The conversation around low testosterone has become a fixture in podcasts, politics and popular culture, prompting a surge in demand for treatment. Seizing the moment, telehealth firm Hims has introduced a testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) program aimed at cisgender men. The service will provide two injectable options and an oral pill, all of which can be mailed to patients after they complete an at‑home capillary blood test.
Peter Stahl, a urologist who serves as Hims’ senior vice president of men’s health, says the goal is to “cast as wide a net, and get as many people tested, as possible.” Hims, which began by selling erectile‑dysfunction medication, has expanded into women’s health and grown from a startup to a publicly traded company serving 2.9 million customers since its 2017 launch. Adding TRT marks a new chapter for the platform and a deeper focus on men’s health. “When we first started, we didn’t have the capabilities to take care of a complex condition like testosterone deficiency,” Stahl noted. “We’ve finally grown up.”
The move puts Hims in competition with a growing number of online clinics that have begun offering testosterone therapy using turnkey telehealth models. Many of those services market the hormone as a lifestyle booster or anti‑aging remedy. Stahl describes testosterone deficiency as a “really underdiagnosed” and “really misunderstood” medical issue. Testosterone became a controlled substance after the 1990 Anabolic Steroids Control Act, and for years the drug was linked to muscle‑obsessed gym culture, creating stigma. Earlier studies suggested cardiovascular risks, but newer research indicates those concerns were likely overstated.
Political leaders have also highlighted the hormone. This fall, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth announced mandatory testosterone deficiency screening for most male service members, and Texas Republicans have used the phrase “low T” as a gender‑based insult in a heated Senate race between Ken Paxton and James Talarico. A Hims‑commissioned survey of 2,000 American men this summer found that men are more willing to discuss testosterone treatment, though stigma around medication persists.
Because testosterone is a controlled substance, it cannot be dispensed like many other telehealth prescriptions. Unlike GLP‑1 drugs or estrogen‑based hormone therapy, which are often prescribed after a brief questionnaire, TRT requires synchronous care: a video consultation with a clinician before a prescription is written, followed by ongoing monitoring. “It’s important to remember that testosterone therapy can cause infertility, and you don’t give it to someone trying to conceive,” warned Mohit Khera, a urologist and director of Baylor College of Medicine’s Laboratory for Andrology Research. Khera sees telehealth TRT as a promising way to broaden access, provided it is properly supervised.
Laboratory testing can reveal whether testosterone falls below thresholds set by groups such as the American Urological Association, but a diagnosis is not based on blood work alone. Clinicians consider lab results together with symptoms and medical history. Typical signs of hypogonadism include sexual dysfunction and muscle loss. Stahl calls testosterone a “powerful biomarker” for overall health, noting that men with low levels face a 35 percent higher risk of mortality and that the condition is “underutilized” in clinical practice.
Hims will not require a traditional blood draw. Instead, the company will ship a Tasso blood‑collection device—a single‑use wearable that adheres to the upper arm and uses microneedles to obtain a small sample. The sample is sent to a lab that measures 21 biomarkers, including triglycerides, thyroid hormones and testosterone. Based on the results, patients may receive a compounded injectable, a commercially available injectable, an oral tablet, or no treatment if their levels are normal. Stahl believes that offering hormone testing can motivate men who might otherwise avoid a doctor’s visit. “Getting screened for testosterone deficiency is much more exciting to a young man who’s feeling good than getting tested for high cholesterol,” he said. “So we’re trying to leverage that opportunity as much as we possibly can.”
The rollout arrives amid a loosely regulated market for online testosterone sales. In 2022, urology researchers who posed as patients discovered that six of seven digital clinics they examined prescribed TRT even when hormone levels were reported as normal. While Stahl wants to test many men, he maintains a conservative stance on prescribing testosterone, contrasting with platforms that promote it as an anti‑aging or lifestyle supplement. “If you’re asymptomatic, it doesn’t matter what your testosterone level is, you’re not going to get treated on our platform,” he affirmed.