Femtech Mobile Apps- Digitizing Women’s Health
The total mHealth market size might reach the $100 billion mark by the next year (2021) which would be a nearly 5x jump as to what it had been in 2016 ($21 billion), reports Statista.
mHealth, abbreviated for mobile health, refers to the practice of using mobiles, tablets, wearable devices, etc. to improve public healthcare or achieve better healthcare outcomes. The field has emerged in recent years and is continuously growing. The rise in the mHealth applications proves this.
For a long time, mHealth applications revolved around fitness, health management, diet plans, etc. One area where the market didn’t seem promising was in women’s health tracking applications or Femtech apps.
But it is now evolving. The total global femtech market is expected to hit nearly $50 billion by 2025.
Femtech or female technology can be described as a set of software, diagnostics, products and services aimed towards improving women’s health by leveraging technology.
Today, there are abounding femtech firms that focus on enhancing women’s lives by offering a wide variety of solutions such as period tracking app, fertility solutions (fertility tracking app), and pregnancy tracking. The women’s care industry surrounds health tools including inter-connected medical devices, wearables, mobile apps, etc to improve women’s healthcare.
As we discussed earlier, there are several apps available in the market that cover different aspects of women’s health. An upswing in smartphones and the increasing demand for mobile apps in every sector, femtech apps are swiftly prevailing in a woman’s list of necessary apps. Some of the common women’s mhealth apps you may come across can be related to-
1. Period and Fertility Tracking
Such apps are among the most demanding apps currently. Based on the data provided by women such as their age, when did their last period start, how long is their average cycle, the algorithms of the health app calculate the estimated date of ovulation, the fertile period, and the date of their upcoming cycle; generating reliable information to help women track their menstrual cycle and estimate fertility. This can be beneficial for women who wish to get pregnant as well as the ones who want to avoid the risk of pregnancy.
2. Pregnancy Tracking
A pregnancy tracking app comes of great aid for the women in their pregnancy stage; witnessing body changes. From recommending a healthy diet plan to advising the dos and don’ts during pregnancy, such applications ensure that the woman’s and the baby’s health/growth remains in good shape. Other features can include scheduling appointments with the doctors, addressing hormonal changes, etc.
Femtech apps predominantly consist of menstrual tracking that helps women keep track of their menstrual cycle, ovulating days, anticipate their mood swings, and even forestall in consuming pills related to birth control. This dwindles unwanted pregnancies and also allows women to understand their body and health issues in a better way.
Let’s try to understand the advantages of women’s health apps briefly.
1. Better Control
Femtech apps provide women with better power and control over their body. They offer useful insights on their health-related concerns and make them well-versed about the issue. This eventually helps them make better decisions about their health.
2. Timely Monitoring Health Problems
Besides aiding women to get a better understanding of their bodies and providing them with the needful solutions, Femtech apps have proved to be a valuable asset in timely tracking or treating their health issues. For example, monitoring the period cycle routinely helps to detect the abnormal cycle (early cycle or delay in period) that can help diagnose the health issues early.
3. Offering Help in Remote Areas
Harsh reality but women’s health issues are still often seen as taboo in many areas. This specifically involves rural or remote areas where women don’t speak about it very often and fear seeking medical care for menstrual health, infertility, birth control, etc.
Femtech ensures that healthcare services are virtually accessible to every woman in their comfort zone so that they can speak openly about their concerns.
Users demand a hassle-free journey in an application. The elements and the functionality should offer a rich user experience. If you have a notion of creating a women’s health app and wondering what all you should incorporate in it, below are some key features that you can look to include.
1. Ask for Health Details
Apart from the basic user details which are required for user registration, you can acquire more information related to their health which would be extremely helpful to get a better understanding of their health and present them more relevant and useful information.
Avoid asking for too much information; keep it to the necessary ones else it may backfire and would probably hamper the user experience. Height, weight, period date, illness, etc. are some of the basic and common details you can ask for in a women’s care app.
2. Period Tracking Option (Must)
One of the features that you would find very common in many women’s health and wellness apps is period tracking. You should include this too. As we have given an overview already, the health app should display the current period date, ovulating days, next menstrual cycle date, etc. to the users. Make sure to offer an intuitive and user-friendly interface; it’s highly important as far the user engagement and experience are concerned.
3. Serial Reminders
Continuously reminding users through app notifications also ensures good user engagement. This boosts the app’s reliability. Send reminders about taking medications, health concerns, the arrival of their next cycle, diet plans. The more concern you show towards women’s care, the more they will feel connected to your app. This, in no way, means that you bombard users with notifications.
4. Symptoms Tracker
By integrating a symptom tracker, you can gain useful insights about a user’s health and recommend them the ideal solution. This also lets users be informed about the risks involved and how they can get rid of those symptoms. The integration of AI and Machine learning plays a crucial role in analyzing user data and offering them customized solutions.
5. Online Consultation
To save users’ time and provide them with a quick resolution, online consultation within the app can be an effective option. Not only is it time-saving but also makes users quite comfortable sharing their concerns with the health experts. Users can get consultations from the specialists over a phone call or a text message regarding what medicines to take, what diet to follow, and even get suggested for treatment plans if required.
The femtech industry is proliferating and is backed by massive funding from investors all over the globe. Back in 2015, femtech startups had raised a funding of $82 million from investment firms, which went on to capture the total amount of funding to 1.1 billion from 2014 to 2017.
Research by Healthcare Growth Partners, which included a total of 114 global femtech firms, also revealed that the total funding raised by the industry was approximately $2 billion from a period of 2014 to 2019.
The industry had garnered over $241 million in virtual capital funding as in 2019 itself(as of April 2019) and was expected to cross the $1 billion mark by the end of the year.
With the industry touching a new landmark every year, the future of Femtech looks promising.
Originally published at https://www.dewsolutions.in on April 4, 2020.
