How to start a menopause clinic

To start a menopause clinic, define the patients you will see, the care you can provide under your license, and how you will arrange follow-up and referrals. Plan for more than a prescription visit: records, symptom priorities, treatment choices, and ongoing questions all take time. Review your employment agreement and complete the business setup before opening. Additional menopause education can support that work, but it does not replace licensure.

This guide is for clinicians planning a practice. It is not a treatment protocol. Credential and regulatory sources were checked October 12, 2026.

How do you start a menopause clinic?

Begin with the visit experience you want to deliver, then identify the people and systems needed to support it. Decide what the clinic handles directly, how it works with a patient's other clinicians, and when an in-person evaluation or specialist referral is needed. Those decisions should guide the schedule and service menu.

1. Confirm scope, ownership, and any collaboration requirements in each state you will serve.
2. Review your employment agreement before resigning or contacting patients about a move.
3. Define initial consultations, follow-up visits, messages, and referral responsibilities.
4. Identify education and mentorship needs, including whether to pursue the MSCP credential.
5. Set the payment model and explain separate charges for outside services.
6. Complete the entity, identifiers, insurance, records, and booking steps in the private-practice guide.
7. Rehearse a new-patient visit, a follow-up question, and a referral before opening.

NPs can use the nurse practitioner startup guide for the additional scope and collaboration questions.

What should the first-visit workflow cover?

Design intake to help the clinician and patient agree on what matters most. Collect relevant history and prior records before the appointment where possible, and leave room for questions. The operational goal is a clear next step even when the first visit does not result in a prescription.

Stage	Planning question
Before the visit	How will patients share symptom priorities, medication lists, prior treatment, and outside records?
Initial consultation	How will you explain the assessment, choices, uncertainty, and costs?
Testing or referral	Who sends the order, receives the result, and checks that the next appointment happened?
Follow-up	How does the patient book, and who handles questions between visits?
Shared care	With the appropriate permission, how will the plan reach the patient's other clinicians?

For example, a patient may book to discuss sleep and leave with a plan that involves another clinician. Decide who makes that handoff and how the patient knows the referral is moving. That is part of the service, even when it is not another appointment in your office.

Do you need an MSCP credential to open?

The Menopause Society Certified Practitioner (MSCP) credential is an exam-based credential for licensed healthcare professionals. It is separate from your state license. The ABMS certificate list does not list menopause as a specialty or subspecialty. Check your state rules and describe your own credentials accurately.

As of October 12, 2026, The Menopause Society's certification page links to its 2027 candidate handbook. It requires a current professional license and lists exam fees of $400 for members and $725 for nonmembers, with an additional charge for in-person testing. Use the current handbook for eligibility, application dates, and renewal requirements; do not plan around a past exam window.

When comparing education, ask how it prepares you to evaluate patients, discuss different options, and recognize when another clinician's input is needed. A course completion certificate and the MSCP exam credential are different things.

How should the clinic explain hormone therapy?

Build the consultation around individual decisions rather than a default package. Explain available options, relevant benefits and risks, and the follow-up plan. FDA describes hormone and nonhormonal treatments for menopause symptoms and notes that hormone therapy is not suitable for everyone, including some people with bleeding problems, certain cancers, clotting history, or liver disease. See FDA's menopause guidance.

Use current clinical guidance and the product-specific labeling when developing protocols. This business guide does not select a treatment, dose, or testing schedule. If your service extends beyond menopause care to testosterone prescribing, the hormone clinic guide explains the additional controlled-substance questions.

Does bioidentical mean compounded?

No. Some commercially manufactured hormone products contain hormones identical to those made by the body and have FDA approval. Compounded products are not FDA-approved, and FDA does not have evidence that compounded bioidentical hormones are safer or more effective than approved hormone therapy. The distinction is the product and its approval status, not the word “bioidentical.” FDA explains the distinction here.

On your website and consent materials, use the actual product description and evidence. Give patients a way to ask why a specific option is being considered and what alternatives exist.

How do you set fees and plan capacity?

Budget for the entire episode of care: record review, appointment, documentation, results, and between-visit questions. Then decide which work is included in the fee and which is billed separately. A price is easier for a patient to assess when it comes with a concrete description of the service.

The startup-cost guide helps organize quotes. If you will charge directly, use the cash-pay practice guide for payment and estimate questions. For insurance visits, confirm payer effective dates and coverage before describing a service as in network.

Before opening, ask a colleague to book a fictional appointment and explain the fee back to you. If they cannot tell whether follow-up, labs, or messages cost extra, revise the description.

Where can Vye Health help?

Vye Health helps providers launch, run, and grow private practices. Vye manages licensing, credentialing, malpractice insurance, and your website, and payer contracts if you want them.

Bring your proposed visit types and follow-up plan. Apply to Vye Health.