Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 30, 2026

A Novel Method for Involving Women of Color at High Risk for Preterm Birth in Research Priority Setting
Published on: January 12, 2018
Breaking down barriers to birth control access: An assessment of online platforms prescribing birth control in the
Carmela Zuniga1, Daniel Grossman2, Sara Harrell1
1Ibis Reproductive Health, USA.
Introduction:
In the USA, the requirement that individuals obtain a prescription for hormonal contraception is a significant barrier for women who lack the time, finances, insurance coverage or means of transportation to visit a provider. The emergence of telemedicine services has removed some of these barriers by providing women with the opportunity to conveniently obtain birth control prescriptions through their computer or smartphone.
Methods:
In this article, we compare the prescribing processes and policies of online platforms that prescribe hormonal contraceptives to women in the USA, and use the recommendations of the 2016 US medical eligibility criteria for contraceptive use to evaluate whether online prescribers are providing evidence-based care.
Results:
As of February 2018, nine online platforms prescribed hormonal birth control to women across various states in the USA. These platforms varied in regard to their prescribing processes, range of methods offered, locations of operation, fees for services, and policies regarding age restrictions.
Discussion:
An assessment of each platform's online health questionnaire reveals that these telemedicine services are adequately screening for contraindications and safely providing birth control methods to patients, although efforts could be made to strengthen the rigour of online health questionnaires to ensure they adequately screen for all contraindications.
Related Concept Videos
Birth Control Methods
Control System Problem
When forming a closed-loop system, issues can arise if the poles cross into the unstable region, leading to potential...
Combinatorial Gene Control
The expression of more than 30,000 genes is controlled by approximately 2000-3000 transcription factors. This is possible because a single transcription factor can recognize more than one regulatory sequence. The specificity in gene...
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast,...
Control Systems
At the heart...
Controller Configurations
Control-system compensation involves various configurations, most commonly series or cascade compensation, in which the controller...

