LA, Meet The Modern Medical Home | The Tia Take

Today is a big day! Tia is now available in Los Angeles and coming to more cities in 2021. With virtual and in-person legs, Tia makes healthcare more convenient, collaborative and connected. And by making Tia available to women beyond New York City, we’re one step closer to making “the Tia Way,” the new standard of care for women everywhere.

The perils of expansion: where, when, and how to scale!

We started Tia with a grand vision to architect a fundamentally new and distinctly female model of care for the modern healthcare system. When we say “new model of care,” we mean reimagining everything (I mean everything) end-to-end — from the types of providers that work in a women’s health clinic, to the look, feel, and function of a doctor’s office, to the technology we use to connect patients and providers, to the questions we ask on our health record, to the gowns, the socks — and yes, even the temperature! Throughout Tia’s history, no detail has been too small in the making of the very first modern medical home for women.

We were well on our way to bringing the Tia Way to more women when Covid-19 hit. First and foremost, we oriented our attention to the crisis in New York City. We temporarily closed our physical doors and went 100% virtual, serving as the first line of response for Covid mayhem to keep women out of NYC’s inundated ERs. And, we rolled out additional support including mental healthcare and guides to navigating insurance coverage amidst changes to employment. The first three months of Covid were a stark reminder that Tia’s role as a healthcare provider was not limited to the traditional practice of medicine alone.

Despite the stressors inherent to the crisis, there were moments of light.

We learned that women wanted — and trusted — Tia to be their therapist and saw mental health as integral to, not separate from, their physical healthcare.

We learned that virtual care does not have to be a lesser-than version of in-person care.

We learned that Tia’s role as an information provider — a translational bridge between science and the layperson — was foundational at a time of rampant misinformation and confusion.

Nine months into the most harrowing global pandemic of our lifetimes, Tia has never been stronger. We’ve made some hard decisions on what to do, and more importantly, what not to do — all while staying true to our north star — positioning us for thoughtful, intentional scale.

So, why LA? What Angelenos can expect from Tia.

We know that women around the country want Tia. And we have big plans to bring Tia Care to you! Choosing where to expand first was a tough call — so is scaling thoughtfully and at the appropriate velocity. With the launch of Tia in Los Angeles and more cities soon, we commit to being forever the same, and always new — while never losing sight of those details that make the Tia Way one-of-a-kind. That means:

1. Virtual-first, not virtual-only

We’ve been wowed by the ways in which the events of 2020 have enabled us to deliver more care on the Internet than ever before — all while improving, not compromising, quality. While we do not attempt to do Pap tests over Zoom (we promise!), we have cracked how to make healthcare even more convenient, accessible, and personalized than before by delivering care virtually and in-person when you need it.

Yes, we can prescribe birth control or treat a UTI virtually; but we can also diagnose or manage chronic conditions virtually, such as PCOS, endometriosis, or migraines. And most important to us, we can deliver more preventive health virtually than we ever could have imagined — and continue your care journey in person for physical exams, bloodwork, and ultrasounds when needed.

What this means for women in LA: You can get virtual Tia care today, and in-person Tia Care in early 2021!

Become a Tia member and get virtual primary care, mental health, and gynecology, starting today. And in early 2021, continue your care journey with Tia in person — for pelvic exams, ultrasounds, acupuncture, the works — at our first LA location in Silver Lake. And if you need in-person care in the meantime, we’ll connect you with a Tia-vetted provider near you.

2. Integrative, whole women’s health

The events of 2020 have shined a spotlight on the importance of whole women’s health that is inclusive of physical, mental, and emotional well-being. In NYC, we saw a 400% increase in mental health related messages on our platform with the onset of Covid — a testament to the lack of and critical need for women’s mental healthcare. And we know women — and especially women in Los Angeles — love wellness and don’t see it as “separate” from healthcare. In fact, more than 60% of women in Los Angeles use complementary and alternative medicine. The problem is, the majority of these wellness-oriented practitioners come at a steep out-of-pocket price and more often than not, do not connect with, or even conflict with a woman's core primary care — leaving patients frustrated and confused on what advice to take.

At Tia, we practice both integrated and integrative medicine. When we say integrated, we mean fusing mental health, primary care, gynecology, and acupuncture into a singular medical home model. When we say integrative, we mean looking beyond symptoms to seek a root cause diagnosis and treatment that considers lifestyle, nutrition, sleep, stress, hormones, and more — no matter what type of provider you see at Tia.

What this means for women in LA: You can get healthcare and wellness all-in-one (that works with your insurance!)

Become a Tia member and get whole women’s healthcare across all specialties and modalities. This means you don’t need to reconcile healthcare and wellness or pay expensive cash prices for an integrative point of view. You can get healthcare that treats the whole you — and works with insurance.

3. Affordable and accessible

At a time of unprecedented crisis, making high-quality healthcare affordable and accessible has never been more important. Los Angeles is on the brink of one of the worst OB/GYN shortages in the country — ranking #2 in the U.S. behind only Las Vegas. And primary care is close behind; the average wait time to see a Primary Care Provider in Los Angeles is 42 days.

At Tia, affordability and accessibility are table stakes. That means accepting as many insurance plans as we can to reduce your cost of care, which is not the norm for integrative care providers. And, ensuring you can get healthcare on your schedule — same day, early AM, and evenings.

What this means for women in LA: Put your insurance to work for care at Tia!

Once a member, you can use your insurance for primary care and gynecology services (and when we open our in-person location, acupuncture too!). As of today, we accept some plans from Aetna, Cigna, United, Anthem BCBS, Blue Shield of California, and are working to take more insurance plans soon.

4. High-quality providers with the distinctly Tia sparkle

While we’re all about technology improving healthcare, we’ve recognized since day one that technology alone cannot fix healthcare. Good healthcare is about people — specifically, top-notch providers and care teams that yes, practice great medicine, but also make you feel seen, heard, and cared for in outsized ways.

To achieve this, we’ve invested heavily in building our own Care Team from scratch. This is intentional and means slower scale — a tradeoff we’re okay with, in service of quality. In practical terms, that means that everyone you interact with on the Tia platform from your Care Coordinator to an OB/GYN is employed, vetted, and trained by Tia. Unlike most virtual care offerings, we are not a network or a portal to random doctors via Zoom.

What this means for women in LA: Get high-quality care from Tia-vetted providers you trust.

As a Tia member, you get more than a doctor; you get a highly-vetted integrative Care Team who works together — not against each other! — to manage your whole health virtually and in person. You can be confident in the quality, the information sharing (no need to repeat yourself!), and “baton passes” that make your healthcare, whether digital or physical, smooth and seamless.

What’s next?!

In typical Tia style, we will continue to look to you, our community, to inform where we go next, and how to improve our products and services. You, the women who cast their votes for Tia Clinics near them, track their cycle, health & wellness in our app, read & share our educational content, and send us their wants, needs & dreams are critical co-creators in shaping the future of women’s health. Our ask: continue to build and share along with us! One clinic, one city at a time, we can improve women’s healthcare for women everywhere.