Trans healthcare in this country is abysmal. Most doctors aren’t trained enough to properly handle the unique needs of trans patients. Personally speaking, it’s always a bit of a risk taking on a new primary care physician, simply because I’m never sure if the person I’m going to see knows what to do with me at all. I’m lucky to have found a doctor I can stick with (for now), but many trans people aren’t quite so lucky.
Enter two new health startups: MyTransHealth and Rad Remedy.
MyTransHealth is focused on becoming a place where trans people can seek out doctors with the appropriate knowledge and training to help them. Right now it’s a crapshoot, and there’s no way to know what a doctor’s capable of without an office visit, which is something that can cost a good chunk of money. By putting the right tools in everyone’s hands—doctors and patients—healthcare becomes easier. Isn’t that the point, after all?
In a video on the MyTransHealth website, one of the company’s founders, Robyn Kanner, recounts her own search for a proper therapist to begin her transition. “Transition shouldn’t really be a difficult thing for people,” she said. “It should be one of those things where somebody can walk in and say, ‘Hi, I’m trans, I really need help.’ And that person immediately gets help… What would happen if we could eliminate that gatekeeping for trans people?”
Another startup aiming to alleviate the problems with searching for trans healthcare is Rad Remedy. The major difference between MyTransHealth and Rad Remedy is that MyTransHealth screens providers on basics and such before adding them to the database. Rad Remedy is crowdsourced, though its search seems to be a lot more granular; you can find anything from voice training to top surgery.
On first glance, the search form on their website is reminiscent of Yelp or GrubHub. It sounds weird, but maybe that’s just how simple healthcare should be. The best part is that both of these startups are non-profit. They’re not looking to sell their websites or their databases. They just want to help the trans community.
Doesn’t that deserve some support?
(via The Daily Dot)
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