Women make up over 50 per cent of the world’s population and account for over 70 per cent of the global health and social care work force. Studies have shown that women use more healthcare services than men, and in private health systems women experience higher associated charges than men for services.
So as the main care providers, the dominant users of healthcare services and the higher financial contributors why do so many women have a tough time accessing health services, and why do some clinicians struggle to provide basic care and support for their needs?
Why
The pandemic has highlighted the fact that many health systems are living and working with legacy strategy and systems that are no longer fit for purpose.
There is general acceptance of the value created by digital transformation in healthcare; the need to identify system inefficiencies and retire old ways of working.
Now is the time to apply this same thinking to Women’s Health services.
It is commonly accepted that clinical trials and health systems around the world have been designed and developed by men.
The recent attempts to adopt AI to support healthcare planning and decision making has highlighted those biases exist and has deemed most big data unusable because of this.
This is not a dig at men, this is a call to action to rectify the mistakes of the past by focusing on what needs to happen to create truly equitable healthcare systems.
Becky Warnes
I truly believe that everyone involved in drug development and commissioning of services is committed to serving their population and making a positive difference to the lives of others.
That said without truly living and therefore understanding the patient experience, it is not possible to know how to create services that meet the patients’ needs.
Attitudes, stigmas and a lack of education from both HCPs and patients have resulted in delays in diagnosis and poor outcomes for millions of women across the world.
Digital health technologies have an important role in helping women access to healthcare services.
That could be supporting women to track symptoms, providing advice on self-care and when to seek advice from healthcare professionals, and ultimately improving health outcomes for women.
How
When looking at value creation in an historically underfunded area of healthcare it is important to consider what need you are looking to meet and who your target audience would be.
Then engage with that audience as early as possible in the design process and use health data to understand the patient/user profiles and demographics.
Most start-ups fail because there is no perceived need for their solution in the real world. It is therefore imperative that before MVP creation, potential end users are consulted.
Do they identify with the unmet need? Do they understand and agree with the concept of the solution, and most importantly would they support you in the development of this product?
Stakeholder engagement and co-creation is key. In some markets, government run organisations actively support this activity, in others direct access with end users or potential customers is the only way.
Accuracy is a massive issue in the health tech market right now, and it surprises me that this is the case.
I still see a lot of content being pushed onto social media platforms that is not clinically correct or reflective of the larger populations experience. To be taken seriously by health system buyers this basic requirement needs to be met.
- If your solution is a wearable, is it a wellness tracker (of which there are many!) or does it provide accurate clinical data that can be fed into Electronic Health Records and provide useful information to clinicians?
- If you are providing health education, ensure that source is verified as clinically sound and better still get a clinician to endorse it.
- If you have a medical device, establish your target markets and the regulatory requirements as early as possible. This is not as complicated as it sounds.
I mentioned earlier about the app market. When I speak to buyers about stand-alone app solutions their immediate response is “not another one!’.
My advice is to consider if another stand-alone app is needed in the market before going down this road. It could be an expensive and time-consuming mistake!
There are lots of similar products coming into the female health market, all doing pretty much the same thing.
I urge developers to look beyond periods, birth, and menopause, and consider other health issues and risks where clinical studies have been male dominated and results biased.
Cardiovascular disease, mental health and dementia spring to mind. By considering the whole female life course developers could identify new opportunities to exploit.
My one final call to action would be to stop working in silos to open the women’s health market. It hasn’t worked in the past (Pharma have been trying for years) and it won’t work now. Strength comes in numbers.
Work together to lobby governments, support providers to develop services and educate HCPs and women. Then let your products and marketing teams do the talking!
I always told my sales teams to ‘fish where the fish are’.
Currently there seems to be a lot of companies trying to fish along a riverbank that’s dried up. If you worked together to build a dam, you would create bigger opportunities.
Becky is an awarding business consultant who is passionate about digital health technologies. She has experience working with the National Health Service and Industry in the UK on both a local and national level.
