Planned Parenthood recently launched Planned Parenthood Direct, a mobile app that allows New Yorkers to receive birth control pills and urinary tract infection (UTI) treatment through their phones.
What does the new Planned Parenthood Direct app do? Some kinds of reproductive health care are more straightforward than others, like deciding to use birth control pills or determining if you have a UTI and getting treated. PP Direct is a new smartphone app for requesting birth control pills and obtaining treatment for UTIs.
What inspired its creation? In the age of Uber, GrubHub, and Amazon, we felt it was time to offer New Yorkers two of our most popular and most urgent services — birth control and UTI treatment — from the comfort of their homes, offices, cars or even yoga classes.
What is its goal? The goal of PP Direct is to provide remote access to services and prescriptions to returning and new patients, expanding access to sexual and reproductive health care. PP Direct is also a great way to introduce people to all the services Planned Parenthood provides.
What kind of feedback have you gotten in response to its launch? The response has been tremendous. The app has been launching state by state across the country, and New Yorkers have gone out of their way to share their excitement through many App Store reviews.
How many downloads has the app gotten since it was launched? Nationally, 150,000 users have downloaded the app; 60,000-plus of which have created an account.
What else should readers know about it? Every day, as each person downloads PP Direct, they become a part of the Planned Parenthood community, which includes more than 14,000 patients in Nassau County. As time goes on, we plan to expand services and coverage through PP Direct.
PP Direct is available for iOs and Android. Visit plannedparenthooddirect.org for more info and to download.
