You Can Now Take An STD Test With An App
It’s important for your health to get yourself tested, but seeing a doctor about STD testing can, well, feel embarrassing for people. So Planned Parenthood is launching a new app to let you privately test yourself for chlamydia and gonorrhea.
The Planned Parenthood Direct app can send you a testing kit for a urine sample, and it will use packaging that won’t give people any clues about what’s in it. It costs $149 for the test, but, if it comes back positive, the app will also tell you what your next steps are for treatment, and even get you a prescription at your pharmacy.
You mail the test back in order to get your results, and you get your results as quickly as you would by going to a physical clinic. The testing kit doesn’t test things like HIV or syphilis, because that would need blood tests, and a healthcare professional would be necessary for that. Right now this new program is being used in California, but they’re hoping to have it be a national option within a few years.
“Online care shouldn't replace a relationship with a provider," said Jill Balderson, who is the vice president of health innovation at Planned Parenthood. “It's one avenue to increase convenience, but we're also looking to make sure we refer to health-care centers when we need to, as well."