Empowering women’s health: unlocking the impact of FemTech through data and adoption
FemTech, a term derived from ‘Female’ and ‘Technology’, is revolutionizing women’s healthcare by integrating data-driven insights with user-friendly technologies. These innovations encompass everything from mobile health apps to wearable devices, each designed with the specific goal of addressing the unique health needs of women.
Introduction
The potential of FemTech is hindered not by a lack of innovation, but by the slow rate of its adoption. The historical deficiency in data collection specific to women’s health plays a crucial role in this. By prioritizing data-driven strategies, FemTech can accelerate the usage of tools to close the women’s health gap, fueling a virtuous cycle of advancement and personalized care solutions.
Opportunities
In a world where women’s health has historically been overlooked and under-researched, the rise of FemTech stands as a beacon of hope and innovation. With clear initial breakthroughs over the last couple of years and opportunities for growth in its future, FemTech overcomes initial barriers and offers custom solutions where women’s health is no longer an afterthought, but a priority. Its impact spans education, research, care delivery, and investments–each playing a critical role in bridging the women’s health gap.
Science
The current understanding of women’s health remains full of misconceptions and social stigma, often reducing it to reproductive issues alone.
To systemically address these challenges, it is essential to reform medical education, integrating comprehensive gender data into textbooks and curricula². This will equip future healthcare professionals to deliver informed care, grounded in an understanding of gender-specific health needs. Moreover, including women in clinical trials is imperative to grasp sex-based differences in medical outcomes and care experiences.
“Communities, countries, and ultimately the world are only as strong as the health of their women.” — Michelle Obama
Data
Gaps in women’s health data not only limit understanding of specific health burdens, but also pose safety risks. McKinsey Health Institute reports that women face 3.5 times higher drug withdrawal rates due to safety concerns³. Companies like Evvy are tackling these issues with combined home testing and care for the vaginal microbiome, aligning with FemTech’s mission of shedding light on under-researched areas of women’s health.
Advancing women’s health requires confronting AI biases⁴ and addressing privacy and ethical issues head-on. This also means committing to the systematic collection and analysis of diverse, gender-specific data, which will enrich women’s health research and drive informed healthcare interventions.
Care Delivery
Women have historically faced barriers in accessing care, leading to diagnostic delays and suboptimal treatment. FemTech is already disrupting the status quo by improving care delivery–streamlining diagnoses, enabling self-care, addressing stigmatized areas, and providing culturally sensitive care. Innovations like Tia’s virtual clinics and The Pill Club’s prescription delivery (recently transferred to Nurx), exemplify FemTech’s role in facilitating convenient access to healthcare and patient empowerment⁵.
In gynecology, Aspivix’s Carevix, a soft-suction cervical device, marks a significant advancement toward less invasive, less painful procedures. Despite its FDA approval and insurance coverage, the adoption of such technologies by OB/GYNs remains slow. The heavy workload, lower compensation, and high litigation risk in the OB/GYNs field may contribute to this cautious approach to new technologies⁶. To bridge this gap, healthcare providers require robust support, including better training, streamlined integration processes, and incentives that promote the use of innovations.
To ensure that patients are fully informed and can effectively advocate for their health needs, there is a necessity for increased awareness of the latest treatment options. Moreover, the extension of care into the workplace with pregnancy- and menopause-friendly environments, is another step toward a more holistic and inclusive approach to women’s healthcare.
Investment
The scale of FemTech innovation is directly affected by investment levels. Current funding is insufficient, with a focus on diseases with high mortality rates overshadowing those leading to chronic disability, such as the complexities surrounding conditions like vaginitis or endometriosis. The imperative now is to secure increased funding, grants, and support from both public and private sectors to fill the remaining white spaces that persist.
Investing in FemTech not only supports women’s health but also unlocks a significant market opportunity, demanding attention from investors and policymakers.
Conclusion
The evolution of FemTech as a pivotal force in women’s health is critically dependent on our ability to enhance data insights and drive widespread adoption. The next phase of my research will explore and uncover avenues through which individuals and the larger UnitedHealth Group can actively participate in this advancement. It is through collective systemic action that we can fully realize FemTech’s potential to improve the lives of women.
¹Precedence Research. (2024). Femtech Market Size to Surpass US$ 108.78 Billion by 2032.
²Criado Perez, C. (2019). Invisible women: Data bias in a world designed for men. Abrams.
³McKinsey Health Institute. (2024). Closing the Women’s Health Gap: A $1 Trillion Opportunity to Improve Lives and Economies. McKinsey & Company.
⁴Manyika, J., Silberg, J. and Presten, B. (2019). What Do We Do About the Biases in AI? Harvard Business Review.
⁵Kemble, E. et al. (2022). The Dawn of the FemTech Revolution. McKinsey & Company.
⁶Barreto, B. (Host). (2023). 2023 End of year review with Dr. Brittany Barreto [Audio podcast episode]. In FemTech Focus.
A Fusion publication. We are employees of UHG and these views are our own and not those of the company nor its affiliates.
