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How I got a birth control prescription over FaceTime in less than 10 minutes
I tried it and can confirm that the future is now
by Amanda Ross
Remember the "there's an app for that" ad campaign from a few years ago, back when there were only like, 12 apps? OK, now there really is an app for that.
Last night, I was able to get a six-month prescription of birth control from the comfort of my bed in less time than it would take to cook a frozen pizza. Maven, a healthcare app, allows patients to schedule FaceTime appointments with OB/GYNs and nurse practitioners to bring health services and prescriptions to women in a pinch.
After downloading the app, you're prompted to upload some basic information about yourself: what state you live in, your insurance information (if you have it), and your pharmacy of choice.
Maven provides a number of services including mental wellness help, but all I really needed was a prescription to ensure I wouldn't become the world's most unfit mother, and that's counting the woman I saw putting orange soda in her newborn's bottle in the park this weekend.
General health is the one for birth control, just btw
Video appointments are relatively cheap, costing about $25 a pop — and your first one is free! But honestly, they could charge me $250,000 and it would be worth not having to get probed by a speculum every time I need a pill refill.
You can pick who you want to chat with, be it an MD or another healthcare provider empowered to write prescriptions. I logged on at 8:30 p.m. and had an OB/GYN with an open appointment five minutes later.
I used Dr. Perretta, she was dope
The doctor asks you all the normal questions you'd get at a regular appointment like if you're sexually active, how many partners you're involved with, other medications you're on, etc. as well as emphasizes that this isn't supposed to be a substitute for an annual pelvic exam. We chatted about past types of BC I'd been on, what I liked, what I didn't, and what might be the best kind of me based on my lifestyle and side effects.
In seven minutes flat, my doctor spoke with me and called in six months worth of birth control pills to my pharmacy while I chilled on my bed in sweatpants. It was literally easier than downloading a movie off iTunes, with the added bonus of keeping me from having to co-parent with this truly gnarly-looking bartender I'm trying to hook up with this weekend.
What a time to be alive.