Marcia Paige, founder of Melanin-RX.com launched a comprehensive directory that will house culturally competent doctors, medical professionals and black-owned businesses that are allies to the medical community.
Doulas, Trichologists, Medical Staffing Agencies, Medical Suppliers and Wellness Products will be among the healthcare professionals that will be included in the directory, Paige says. Her goal is to bridge the gap between sought after black doctors and patients looking to get healed or serviced by someone who looks like them.
With the lack of visibility online, Paige became inspired through her own frustration to create an online destination that will not only introduce visitors to medical providers in their area, it will also stimulate the black economy.
“I created this platform out of my own frustration,” Paige told BLACK ENTERPRISE.
While doesn’t have a medical background, her desire to launch the site came from her experience on the other side as a patient who was fed up with the process of trying to find a medical professional of color who she could connect with.
“Upon researching my new primary care physician, I discovered she was 12 minutes away from my home. If that is happening to me, I thought about how this is happening all across the country. Meanwhile, our black doctors are suffering from a lack of exposure which could potentially be the demise of their practice.”
Paige says she hopes that the site will allow black dollars to keep circulating all while healing black families physically and financially.
According to U of M Health, during a Stanford University study they paired black men in Oakland, California with black and non-black doctors and found that the men seen by the black physicians were more likely to engage with them and even consented to preventative services like cardiovascular screenings and immunizations. The study estimates this approach could reduce the black-white morality gap due to heart disease by 19%.
Paige said her site is now enrolling medical professionals and alliances at www.melanin-rx.com/join. And she says they will begin a Youtube Channel to allow VIP members a platform to educate the community on various health topics.
“We are rolling out our platform just in time for open enrollment if patients are looking to switch providers or obtain a new one,” she says. “The personalized profiles of each member will give the site visitor the opportunity to learn more about the doctor, their expertise and experience before becoming a new patient.”
Paige explains, other popular features included with memberships are the click to call option, free leads and for touchless connections each member will have a computer generated QR code that will link to the member’s personal profile to allow seamless browsing. And the site allows the ability to receive and respond to reviews.
“We have also created a membership level for black-owned medical staffing agencies to post their jobs on the site due to the high cost of posting on other platforms. This will allow them to stay in business and to get their jobs filled which further stimulates the economy,” Paige said.
Through the collaborative membership fees this will allow Melanin-RX to advertise in multi-media channels most members will not be able to accomplish on their own, Paige says. Due to the high costs and the long commitment periods required, this will make it possible for members to be exposed to more patients and clients, Paige explains.
For more information, please visit: www.melanin-rx.com.