Knownwell to offer weight-management care through LillyDirect

Knownwell, a primary care practice, will list health and weight-management services on LillyDirect, Eli Lilly's direct-to-consumer online health platform, the company announced on April 2, 2025 ^[1].

People who use LillyDirect will be able to see physicians from knownwell for personalized care, according to knownwell ^[1]. The practice offers in-person and virtual primary care, nutrition counseling and behavioral health services, all of which it says are covered through patients' insurance ^[1].

The listing puts an independent medical group on a platform run by the manufacturer of Zepbound, the brand name for tirzepatide. LillyDirect has been widening its roster of care options in other areas as well. Lilly broadened the platform in March to include telehealth providers that diagnose and treat Alzheimer's disease, and telehealth companies had already partnered with LillyDirect to offer Zepbound ^[1].

Those telehealth firms had been hunting for ways to sell popular weight-loss medicines while the compounded drug industry faces tightening restrictions on making copies of them ^[1]. During shortages of Zepbound and Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, the brand name for semaglutide, several telehealth operators sold cheaper compounded versions, Reuters reported ^[1]. Both brand-name products have since come off the Food and Drug Administration's shortage list ^[1].

Lilly described the addition as part of a broadening menu. "LillyDirect continues to expand our listing of independent care provider options to benefit patients," the company said in an emailed statement ^[1]. It added that the platform "continues to evaluate additional independent care providers for inclusion in an effort to improve patient choice and access to quality care" ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

The arrangement shows how obesity treatment is being packaged. Instead of a prescription on its own, patients encounter a storefront where the drugmaker also points to clinics handling nutrition, behavioral health and routine primary care. That can simplify the search for help, and it also means access runs through one company's platform.

Key practical questions remain unanswered. Neither company disclosed what knownwell visits cost inside LillyDirect, which insurance plans are accepted there, or which states the service reaches. Knownwell says its services go through patients' insurance ^[1], but the announcement did not explain how that works for someone arriving through the LillyDirect site.

It also has not been reported whether knownwell will write prescriptions for Zepbound or other GLP-1 medicines through the platform, or whether patients need an existing prescription to book an appointment. Being listed on a drugmaker's site does not by itself settle coverage, and a patient's own plan rules still decide what is paid.

Because LillyDirect now spans more than one condition, the mix of providers there — and the terms attached to each — may carry more weight as patients compare where to get care for obesity or a related condition.

What happens next

Lilly said it is still reviewing other independent care providers but did not name them or set a timeline ^[1]. No start date for knownwell's presence on LillyDirect, and no price list, has been announced. The companies have not disclosed how many patients they expect to reach.