Soltan Bryce
Making health care easier to access for trans men, women
Mathew Shaw | Contributing Writer
mathews.yb@gmail.com
Of the almost 28,000 respondents who participated in the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, 33 percent reported a negative experience while seeing a healthcare provider within the previous year, and 23 percent did not see a doctor when they needed to out of fear of being mistreated as a transgender person.
Even though a federal judge last year blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a rule allowing healthcare practitioners to discriminate against trans patients, trans men and women still have no guarantee that their health care providers will even understand their health needs, much less not discriminate against them. That’s why technology companies aimed toward the trans community like Plume exist.
Plume is the first health technology company built by the trans community, for the trans community, according to Plume’s head of growth Soltan Bryce. There are more than 1.4 million trans folks in the U.S., yet they are one of the most underserved communities when it comes to access to reliable healthcare, Bryce said.
Guided by a team that is mostly trans, Plume provides access to gender-affirming hormone therapy through a smartphone.
“At Plume, we talk a bit about being for trans people, by trans people. And we think that’s really important because there’s a shared understanding about the dearth of quality, accessible and convenient care for the trans community,” Bryce said.
He also noted that the pandemic has an isolating impact that makes seeking care difficult and has driven many to medication sharing. But, “Even in less pressing times, up to 50 percent of trans folks report both delaying care or not seeking care out of fear of discrimination or harassment,” he noted.
Plume is an app that can be downloaded onto a smartphone for a $99 a month subscription fee. The patient then fills out some forms on the app to create an individualized plan.
For Ezra Reynolds, who started using Plume last year, the process has been easy and convenient way to get to get hormone treatment without jumping through any hoops.
“I was very open and honest,” he recalled. “I was like, ‘Hey, I was on testosterone previously for five years. Here’s my dose.’ They basically took all the information I gave them and ran with it. It was a really relaxed process.”
The process for Reynolds includes scheduling a consultation, and the doctors get all information online through a third party app which enforces HIPAA law. In addition, Reynolds said he likes that the doctors are honest with him about his testosterone hormone levels.
“I’m glad that they’re going to tell me something in a positive manner,” he said. “They’re not going to allow you to take too much hormones if they don’t think it’s necessary.”
For many, the journey to expressing one’s authentic self as a trans person involves navigating a gender-normative medical system, Bryce said.
“There’s very few medical services out there that engage with people’s self expression, identity and personal well-being as both gender-affirming care does and as Plume does,” he noted. “We’ve heard numerous patients stories that have been rife with excessively long wait times, administrative hurdles, [and] providers that are unfamiliar with treatment.”
Bryce added that Plume is venture-backed, meaning it is funded by venture capital firms that make an investment in them. In addition, Plume has added hundreds of patients a month to its service.
“Plume symbolizes what the best of gender affirming care can be,” he explained. “The ability to express your plumage.”
Plume is also the only company that offers virtual care 24/7. In under a year since its launch, it is available to more than 60 percent of the trans community, according to a press release.
“What we really hope to do at Plume is to take that access to care and expand it as widely as we can,” Bryce said. “Accessing care itself is the really difficult thing to do. It can be the difference of life or death for some people.” █
