RESOURCES:
Planned Parenthood of Michigan
Planned Parenthood of Michigan Telehealth Services
TRANSCRIPTION:
Caroline MacGregor: This is 89.1 WEMU. I'm Caroline MacGregor. And my guest today is Jess Agius. She's the clinical director of telehealth services with Planned Parenthood of Michigan. Welcome, Jess!
Jess Agius: Thanks so much for having me!
Caroline MacGregor: Tell me about these telehealth services which Planned Parenthood has expanded recently throughout the state of Michigan?
Jess Agius: Yes, we've been doing telehealth since 2020. We started during the pandemic. But this summer, we have expanded our services pretty extensively with an increase in the number of hours each day that we're seeing folks, as well as the number of appointments available to folks.
Caroline MacGregor: Obviously, Planned Parenthood has gone through some very difficult times recently, due to cuts on the federal level. I know that several facilities were closed down. So, how do telehealth services help the situation? You know, it would seem that you would be able to, once the word is out, reach quite a few people--obviously not in person, but you're still expanding your footprint, so to speak.
Jess Agius: Absolutely! We can see a lot of different visit types through telehealth. So, a lot of the same things that are being done in our brick-and-mortar health centers, we can provide those same services during a telehealth visit, whether it's with a video or asynchronously, which means without a video. So, you're right. With a lot of the changes that have happened over the last year, the expansion of telehealth has been our way of still being able to continue to meet the needs of the Michiganders that we serve. Our services are available to anyone in the state of Michigan, regardless of where in Michigan they are and how close to a brick-and-mortar health center they are, so really helping to meet the need of the folks, despite the challenges that we've faced.
Caroline MacGregor: So, with this virtual health center, I believe you offer live video appointments from Planned Parenthood of Michigan medical providers. And then, Planned Parenthood Direct allows you to request services through the telephone basically without having to make an appointment. Tell me a bit--or explain a bit more--about the services available and what you provide.
Jess Agius: Absolutely! So, you're right. There's two essentially different types of telehealth options. The first one is what we call asynchronous. So, it's through Planned Parenthood Direct, which is either app-based or web-based. The person seeking care provides their demographic information, answers some health questions, and then it's submitted to a Planned Parenthood of Michigan care provider. We review those requests, ask questions as needed, and then we can provide services, including many different types of birth control, emergency contraceptives, treatment for urinary tract infection, and some at-home, sexually transmitted infection testing. So, that's all asynchronous without a video, and folks can submit those 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So, that is really a great option for folks that just real quick, "Oh yeah, I need this!" For folks who prefer more of a conversation or need additional services, we do have our virtual health center as an option. So, this is a video visit with one of our health care providers, and our services are pretty extensive on what we can do through a video visit. For folks 18 and older, we can provide abortion medication, as well as gender-affirming hormone care. We can also do video visits for many different types of birth control, emergency contraceptives, infection treatment, PREP, which is called pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV, so medication that folks can take to prevent HIV, as well as treatment of some sexually transmitted infections. So, our visit types are much more extensive with a video visit.
Caroline MacGregor: If you're just joining us, my guest today is Jessica Agius. She's the clinical director of telehealth services with Planned Parenthood of Michigan. And these services are expanding throughout the state to reach people in rural areas, in addition to anyone seeking these health care services online. Apparently, your telehealth services include expanded hours--weekends, mornings, and evening appointments. Obviously, this is to allow Michiganders more access to health care.
Jess Agius: Absolutely! Since we've been doing telehealth in 2020, we have seen folks in all different situations: in their car, on their lunch hour, on their way to the grocery store, all sorts of different things. But we were hearing from folks that it would be great if we had additional hours available for folks who have school or who work 9-5, which were our hours previously. So, previously, our hours were 9-5, Monday through Friday. And while we did meet a lot of folks with those hours, our expanded hours are really making folks happy. They're able to have a visit in the morning before work or school from 7-9, and then we're also caring for patients until 9 PM, Monday through Thursday. And then, in addition, we've added weekend hours. So, we're caring for folks from 9-5 on Saturdays and Sundays, so really meeting folks where they are and when we're needed.
Caroline MacGregor: I'm talking with Jess Aguis. She's the clinical director of Planned Parenthood of Michigan's telehealth services. And we're talking about how people in Michigan can access this medical care no matter where they live. I mean, I know that you've had the virtual health center. It's not new, but it's certainly expanded with these services. About how many patients do you think you serve each year?
Jess Agius: Yeah. I don't have the number of how many we've served each year, but I can tell you that we started piloting our new expanded hours at the beginning of June to see how things would work. And so, in the first approximately eight weeks, just in our expanded hours, we saw 600 patients during those new morning, evening and weekend hours.
Caroline MacGregor: What sort of feedback have you received from patients?
Jess Agius: Patients have been really happy! They have been super excited to be able to get in prior to work or prior to school or folks that have not been able to come in at all during the week because our hours were 9-5. So, people have been very happy. And I did actually just get my hands on the number. Last year, we saw about 10,000 patients in our virtual health center. So, it's actually our most popular health center, even looking at all of our brick-and-mortar health centers as well.
Caroline MacGregor: So, you are actually reaching people in some health care deserts, so to speak, because there are people in rural areas of Michigan and the U.P., for example, that don't have physical access or access to physical health centers. So, it sounds like this is really meeting a big need here in Michigan.
Jess Agius: Yes, we're definitely reaching many areas where we don't have a brick-and-mortar health center. Even just in our expanded hours, we've been able to reach out to several different cities and counties where we do not have health centers. So, that's been really nice to be able to see that we're meeting folks where they are. Absolutely!
Caroline MacGregor: Tell me about gender-affirming care. I know that there's been a lot in the news lately, politically speaking, the trans community seems to be under attack nationwide. How has the trans community responded to your telehealth services?
Jess Agius: Gosh! We've had so many folks tell us that we are providing lifesaving care. With all of the changes that are happening, many folks have not had access to their lifesaving medication. So, the fact that we not only provide it as Planned Parenthood of Michigan, but that they're able to do a telehealth visit, if they're not close to one of our health centers, has really been vital for many of the folks that we see.
Caroline MacGregor: Okay. Where does Planned Parenthood of Michigan stand today, this month, with regards to how it's faring in light of all the federal funding cuts?
Jess Agius: Sure. At this time, we've not made any changes to the care that we provide, and while we can't see into the future and know exactly what's going to change for Michigan and for the folks that we serve, as an organization, we're dedicated to continuing to provide the care that the folks that we see deserve and need.
Caroline MacGregor: Do you know where we currently stand with that 1873 Comstock Act, the 19th century anti-obscenity law that was being tossed around by politically to restrict abortion pills? Do you where we are with this?
Jess Agius: Comstock, currently, has not been invoked at any way yet.
Caroline MacGregor: Okay.
Jess Agius: And we don't know if or when it will be.
Caroline MacGregor: It sounds like this is certainly a growing service for Planned Parenthood of Michigan and one that is becoming increasingly popular.
Jess Agius: Absolutely! And we're not going anywhere! We plan to expand our telehealth services even more, potentially adding more providers, more hours in the future, in addition to more services, so that we can continue to meet the needs of folks. We hear from a lot of people that they try to schedule an appointment with their primary care or even their OBGYN, and they're waiting months to get in for just a simple birth control visit. And this is care that folks need every single day. Often, we have same-day or next-day availability in telehealth, so we really want to continue to be there for folks and provide the care that they need.
Caroline MacGregor: You've been listening to 89.1 WEMU. My guest today has been Jess Agius. She's the clinical director of telehealth for Planned Parenthood of Michigan. Thank you so much for joining me today!
Jess Agius: Thanks so much for having me!
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