Accessible and Safe Trans HealthCare with Plume

Since the launch of Mariposa Health in July 2019, Dr. Jerrica Kirkley and her business partner, Dr. Matthew Weschler, have seen their telehealth technology not only blossom but become in-demand for providing trans folks access to the gender-affirming care they need.

A year ago, the idea of providing remote-only HRT and other services via an appointment with a clinician over an app had peers in the profession raising an eyebrow. Now, in a world of COVID-19, doctors and nurses are rushing to get educated on the new wave of delivering care.

“Having the restrictions of COVID in place, a lot more medical practices in general are warming up to the idea of telehealth,” Dr. Jerrica Kirkly explains. “It does start to make it more commonplace for patients, especially now, and sometimes the only option for people to get care.”

Mariposa Health leapt into the next wave of inclusive care and is now called Plume. With the name change came a new era of evolution for the entire team. Having just secured venture capital funding, they have been able to build a novel, tech platform and truly deliver care exactly the way they envisioned it. In addition, Plume has built the team of trans and queer folks delivering that care and created even more safety and opportunity for individuals looking for these services.

OUT FRONT met Dr. Jerrica in the fall of 2019 and learned about her story, why she got into the practice of providing gender-affirming care, and the foundation of delivering such a novel concept to trans and nonbinary folks. From her own journey of exploring and expressing her trans identity, she has a unique and relatable approach to delivering the safest and most accessible healthcare to folks looking to explore HRT.

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“One of the things that my business partner, Matthew, and I were always focused on was putting together a team that really represented the community we were serving,” Jerrica says. “Given that we’re serving the trans community, we wanted to be primarily composed of trans folks doing this work.”

Plume has grown to a team of 11 people all across the business board, from bringing on more clinicians to back office staff, to hiring engineers and marketing experts. With seven of the 11 team members identifying as trans, Plume is truly living out its mission and values to serve the population who seeks its care.

“We have two care coordinators, myself as a physician; we recently just hired another physician, and have a nurse practitioner who’s going to be joining us soon, and we are all trans-identified,” Jerrica says. Additionally, folks on the marketing and product team identify as trans, which means representation is woven into every layer of the organization.

Navigating the labyrinth of the healthcare system in general can be frustrating and feel like a maze of painfully bad hold music and appointments scheduled for a month or more out. For many trans folks, exploring transitioning options can be uncomfortable at best and more than likely flat-out traumatizing as they navigate the confusing system. However, at Plume, patients have nothing but rave reviews about their experiences with Jerrica and the entire team.

Review after review from patients who have utilized the Plume services shed some light on how it truly feels to receive gender-affirming care without ever having to step inside a doctor’s office.

One patient writes, “I’m so excited to finally have a provider that understands what I need. Thank you for all you do!” Another expresses their gratitude for the “lifesaving services.” One more patient says, “Thank you so much! it’s crazy to me how simple you’ve made this whole process vs. all the hoops I’ve had to jump through the last few years just to try to get someone to help me be me.”

Jerrica admits that while she suspected there was a large need in the trans community for this kind of service, it hasn’t been until the day-to-day interactions with patients and the growth of the business at such a rapid rate that this fact is truly sinking in.

“It’s really inspiring; we get amazing feedback on a daily basis from our patients. One thing that’s been incredible is almost on a daily basis, I have a patient cry, literally, during the video visit for their intake after they realize that they’re going to be starting HRT for the first time and that they’re going to get prescriptions the day of the visit,” Jerrica says.

Related article: Second Puberty- My Journey Through HRT 

She continues, “I, of course, can remember back when I first started HRT, that feeling and the excitement of something that you’ve been thinking about for so long and wanting to do and then finally had the opportunity to do it.”

With Plume, the barriers truly are lifted, as the app has streamlined the initial stages to a 20-minute questionnaire. Within a couple weeks, folks can have their first video visit with one of the clinicians, and immediately, prescriptions are sent to the pharmacy. Jerrica says this process brings a combination of joy and surprise to most folks who are used to the historically drawn-out process in the healthcare setting.

Knowing that the process of starting HRT is celebratory for folks who are beginning their transition, Jerrica and the entire Plume team want to deliver exactly that to all their patients. By creating the custom app that all the information and records are based in, they can ensure that the correct chosen names and pronouns are used at all times, which truly is gender-affirming care.

“There’s this power in telecommunication and text-based communication,” Jerrica emphasizes. “Some people might think from afar that if you’re not having an in-person visit, then it’s hard to connect with a patient or establish a good rapport and relationship. What we found is that patients are incredibly comfortable and much more vulnerable when they’re texting to us, or filling out a digital intake form, and patients will share their entire life stories, their entire journey of going through the processing of their gender. It’s really beautiful to see.”

For more information, visit getplume.co.