Monkeypox ‘misjudgment’ leading LGBTQ people ‘to avoid care,’ FOLX Health CEO warns
FOLX Health CEO Liana Douillet Guzman joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss health care disparities the LGBTQ community faces and how that's impacting monkeypox treatment and vaccination.
Video Transcript
- Monkeypox cases are continuing to rise across the US. And telehealth site FOLX Health is doubling down on its efforts to help the LGBTQ community. The clinical services site will now offer dedicated virtual appointments and will help patients find vaccines and find treatments. Joining us now to discuss is FOLX Health CEO Liana Douillet Guzman, along with Yahoo Finance's Anjalee Khemlani. Liana, thank you for being here.
So talk me through this and how this is going to work. You guys are telehealth exclusively, so you're not doing the jabs yourselves. But it's been tough for people to source these. So how are you finding distribution sites for people who are going to be using your site?
LIANA DOUILLET GUZMAN: Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. I'm going to take a step back and then come into your question. So FOLX Health exists to be the leading health-care provider for the LGBTQIA community. And in launching our virtual care offering, which includes consultations around monkeypox today, we're moving one step closer to realizing that mission.
The context in which both the monkeypox consultations and our broader care offering exists is that more than 50% of our community reports experiencing discrimination in a health-care setting. We know that for every person that's reporting it, there are so many others who are not reporting it. We recently did a survey of our community. 78% of people did not have access to affirming care before finding FOLX. And 71% actively avoided seeking care because of discrimination.
And even if you can find a clinician who's not discriminatory, the reality is that they lack the expertise in the specific medical needs of our community. So the average clinician graduates with five hours of LGBTQIA training. And frankly, that's just not enough in terms of offering the queer centricity and expertise that our community needs and deserves.
And then alongside that is this long history of gatekeeping and scapegoating and judgment that has really defined the queer community's experience within health care. And that's what we're seeing with monkeypox, right? There is this misjudgment that this is a sexually transmitted disease that is specific to our community when that is very much not the case.
And so we felt it was really important to come out and provide a source of truth that was clear and fact based and offered clinical guidance that was high quality and affirming. And so the way that we do that is via our telehealth offering. You are able to call in and talk to a clinician, who can assess your symptoms and see if they are consistent with monkeypox. If they are, we use our tiered referral system to connect you into a provider or network of providers that are affirming at minimum and often queer trained. And then can also provide prescriptions for pain management.
ANJALEE KHEMLANI: Liana, I know that there have been reports of what you just reviewed, which is clinicians not able to recognize the symptoms or thinking that a patient who's presenting with monkeypox symptoms does not, in fact, have it. How are you able to go around that through a telehealth visit? And are diagnostics are part of this as well? Because I know that that plays a role in how you get to diagnose and then get the vaccines and treatments.
LIANA DOUILLET GUZMAN: Yeah, so we are not-- part of what we're doing is having that initial consultation. And if we feel like there is a there there, then we can connect folks to providers who can fully diagnose and then start treatment. I think what's really important is all of the stats that I mentioned earlier are leading people to avoid care. So there are people who are afraid to go to the doctor. They're afraid that they're going to be shamed if they have to go and show-- to see if they have symptoms of monkeypox. And so being able to have us as a first step, where we can help them understand whether that visit to the doctor is really necessary or not, and then also provide them with education so that when they go in, they're armed with the knowledge to be able to be their own advocates.
And so that's really the dual purpose that we're able to serve. We're able to be that affirming entry point so that people know that they can access that initial care with no fear of discrimination or judgment, and then also that educational component so that they can come in and really take control over the visit.
ANJALEE KHEMLANI: Can you explain how you're able to find these treatments and these vaccines? Because it seems like that's something that these patients could do and have been trying to do on their own. What do you have up your sleeve that's different that could help them gain access faster or more efficiently?
LIANA DOUILLET GUZMAN: Yeah, so I think the reality is you're right, there are folks who can access this on their own. Again, I think it is that fear of who do I go to and are they going to be affirming? Are they going to be judgmental? So what we're able to do is provide that overlay of confidence that when you go to a provider, they have been vetted by FOLX. And this is somebody that is going to be affirming and nonjudgmental in providing care.
I also, as I mentioned earlier, I think people are avoiding care for fear of judgment. And so being able to have that first visit that validates, yes, I do need to go see someone, or no, actually, this is just a rash that does not present as monkeypox, and here are other ways that we can treat it. And so over time, we're hoping that as protocols mature we're going to be able to provide treatment ourselves as well. But in the meantime, we can provide access to that affirming layer of provider.
- Liana, just really quickly, are these services covered by insurance?
LIANA DOUILLET GUZMAN: They are not today. So we are a cash pay model, although we have kept our prices incredibly low to ensure that we can increase access. So a visit is $59. And we are actively in process to move towards an insurance acceptance. But it's going to take a little bit of time.
- Yes, it's a thorny system, but thanks so much. Appreciate it. FOLX Health CEO Liana Douillet Guzman, along with Yahoo Finance's Anjalee Khemlani.
