Not all hormone clinics are equal. Ask these five questions before choosing one. The answers reveal whether you will get real medicine or a sales funnel.
Hormone therapy has grown fast, and a lot of what has opened is built to move product rather than treat patients. These questions sort one from the other quickly.
Question 1: Will a Clinician Personally Review My Full Labs?
Many clinics run on templates. Your labs go into a system, an algorithm picks a dose, and you may never speak to the person whose name is on the prescription.
You want a clinician who reads your complete panel and interprets it against optimal ranges, not just normal. Ask directly: who reads my results, and will I talk with that person?
A good answer names a person. A bad answer describes a process.
Question 2: What Exactly Do You Test Before Prescribing?
A single hormone level is not a workup. If a clinic will prescribe testosterone off one total testosterone reading, they are not practicing careful medicine.
Thorough clinics check thyroid, metabolic markers, and nutrients alongside your sex hormones. Low thyroid, low iron, and poor sleep all cause the same symptoms as low hormones. Treating the hormone while ignoring the rest leaves you paying for something that was never the whole problem.
Question 3: What Happens Between Visits?
This is the one most clinics fail.
Hormone therapy needs adjusting. Something will feel off at week five, and what happens then decides your experience. Ask how quickly you can reach your clinician, and who answers.
At Evergreen, patients can message us anytime, responses typically come within the hour, and we check in weekly until you feel better. When you message us, a licensed clinician answers, not a health coach. Many clinics hand you off to coaches with no clinical training.
Question 4: What Training Do Your Clinicians Have in Hormone Therapy?
Hormone therapy is not covered in depth in most medical training. Any licensed prescriber can legally prescribe it. That does not mean they have studied it.
Look for real credentials in hormone medicine. Dr. Milani is board-certified in advanced hormone therapy through ABHRT and in anti-aging medicine through ABAAHP, and is certified in longevity and functional medicine.
Ask what specific training the person treating you has completed. It is a fair question and you should get a straight answer.
Question 5: How Do You Make Money?
Follow the money. If a clinic's revenue depends on selling you pellets, injections, or a shelf of supplements, that shapes what they recommend.
Ask whether they are tied to one delivery method, whether supplements are required, and what the total yearly cost looks like including labs. A clinic that will not give you clear pricing before you commit is telling you something.
A Few More Warning Signs
- A dose recommended before any labs are drawn
- Pressure to sign a long contract at the first visit
- One protocol for every patient regardless of symptoms
- No plan for follow-up labs
- Claims that hormones will fix everything
- You cannot find out who the prescriber is
What Good Care Looks Like
Good hormone care starts with a long first visit and a broad lab panel. It involves a clinician who explains what your numbers mean and why. It includes follow-up labs at six to eight weeks and a willingness to adjust. It treats the other things found along the way rather than ignoring them.
And it involves someone who will tell you when hormone therapy is not the answer for you. That last one is the strongest signal of all.
Questions About You, Not Just Them
A good clinic will also ask you questions, and the questions they ask tell you a lot.
Expect to be asked about your sleep, your stress, your alcohol intake, your family history, and what you have already tried. Expect questions about your goals, because treating a 38-year-old who wants to feel like herself again is different from treating a 62-year-old focused on bone health.
If nobody asks about your sleep before prescribing a hormone, that is a signal. Sleep apnea alone can suppress testosterone enough to explain your symptoms, and no dose of anything fixes it.
Take Your Time
You do not have to decide on the first call. A clinic that respects you will let you think it over, talk to your partner, and come back with more questions.
Urgency is a sales tactic, not a clinical need. Your hormones have been where they are for years. One more week will not hurt you.
We manage hormone therapy by telehealth across Washington and Idaho from our clinic in Spokane. Book a free 15-minute call and ask us all five of these questions.