Methodology

How the WeighScore is graded

Each graded program has six editorial factor marks, combined into a 0–100 score and a letter grade. The arithmetic uses the same 6 factors and weights for every graded program. The depth and age of the evidence behind those marks varies; historical and pharmacy-only profiles are not current program recommendations.

The arithmetic

WeighScore = the six factor scores multiplied by the weights above and added together. That is the whole formula. Every review page prints all six factor scores, so you can run the multiplication yourself and get the number in the grade tile — no factor is withheld, and the headline is never adjusted afterwards by hand.

What the marks can tell you

Factor marks include earlier editorial assessments alongside more recently researched provider facts. They are not six independently measured service outcomes, an audit of every clinician or pharmacy, or proof that we enrolled and tested delivery. A price or policy correction does not automatically regrade all six factors. Read the provider-specific recommendation, sources and unresolved questions before using a score to choose a program.

The review revision date records a substantive change to that page; it does not mean every underlying fact was rechecked that day. Our research library explains how to compare payment terms, medication options and care arrangements beyond a single grade.

When the FDA has written to a provider

For providers with an FDA warning letter recorded on this site, Clinical oversight is capped at 55. This is an editorial limit on verification confidence, not a finding of current FDA enforcement status, a safety rating or a measure of clinical outcomes. The other five factors are unchanged by this cap, and WeighScore follows from all six. The disclosure gives the letter's date and an FDA source. Later interactions can change regulatory status; a missing close-out link does not establish that a matter remains unresolved.

The grade scale

A (93+), A− (90–92.9), B+ (87–89.9), B (83–86.9), B− (80–82.9), C+ (77–79.9), C (below 77). A grade summarizes the recorded editorial marks, not a safety rating or a guarantee of current service quality.

What a commercial relationship can and cannot move

It cannot move the WeighScore. Assume any provider we list may compensate us. Every graded program uses the same factor weights; the score is computed from the factors rather than typed in, and a weak provider grades low regardless.

What it can move is ranking position. Where a provider sits in a list is the thing our funding moves; the mark beside its name is not. We would rather print that than claim an independence we do not have — the mechanics are set out on our disclosure. Because of it, a provider scoring higher can sit lower on a ranking, and both numbers are printed on the row so you can see when it happens.

It cannot move the write-up either. A commercial relationship does not soften a review: an unflattering finding about a paying provider stays in, and where the evidence behind a claim is thin we say so — including for the providers we earn on. Every factor mark is printed on the row, so the reading is auditable. See our disclosure.

Prices and terms can change; confirm them with the provider. Our factor scores may reflect earlier assessments; see our methodology. Not medical advice.