |
| History ready | Reviewing clinician | Check the draft, consult available records and list questions to resolve with the patient. |
| Consultation | Treating clinician | Confirm the history, assess the patient and decide the plan, including any need for in-person care. |
| After the visit | Named team member | Complete documentation and communicate the clinician-approved plan, follow-up and contact route. |
Give patients a short preparation checklist.
Have useful information nearby
- Medication names or containers and relevant records.
- Symptoms, changes and questions to discuss.
- Any measurements the clinician requested, with the date and units.
Agree interpreter, caregiver or accessibility support before the visit. These preparation topics follow HHS guidance; choose what is relevant to your patients. [2]
What should obesity medicine intake cover?
Prepare the history around the reason for the appointment. A new consultation needs background and goals; an established patient’s follow-up needs a clear account of what has changed.
New-patient consultation
Gather the patient’s weight-management history, relevant medical history, current medicines, previous treatment attempts and priorities. The clinician selects additional questions for their assessment.
GLP-1 follow-up
Focus on medication use, patient-reported progress, symptoms, practical barriers and questions since the previous review. Check the prior plan against the chart during clinical review.
GLP-1 follow-up · Obesity medicine
GLP-1 follow-up intake: beyond the weight reading.
A returning patient may have questions about progress, medication use or symptoms. Tailor the conversation to the prescribed medicine and the treating clinician’s follow-up plan.
NIDDK identifies side effects, other medications and individual health circumstances as relevant to weight-management medication decisions. [3] The prompts below collect information for that clinician-led discussion.
01What the patient is actually taking
Ask: “Which medication are you taking?” “What strength and schedule are on the label?” “When was your most recent dose?”
Follow up: Ask about missed doses, supply or cost barriers, and changes since the last appointment. Keep uncertainty visible for verification against the prescription.
02Symptoms and tolerability
Ask: “What symptoms or side effects would you like the clinician to know about?” “When did they start, and how have they affected eating, drinking or daily activities?”
Follow up: Capture timing, persistence and the patient’s concern. The clinician reviews the symptoms and decides the response.
03Progress and measurement context
Ask: “What changes have you noticed?” “If you have a recent weight measurement, when and how was it taken, and in which units?”
Follow up: Label home measurements as patient-reported. Do not invent a missing baseline or treat readings from different conditions as automatically comparable.
04Daily routines and practical barriers
Ask: “How are eating, drinking and activity fitting into your day?” “What has been difficult about following the agreed plan?”
Follow up: Leave space for practical obstacles and support needs. Avoid reducing the conversation to whether the patient has “complied.”
05Changes and questions for the clinician
Ask: “Have your other medicines, supplements or health circumstances changed?” “What is the most important question for this appointment?”
Follow up: Add the clinician’s medicine-specific questions to complete the practice’s questionnaire.
When the answer needs clarification
If a patient says, “I missed a dose and have felt sick,” collect the medicine name, relevant dates and what “sick” means to them. Keep unknowns explicit. The clinician reviews the account and decides whether contact is needed before the scheduled appointment.
Medication changes, dose advice and prescribing decisions remain with the treating clinician.
Plan for the visits that do not go smoothly.
- Intake is incomplete. Assign a staff member to offer assistance or collect the history through the practice’s usual route. The clinician decides whether the available information supports proceeding.
- The previous plan is missing. Ask the patient what they understand the plan to be, then check the chart. Standalone Emily intake does not retrieve records or remember previous visits.
- A concern cannot wait. Give patients the practice’s urgent-contact instructions before intake. Agree a review window and escalation owner; do not assume an automated alert or continuous observation.
- The video visit disconnects. Confirm the patient’s current location and callback details at the consultation and agree how to reconnect. Maintain a practice-specific emergency plan. [4]
Pilot one visit type before expanding.
Start with one clinician and a defined group of appointments. Compare the new workflow with your current process, including patients who need help.
Completion before review
Track completed intakes ÷ invitations, plus reasons for non-completion.
Support and review effort
Count patient assistance, draft review, corrections and chart entry together.
Information gaps
Record missing medication details, unclear measurements and questions repeated during the visit.
Handoff reliability
Check whether each intake had a named reviewer and each unresolved task had an owner.
Build around the way your clinic works.
Bring a questionnaire, a visit type and your preferred note structure to the demo. A standalone workflow can use reviewed notes copied into the chart; agree any EHR connection and additional data flows separately.