LGBTQIA+families have a lot of fears for their family. Will they be subjected to discrimination on vacation? Will other children tease their kids in school? And, will they be able to find a doctor who accepts their family and treats them with respect by providing top-notch medical care?
Thanks to a new app, finding an inclusive doctor will soon be cut from the list of fears for LGBTQIA+ families. University of Pennsylvania med students Naveen Jain, Jun Jeon, and Phil Williams have created SpectrumScores, an app that connects LGBT people and their families with doctors who are recognized as allies and inclusive by organizations and medical centers.
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“To me, SpectrumScores isn’t just a project – it’s a mission. Accessibility to healthcare is a fundamental human right…” – Jun Jeon pic.twitter.com/jXieI7Yriv— SpectrumScores (@Spectrum_Scores) May 12, 2017
Studies have found that the LGBTQIA+ community suffers more discrimination when looking for good healthcare than their counterparts. For those who use the app and see a doctor, they can also provide personal reviews on their experience, which may allow the developers to make some tweaks to the app in the future:
“Everything here is voluntary. You can remain anonymous when you write a review,” Jeon said. “We have not put anything to indicate their race yet, but [with] later user feedback, if that would prove helpful for the physicians and the user community, then we could put that on there as well.”
“The underlying idea is so simple – helping LGBTQ+ patients find competent healthcare providers just makes intuitive sense…”
-Naveen Jain pic.twitter.com/LgfrYU8AUt— SpectrumScores (@Spectrum_Scores) June 26, 2017
The app will begin rolling out in a few cities like Philadelphia and New York City and will then be provided across the U.S. We are excited for the app to be available across all of the U.S. as it will be so helpful for parents of LGBT youth and LGBT parents find quality healthcare and positive environments for their medical needs.
“For me, SpectrumScores is personal… I’m confident that it will be a powerful tool to improve LGBTQ+ healthcare access.”
-Phil Williams pic.twitter.com/2qyIQQshvc— SpectrumScores (@Spectrum_Scores) August 4, 2017