Wisp Partners With Mount Sinai to Broaden Access to PrEP and HIV Prevention Services Across New York State
Wisp, the largest pure-play women’s telehealth provider in the United States, has announced a strategic collaboration with the Mount Sinai Health System to significantly expand access to HIV prevention services, including PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), across New York State. The initiative represents a major step toward modernizing HIV prevention by integrating fully remote care into one of the country’s most established academic medical networks.
The partnership is particularly notable as it introduces the first fully remote HIV prevention program launched by a New York City-based academic medical system. It is designed to improve privacy, convenience, and accessibility for sexually active individuals who may benefit from PrEP but face barriers to traditional in-person care.
Addressing Persistent Gaps in HIV Prevention Access
Despite decades of progress in HIV prevention and treatment, significant gaps remain in access to preventive therapies. Structural barriers such as stigma, limited availability of specialized providers, insurance complexities, and mistrust of the healthcare system continue to prevent many individuals from receiving care.
Current estimates suggest that only around 36% of individuals who could benefit from PrEP have actually been prescribed it. This gap highlights a major public health challenge, particularly in high-risk populations. In 2024 alone, New York City recorded 1,791 new HIV diagnoses, with disproportionate impacts on Black, Latino, and LGBTQ+ communities.
These disparities underscore the need for innovative care models that can reach patients outside traditional clinical environments while maintaining high standards of clinical safety and effectiveness.
A Digital-First Model for HIV Prevention
The collaboration between Wisp and Mount Sinai is designed to directly address these challenges by combining digital-first telehealth infrastructure with academic medical expertise.
Monica Cepak, CEO of Wisp, emphasized that it is unacceptable that access to PrEP remains limited despite its proven effectiveness in preventing HIV transmission. She noted that the partnership aims to remove systemic barriers and make prevention more accessible, patient-centered, and sustainable.
Wisp’s telehealth model enables patients to access PrEP services remotely, including consultations, lab testing coordination, and prescription management. The platform is designed to reduce friction points that often deter individuals from initiating or continuing preventive care.
A key feature of the program is its emphasis on continuity of care. Rather than focusing solely on initial prescription, the model supports long-term adherence through simplified follow-up testing and ongoing engagement.
Reducing Barriers Through At-Home Testing and Rapid Access
A central component of the Wisp PrEP program is its at-home testing and rapid turnaround system. Patients can complete required HIV and related laboratory tests from the privacy of their home, significantly reducing logistical barriers such as travel time, clinic scheduling, and discomfort associated with in-person visits.
Once lab results are available, prescriptions can typically be issued within 24 to 48 hours. This rapid cycle is intended to ensure that eligible patients can begin or continue PrEP without unnecessary delays.
The program is also widely covered by commercial insurance plans, with approximately 99% of patients paying no out-of-pocket cost. This affordability component is critical, as financial barriers remain a significant reason many individuals do not access preventive care.
In addition, the program is structured to support quarterly testing requirements, which are essential for monitoring patient health and ensuring ongoing safety while on PrEP.
Mount Sinai’s Role in Expanding Digital HIV Care
The collaboration builds on existing innovation efforts within the Mount Sinai Health System, particularly through its Institute for Advanced Medicine, which has been at the forefront of HIV care for underserved populations.
Nicholas Gavin, MD, MBA, MS, Vice President and Chief Clinical Innovation Officer at Mount Sinai, emphasized that the institution is committed to rethinking care delivery across multiple domains. He highlighted that the collaboration with Wisp aligns with a broader strategy of making healthcare more proactive, accessible, and patient-centered.
Mount Sinai has previously explored hybrid models of PrEP delivery. In 2022, the Institute for Advanced Medicine launched a tele-PrEP program that combined virtual care with required in-person clinical visits for lab work. Building on this foundation, the health system now offers a full spectrum of care options, including fully remote, hybrid, and traditional in-person models.
This multi-modal approach allows patients to choose the care pathway that best fits their needs, while still maintaining integration with Mount Sinai’s broader clinical system. Consultations conducted through the HIV prevention program can be seamlessly incorporated into a patient’s overall health record, ensuring continuity and coordination of care.
A Patient-Centered Evolution in PrEP Delivery
Antonio E. Urbina, MD, Medical Director of the Institute for Advanced Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine, emphasized that PrEP is most effective when it is accessible and adaptable to patients’ lifestyles.
He noted that the ability to initiate PrEP online and manage care remotely represents a meaningful shift in how prevention services are delivered. By reducing logistical and psychological barriers, the model aims to improve both uptake and adherence among individuals at risk of HIV infection.
This flexibility is particularly important for populations that have historically faced barriers to care, including marginalized communities, younger patients, and individuals with limited access to specialized healthcare providers.
Expanding Beyond Traditional Telehealth Models
The collaboration also reflects a broader evolution in Wisp’s business model. Originally focused on direct-to-consumer telehealth services, the company is now expanding into partnerships with major healthcare systems to scale access to preventive care services.
By embedding its PrEP program within Mount Sinai’s Institute for Advanced Medicine, Wisp is contributing to a hybrid care model that integrates digital convenience with institutional clinical expertise. This approach is designed to combine the scalability of telehealth platforms with the depth and trust associated with academic medical institutions.
The integration also ensures that patients benefit from a more holistic care experience, including access to broader preventive and primary care services within Mount Sinai’s healthcare ecosystem.
Launching During Pride Month: A Symbolic and Public Health Milestone
The timing of the partnership, launched during Pride Month, adds symbolic significance to the initiative. It underscores a shared commitment by both organizations to addressing ongoing disparities in HIV prevention and supporting communities that continue to be disproportionately affected by the epidemic.
Despite significant medical advances, HIV remains a persistent public health challenge, particularly among marginalized populations. Initiatives like this collaboration aim to close prevention gaps by leveraging technology, clinical expertise, and community-centered care models.
A Scalable Model for the Future of HIV Prevention
The Wisp–Mount Sinai collaboration represents a scalable framework that could be replicated across other regions and health systems. By combining telehealth platforms with academic medical oversight, the model offers a pathway to expand PrEP access while maintaining clinical quality and safety standards.
It also demonstrates how digital health innovation can be integrated into established healthcare systems to address long-standing public health challenges more effectively.
As healthcare systems continue to evolve toward hybrid care delivery models, partnerships like this may play an increasingly important role in expanding preventive care access, improving health equity, and reducing the long-term burden of HIV infections.
The collaboration between Wisp and the Mount Sinai Health System marks a significant advancement in the delivery of HIV prevention services. By launching the first fully remote PrEP program within a New York City academic medical system, the initiative addresses critical barriers to access while modernizing care delivery for at-risk populations.
Through the integration of digital health tools, at-home testing, rapid prescription fulfillment, and academic clinical oversight, the program offers a comprehensive, patient-centered approach to HIV prevention. As a result, it has the potential to significantly expand PrEP uptake, improve adherence, and contribute to reducing new HIV infections across New York State.
ABOUT MOUNT SINAI:
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 47,000 employees working across seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and leading schools of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time—discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care from conception through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes more than 6,400 primary and specialty care physicians and 10 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida.
Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals,” “Best in State Hospitals,” “World’s Best Hospitals,” and “Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report’s® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2025-2026.
ABOUT WISP:
Wisp is the complete health platform built for women and their partners—delivering care on your terms, across every life stage. Trusted by over 1.8 million people nationwide, their licensed providers offer expert treatment for everything from urgent needs like UTIs and birth control to ongoing conditions like PCOS and perimenopause.
Their asynchronous care model means no appointments and no waiting rooms. Whether you need same-day relief or long-term support, Wisp evolves with you, offering clinical expertise, zero judgment, and the continuity you deserve.
