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 The new service, called Healthvana, allows patients access to their
lab results once they are completed at a clinic or medical center,
usually within days of being tested. Patients then receive an email
instructing them to log-in to the secure online portal. Results can
also be viewed through the official iPhone app.
All of the records are easily accessible, shareable and verified.
Records are also time-stamped.
By the end of the year, the L.A.-based service will have reached
more than 100,000 users since late 2010. Ramin Bastani, 38, said he
founded the service to help make conversations of about sexual
health less awkward and taboo.
“The biggest problem we’re solving is helping patients get their lab
results, and that’s a really hard thing to do, because getting
results back is not easy,” Bastani told Reuters Health. “Often when
people get tested for STDs, the doctor says, ‘Thanks for getting
tested today, and if you don’t hear back from us in 10 days, no news
is good news.’”
Bastani, who prides himself on his safe-sex lifestyle, said he has
seen many young people struggle with anxiety while waiting for
results the traditional way. Others are embarrassed to learn the
results in-person or over the phone.
Over the past two years, Bastani said he has been tested for STDs
more than 50 times in an effort to better understand the patient
experience. “No news is not good news,” he said.
The service is free to patients. Users can find participating
clinics through the website (https://www.healthvana.com/free-std-testing/).
A pilot program was recently launched with medical centers on the
East Coast.
“We aim to empower patients and help health care providers be more
efficient,” he said. “Patients aren't calling or coming in for their
results. We're the mediator.”
When a patient tests positive for a curable disease, Healthvana
provides them next-step options and links them to a health care
provider.
The HIPAA-compliant service can be used by people being testing for
a variety of STDs, including chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis.
Those seeking their HIV-status will not receive their results via
Healthvana, but HIV-positive users can have their HIV viral load
verified.
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Dr. Lauren Streicher, an associate professor of obstetrics and
gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine
in Chicago, said she believes the service has the potential to help
keep younger patients informed about their sexual health.
“I think it’s very important that patients have access to their test
results,” Streicher told Reuters Health. “I’m a big believer in that
we should not go along with ‘no news is good news.’ ”
Streicher uses a different HIPAA-compliant portal that informs
patients of conditions like high blood pressure and cholesterol, but
she said she does not send results likely to upset patients or cause
misunderstandings. She said she would not feel comfortable sending
patients their positive STD diagnoses via a portal.
“I’m torn, because I think access to information is critical for
patients, and I want them to have information, but sometimes it can
be upsetting or misinterpreted, and that’s problematic. Patients
tend to expect the worst,” she said.
Gavy Hernandez, a 23-year-old student attending the University of
Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha, Wis., said she thinks many young
people would use Healthvana.
“I think it’s a good idea, if this is a legit app,” she told Reuters
Health. “We would still have to educate those who use it about sex,
though.”
Hernandez said some college students may not remember to use the app
if they are partying or drunk.
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