HeyDoctor Now Offers Naloxone — Here’s Why
We founded HeyDoctor in 2017 with the goal of leveraging technology to provide access to high-quality healthcare and reduce the barriers that prevent people from getting the care they need. One of the most surprising ways we’ve seen HeyDoctor break down those barriers is by lessening the stigma around health conditions that many people feel too embarrassed to bring up with their doctor in-person. People can feel awkward or even ashamed to talk to their doctor about sensitive issues or pick up necessary prescriptions from their pharmacy. This can be even more acute in a small town, where someone’s health care provider might also be a friend or neighbor. And that’s not even mentioning the millions of Americans who put off treatment because they lack insurance, live far away from their providers, or simply can’t afford to take time off work. HeyDoctor removes these barriers so that talking to your doctor can be as easy as texting.
Since launch, we’ve sought to expand our service offerings in alignment with our mission. As of today, HeyDoctor will make naloxone — an emergency opioid overdose reversal drug — available via our app and website. The service will allow patients to have prescriptions for naloxone delivered to their door or to their local pharmacy for more immediate pick-up. In the face of the ongoing opioid epidemic, harm reduction is paramount. By providing this service, we hope to increase access to a critical tool for anyone who cares for a loved one that is using prescription opioids or who is at risk for opiate overdose themselves.
Before founding HeyDoctor, I spent years as a family medicine doctor. During that time, I saw a number of patients who were either addicted to opioids or needed to take high doses to mitigate their pain. Just about every other doctor in America can likely say the same. Approximately 21–29% of patients who are prescribed opioids for chronic pain end up misusing them, and 130 people die of opioid overdose every day in the United States. The scale and severity of this epidemic — including the outsized impact it has on vulnerable populations and the isolation and destruction that it causes — require that we deploy all possible strategies to combat it.
In addition to addressing the root causes behind addiction, we need to reduce the immediate harm being done today. In the same way that we have made critical tools like AEDs and EpiPens widely available to first responders to save lives, anyone who takes, or cares for someone who takes, high doses of opioids should have naloxone on-hand. This drug has the potential to save lives by quickly reversing opioid-overdoses, but while it is easy and safe to use, it’s not always easy to access. Many people don’t know how or where they can get it, or are too embarrassed to ask for it at their local pharmacy. We hope that by providing another avenue of access, HeyDoctor can increase the availability of this life-saving medicine.
As we grow, we continue to look for new ways to support public health as part of our broader mission to reduce stigma, help patients save money, and expand access to healthcare to those that need it the most. The challenges our healthcare system faces won’t be solved overnight or by technology alone, but we’re proud to be helping consumers receive the high-quality care they deserve.
