Planned Parenthood Launches Mobile App For California Men And Women To Order STD Tests
This week, a California affiliate of Planned Parenthood launched Planned Parenthood Direct, a mobile app for men and women to order confidential STD testing kits. If test results are positive, users can then use the app to order treatment.
Here’s how it works: users (who must be at least 16 years old with proof of a California address) create a profile and read up on chlamydia and gonorrhea, “the two most common STDs,” NPR reported. They can order a kit for $149 to be directly delivered to their house, along with a prepaid return package. NPR said the fee also includes lab costs and test analyses.
If users test positive for chlamydia, Planned Parenthood can write them a prescription for antibiotics they can fill at a local pharmacy. Gonorrhea, on the other hand, requires an antibiotic shot so Planned Parenthood instead directs users to its nearest health center (though they can also just see their primary physician).
According to the app’s website, at-home testing is no different than taking a test at an actual health center. Provided users follow the instructions, Planned Parenthood handles the rests. Users looking for the most accurate results should order the a kit at least two weeks after having sex.
The app compliments Planned Parenthood Care, a similar app launched last year in Minnesota and Washington State. This app allows users to have a secure video chat with Planned Parenthood providers in order to receive birth control, an STD test kit, or treatment. Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a press release that both apps “provide the same high-quality health care people have trusted… for nearly 100 years.”
“What’s new is now our clinicians can literally meet people where they are — wherever they are — to get them the care they need, when they need it,” Richards added. “These apps are about expanding access to the economic, educational, and health benefits that come along with access to quality reproductive health care. “
The American Sexual Health Association reports more than half of all people will have an STD/STI at some point in their lifetime. Most recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed there are 19.7 million new STIs every year in the U.S.
Sexually active women, and gay and bi-sexual men are considered at-risk groups for chlamydia and gonorrhea. Researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine find public health guidelines don’t require these groups to get tested enough, and when they do, they stick to standard genital tests. Per their own study, researchers find extragenital testing, though not exactly cost-effective, catches cases standard tests are known to miss.