New Mobile App Allows for Faster STD Results
No one wants to get the news that they have contracted a sexually transmitted disease (STD), but when an infection is suspected, the sooner you get results, the sooner you can begin treatment. Now, Los Angeles-area patients who see their gynecologist for a suspected infection can get test results faster through a new mobile app called Healthvana.
While patients typically wait up to two weeks to find out if the have contracted HIV or any number of STDs, this new service provides clinics and patients with software to access and update medical test results electronically. Patients are provided a mobile app that lists STD results in easy-to-understand, layperson terms, and the information is even shareable with future physicians and sexual partners. The app currently includes results for:
- Gonorrhea
- HIV
- Syphilis
- Chlamydia
Future offerings on the app will include pap smear results and HIV treatment, and possibly vaccination records and their medical information.
Since its launch in January 2015, the new service has partnered with over 12 clinics and reached nearly 10,000 patients. The goal, say representatives from Healthvana, is to empower a new generation of daters who use mobile apps to “hook up,” a habit that may be responsible for rising cases of syphilis and gonorrhea in major metropolitan cities like Los Angeles and other places around the country.
Using the new app is fairly simple. Women who seek gynecological services such as STD testing at a Healthvana-powered clinic will fill out basic paperwork and will receive a follow-up email that allows them to create a private account. After results are ready, the patient will receive an email notification. The patient can then open the app, log in and see the results under a “My Records” tab. HIV
Healthvana has piloted the program around the country in cities like Los Angeles, California, and other locations such Florida, Dallas, Washington D.C., Cleveland and the New York City borough of Brooklyn.