Nic Anthony, a medical student and Catherine Hofmann, have launched QSpaces, an app that can “search, rate and review health care providers based on LGBTQ competency,” Anthony told Technically Philly.
Users will be able to filter providers by location, specialty, and rating, and providers will be able to add to their own profiles. The duo says they also want to educate more doctors on how to work with LGBT people.
“We want to use this information to contact the doctors that have the lowest reviews and set up a possible training with them,” Anthony said. “If they’re not open to remedying that, we can show that data to someone that can do something about it.”
Anthony said this is important because LGBT people face unique challenges, noting that Lesbian and bi women for example, are significantly less likely to be screened for cervical cancer because some providers assume HPV is only transmitted through heterosexual sex. Anthony and Hofmann have partnered with a web development company, Webjunto, to get the app running. “Their business exemplifies a lot of the same values as we do,” Anthony said, “like prioritizing diversity and working with the community, which is hard to find in the tech world.”
