Entrepreneur Launches Directory to Help Users Locate Black Doctors And Medical Professionals
Nationwide (BlackNews.com) — Meet Marcia Paige, the founder and CEO of Melanin-RX.com, a comprehensive online directory that houses culturally competent doctors, medical professionals, and Black-owned businesses that are allied to the medical community. These include Doulas, Trichologists, Medical Staffing Agencies, Medical Suppliers, and Wellness Products to name a few. 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 providers in their area, it will also stimulate the black economy whether they practice medicine in the inner city or the suburbs it will keep the Black dollar 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, 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 mortality gap due to heart disease by 19%.
Marcia comments, “I created this platform out of my own frustration. 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.”
The website is now enrolling medical professionals and alliances at www.melanin-rx.com/join, creating partnerships and will begin a Youtube Channel to allow VIP members a platform to educate the community on various health topics.
The platform is being rolled out just in time for open enrollment if patients are looking to switch providers or obtain a new one. The personalized profiles of each member will give the site visitor the opportunity to learn more about the doctor, their expertise, and their experience before becoming a new patient. 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. Lastly, the most important of them all, the ability to receive and respond to reviews.
Marcia has also decided to create 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.
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. Due to the high costs and the long commitment periods required, this will make it possible for our members to be exposed to more patients and clients.