Women are the biggest healthcare spenders in the United States; they control 80% of the healthcare-buying decisions. Women are also far more likely than men to use digital healthcare.
At the same time, persistent problems and inequities exist in women’s healthcare. Almost every woman has a story or anecdote about how a doctor overlooked their concerns or how they needed to see multiple physicians or specialists for an accurate diagnosis. Women have experienced body shaming, weight shaming, misdiagnosis, and even sexual assault in doctor’s offices and hospitals. Bias is also an issue in medical trials, leading to a scarcity of reliable data collected about women’s health conditions.
It’s no surprise that women are pushing back and are now at the forefront of using technology to provide better, customized healthcare for other women via technology. It’s a change that stems from many problems, but is driven by the simple fact that women are fed up with their experiences with traditional medicine and healthcare.
“Femtech”—digital services and software geared to women’s health—has stepped in to provide options for women dealing with barriers, bias, and lack of actual products. It’s changing women’s expectations for care.
Femtech isn’t a trend but a systemic change in care delivery that starts with better design and puts female patients first. Here are five ways femtech is poised to change healthcare through better design and delivery.
“Focusing on better design paired with values will lead to more solutions that serve women’s health and honor sustainability. “
Marina Pavlovic Rivas
CEO & Co-Founder
BETTER DIGITAL TOOLS LEAD TO BETTER OUTCOMES
Many apps and software products are designed with one goal: to gather data on customers and sell them things. Femtech designers and engineers have a strong sense of purpose and understand women’s pain points. As a result, they design technology that solves problems and facilitates better care.
In my years working with femtech, I’ve found a common trait among companies: They demonstrate the path to success and provide supportive guidance to reach goals. Data is captured to facilitate a personalized journey, not just to sell. Even The World Economic Forum has noted that femtech is making strides to improve women’s healthcare (while noting it must strive to be fully inclusive).
DESIGN WILL REINVENT THE STATUS QUO
A number of companies that have participated in Guidea’s pro-bono sponsorship program, Femovate, are bucking the status quo by inventing and designing new solutions to health procedures and protocols that haven’t been updated in a half-century or more. Ciconia Medical has a new way to measure the progression of labor without using human hands for the exam. HyIvy updated a 70-year-old device for treating pelvic pain. Armor Medical invented a way to predict maternal hemorrhaging proactively, and Thyia created an at-home cervical cancer screener.
BETTER DESIGN LEADS TO INCLUSIVITY AND RESPECT
Femtech companies align passion and purpose with design skills to better serve women. The end result is more inclusivity and respect. While some technology (particularly apps) are designed with a focus on the bottom line, femtech looks at things differently. Femtech companies largely respect and recognize the existing demands on women’s time, their lived experiences, their voices, their concerns, and their data privacy (a huge driver for women).
There is also greater awareness: Femtech companies are much more likely to know that healthcare bias can lead to tragic outcomes. While femtech can’t entirely fix that, some companies are acknowledging it and creating alternatives. For example, Health In Her Hue connects women of color with providers of color. Other femtech apps help women find communities of women with the same challenges, such as menopause, infertility, mental health, grief, autoimmune disorders, and caregiving.
FEMTECH DESIGN PUTS EVIDENCE FIRST
A recent McKinsey report shows the number one thing people are looking for in digital health is efficacy and scientific credibility. Femtech companies are leading the charge, exposing the underlying research and studies that support their efficacy claims. Women expect a solution, not a dozen individual apps for every health condition, family member, or prescription. As a result, evidence powers efficient, easy-to-use solutions and apps.
Clue offers menstrual cycle tracking but can also track birth control, symptoms, pain meds, and activity to deliver a holistic set of insights. Carrot Fertility supports everything surrounding fertility and growing a family, from education, financial support, health advice, access to providers, fertility preservation services, and support before, during, and after pregnancy.
DESIGN MEETS SUSTAINABILITY
Many femtech companies champion sustainability and one publication even called the sector “the sustainability savior we have been waiting for.” Femtech companies are already working on sustainable solutions for women’s health, like menstrual cups that save waste and collect valuable biomarkers and Eli Health’s hormone kit that reduces the waste of urine sticks with a base sensor and compostable saliva strips.
Focusing on better design paired with values will lead to more solutions that serve women’s health and honor sustainability.
The most compelling part is that we are early in this journey and only on the cusp of finding new solutions to serve women better and safeguard their health. As female innovators continue to lead with ingenuity and pair their values with cutting-edge design, women will have even more options to stay healthy and—equally as important—to be heard.
Theresa Neil is the founder of Femovate by Guidea
