![]() ![]() Building a virtual platform was really a solution around accessibility and affordability in terms of being able to scale clinical resources and access to the community. It also made sense in terms of accessibility for populations that some of whom live in big city centers, but a lot of the queer and trans community doesn't live in those big cities. Building a direct-to-consumer platform just made all the sense. About half of the community experiences some sort of act of discrimination, and 7% of cisgender queer folks and 22% of trans folks are actively assaulted in health care settings so deep, deep alienation from the system. ![]() The idea for Folx was really this idea that a lot of us are alienated from the health care system because, for a lot of folks, there's a huge amount of discrimination. So much of what happens for folks when they encounter health care is having to deal with insurance and deal with what their employer will cover, and it's just a lot of hand-to-hand combat with the system. The thing that really intrigued me about direct-to-consumer was reestablishing the patient's control of the whole experience and the relationship with the health care system. So I went to public health school did some startups and big data analytics, hoping that if we knew better, we'd do better and then did some investing in health care. I'm only sort of coming to grips with that now, but I started my career - and I will spare you most of the once upon a time - as a lawyer working with queer and trans kids, and that actually kicked off my desire to get into the whole world of how can we fix health care. There are so many ways in which I think about this as the company that I was always supposed to build. So why launch a health care company now, and one that's specifically focused on the LGBTQ community? ![]() The conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.Ģ020 has been a huge year for health care due to the pandemic. Protocol talked to Breitenstein about why she is building Folx, what it's been like building a new health care company in the pandemic and how a Biden presidency could change things. And unlike a lot of DTC companies, such as Hims & Hers or birth control company Nurx, which are more focused on selling products, Folx will help provide the clinical care so that its members are meeting virtually with doctors who are specialized in the needs of the queer and trans community.Īfter raising a $4.4 million seed round from Define Ventures, Bessemer and Polaris Partners, Folx is launching on Thursday to begin accepting members in six states, before rolling out nationally early next year. Her solution is starting with a direct-to-consumer model that will allow Folx members to sign up for services like hormone replacement therapy or STI testing. I'll try to find a website for you, but I have no idea how to do that,'" Breitenstein said. "If you start talking to people, over and above the question of just outright hostility and discrimination, we heard countless stories of lesbians going to the doctor and saying, 'You know, I'm thinking about doing at-home insemination,' and their doctor just being like, 'That's cool. But it was her own experience and countless stories from others that made her realize that a lot of the health care system today isn't set up to adequately address the needs of the queer and trans community. Breitenstein started her career as a lawyer for LGBTQ youth and then worked in health care as an entrepreneur and investor. It's why she built Folx Health, a new health care company designed for the queer and trans community. "I think this is the beginning of a wave of very specific companies that need to meet people and patients where they are in their lives - based on who they are, where they come from, what their experiences are - as opposed to the traditional primary care model, which treats all people as the same," Breiteinstein said. Instead, she wants to build a health care solution that's bespoke for the queer and trans community, an area that is underserved and often actively discriminated against by the current health care system. But it's a model that Breitenstein sees as outdated in today's world, where health care doesn't need to be one size fits all: When it is, it's often to the detriment of communities. Breitenstein, primary care is like the general store owner on the prairie: They try to be all things to all people. ![]()
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