NYC digital startup offers expanded access to reproductive care

Digital health firm Twentyeight Health, based in Brooklyn, wants to increase access to birth control pills and sexual education for American women who live in contraceptive deserts or conservative areas, starting this month with New York and New Jersey.

Users of the app fill out a questionnaire and are matched with a doctor, who can speak to patients by phone or through a secure messaging platform. Users are paired with the same doctor for all follow-up questions except for emergencies, when the first available doctor will be in contact.

The doctors, who are independent contractors, determine whether a user is ineligible for birth control based on factors including being a smoker. Women can indicate current or previous prescriptions, but the doctors follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to make their own medication choices.