Fay’s provider vetting process: How we guarantee the best nutritionists near you

Key Points

• When you find a nutritionist through Fay Nutrition, you’re guaranteed to be selecting from the top 1% of nutritionists near you and in the country.
• Fay has a rigorous, four-step evaluation process to identify the highest-quality providers.
• Fay routinely measures provider performance across four criteria to ensure our dietitians continue to uphold the highest standards of care.

The nutrition and wellness industry has historically been plagued by misinformation, which is particularly dangerous considering how nutrition is intrinsically tied to our health. The team at Fay Nutrition is on a mission to cut through the noise as we build the world’s first and only trusted network for food and our relationship with food.

So: how do we do that? We’ve found that a major source of the misinformation in the space is that there are too many people claiming to be nutrition experts who aren’t. We’ve found this problem to be pervasive, and we’ve been shocked to learn that some of the most well-respected organizations in the country have made huge (and unfortunately common) errors when it comes to elevating the wrong voice or inviting non-nutrition experts to speak on the topic. 

In the early days of building Fay at the Harvard Innovation Lab, we vowed to make an unwavering commitment to ensure a rigorous process to identify and elevate real health and wellbeing experts. It was over many cups of coffee and late nights that we designed the process we share with you today. 

Our four-step evaluation process for identifying the best nutritionists

In order to ensure you’re connected with the top 1% of nutritionists near you and in the country, we make sure that any healthcare provider you find in our network has had their education, skills, subject matter expertise, and professionalism scrutinized through a screening process that can last anywhere from 5 to 15 weeks. 

Step 1: Education and credentials

We’ve found that claims of being “rooted in science” or “backed by evidence” continue to be hijacked terms or claims abused by bad actors attempting to project credibility and quality care. For us, these claims weren’t enough. We knew early on that we wanted to make sure all nutritionists in our network were real healthcare providers. 

This is why we ensure that every nutritionist in our network is a board-certified registered dietitian (RD) or registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) certified by the Commission on Dietetic Registration. This is the only qualification in the United States that is legally allowed to provide medical nutrition therapy, guidance, and support. Obtaining this designation entails years of education and training including a dietetic rotation program in a clinical setting (e.g., hospital), passing the CSR exam (which has a higher fail rate than the bar exam for lawyers), and continuing education requirements. 

Having a network of real healthcare practitioners is the main reason why insurance companies have been so eager to partner with us. They know the care found through Fay is evidence-based medical nutrition advice that deploys methodologies proven by peer-reviewed research. 

Step 2: In-depth clinical skills evaluation

We conduct a comprehensive evaluation of each applicant's clinical skills and problem-solving abilities using a number of proprietary assessments. Within the Fay network, every nutritionist is a highly skilled expert in their respective field, and we exclusively promote individuals with outstanding abilities.

This part of the process also allows us to ensure the nutritionist profiles you find on Fay are reliable. Far too often, you’ll find that directories allow professionals to populate their profiles as they wish, which can lead to false claims. When you find a nutritionist on Fay, you can trust their specialties, modalities, and focus areas to be vetted. For example, when a provider’s profile boasts expertise in “Health at Every Size,” you can be certain that that expertise has been confirmed by our team.

This step of the process screens out the majority of attempts to join our network. 

Step 3: Live interview & soft skills screening

Every participating provider undergoes an interview conducted by Fay representatives who possess expertise in their operational domain. Our representatives administer targeted live exercises to assess qualities like compassion, self-awareness, communication, emotional intelligence, and creativity. In these phone calls, we ask ourselves:

• Can this provider motivate and inspire their clients to achieve their goals?
• Is this provider a good listener? Does this provider consider the complex needs of the individual? Is this provider capable of designing personalized care plans for individuals?
• Is this provider personable and compassionate? Are they flexible and able to tailor their approach depending on the client’s needs?
• How does this provider distill complex information and make it easy to understand?

Step 4: Third-party data screening

As a final step in the process, Fay relies on third-party applications and data to obtain additional information on the care quality delivered by each provider applicant. We use this data as an additional point to sense-check the findings of our own evaluation process. We also use this data as a tool to identify, recruit, and solicit partnerships with providers who are not yet part of our network. This ensures we are not only continually refining our own evaluation process, but also being proactive in our approach to build a network that continually represents the highest quality nutritionists and care providers. 

How we ensure continued excellence of our practitioner network

Within the Fay network, practitioners must uphold a consistent record of excellence when serving their clients. As a company committed to prioritizing quality, we place great emphasis on partnering with the most talented nutrition professionals and delivering exceptional care. To make sure the standards are upheld, we continually measure and monitor the following four metrics:

Metric 1: Health outcomes

Fay routinely measures client health outcomes. We rely on assessment surveys which act as routine audits at critical moments in the care journey. These surveys help us get a sense of how interactions between practitioners are leading to real results for people. Our assessments account for the differences in goals that range across topics, whether that be eating disorder recovery or diabetes education and coaching. 

Metric 2: Client experience

As you go through your journey with your nutrition practitioner, you’ll find we routinely offer opportunities for you to provide feedback on your experience with your provider. We keep individual feedback anonymous from your provider, enabling clients to feel comfortable sharing honest feedback.

Metric 3: Provider engagement & professionalism

We ensure our providers are engaged and focused on serving you. Our ranking algorithm makes sure to match you and promote you with providers who are actively engaging with clients. They’ll stick with you regardless of how long it takes for you to find the results you’re seeking. We’ll direct you to book with nutritionists that are committed to you, not to making a quick buck.

Metric 4: Reliability

Deciding to make a change is a big deal, and it’s important to trust that your dietitian is going to be there for you no matter the challenges you face on this new journey. We ensure the practitioners we promote are unwavering in their ability to be punctual, consistent, and supportive.

Why find a nutritionist through Fay?

Fay is working to combat misinformation in nutrition creating a trusted brand and network dedicated to the highest quality of nutrition care. Fay prioritizes health outcomes, client experience, and provider engagement and professionalism, as well as reliability to maintain the highest standards of excellence within our practitioner network. And of course, because we partner with insurance companies, most people pay $0 for a session with a nutritionist when they book through Fay.