The problem
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s), and other infectious diseases among gay men are major concerns for gay men, their physicians, and public health officials. In 2014, gay men accounted for a whopping 70% of approximately 44,000 new HIV infections, and over 80% of nearly 20,000 new syphilis infections, in the U.S. Since 2012, outbreaks of an infection called meningococcal meningitis, which in many cases is fatal, have occurred among gay men. The CDC and other public health agencies have made recommendations specific to gay men regarding HIV and STD testing, sexual health-related vaccinations, and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (“PrEP”). However, gay men and even their physicians often lack awareness of these recommendations. As a result, many gay men do not even know they have HIV and may infect others without knowing it. Further, clinicians often do not know and do not ask the sexual orientation of their patients; even if they do, they often fall short of CDC recommendations in taking care of the sexual health of their gay patients. Finally, access to reliable sources of sexual health information is very limited; CDC’s STD Treatment Guidelines are aimed at a physician audience and are too technical to be useful for most gay men. There are currently no apps or websites that offer the services that Doctor D offers.
Our Solution: Doc-D
Doctor D is a free mobile app that empowers gay men to stay on top of their sexual health. The app allows users to:
-Get customized recommendations, based on answers to questions about their sexual behaviors and medical history, related to HIV and STD testing, sexual health-related vaccinations, and HIV prophylaxis (including PrEP); -Locate clinics and testing sites where they can obtain recommended sexual health services; and -Set reminders so that they can remember when their next tests or vaccinations are due.
We plan to partner with healthcare providers (e.g., clinics, hospitals), community organizations, and public health agencies. We will leverage these partnerships to create even more sophisticated services, including:
-A patient engagement platform that, among other capabilities, will allow gay men to schedule appointments and coordinate care directly with healthcare providers, including the ability to message doctors directly with questions or concerns -A sexual health history feature that helps gay men keep track of their HIV/STD testing results, vaccines, and HIV prophylaxis history, for their own records and potentially to share, if desired, with potential sex partner(s) -The ability to push critical updates and knowledge, including specific preventative measures, from the CDC and other public health agencies to gay men in real-time, for example, during an outbreak of a particular STD or other infectious disease in a municipality -A data repository that provides anonymized sexual health trend data for research and other medical insight (like Apple’s HealthKit) -A service to order home HIV testing kits and other STD tests as well as a condom subscription service through the app
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