SUMMARY
- During Boulder Startup Week, we spoke with leaders from femtech companies about the future of women’s health during a crisis.
- The immediate impact of critical appointments being cancelled puts healthy women at risk as they look for alternative opportunities for care.
- Women are turning to at-home diagnostics and solutions to control their own data and make their own assumptions about their health.
- Looking ahead to the future, one of the most significant themes that could shape femtech is the idea of more physicians adopting at-home services and solutions for women. Read more below.
There’s no doubt that coronavirus is — and continues to — greatly impacting our healthcare systems. And one system that has been disrupted like never before is women’s health. IVF clinics are slowly opening or are closed, in-office prenatal visits have dropped in frequency, and more and more women are turning to telemedicine or over-the-counter diagnostics to make up for the lack of face-to-face time with physicians. In a moment of life that typically comes with first-time-moms with no experience and in need of medical advice, to at-risk mothers who need to be closely monitored, women are being put at risk. Yet despite these setbacks, femtech providers are stepping up and seizing an opportunity to come together to help women even more than before.
For Boulder Startup Week, we sat down (virtually) with femtech leaders along the care continuum of trying to conceive (TTC) to postnatal care, to discuss the immediate impact of COVID-19, what the implications are, and what to expect as we look ahead into the next normal.
Immediate Impact + Behavior Change
Critical appointments for women like prenatal visits, lactation consultations, pelvic floor rehabilitation, or mental health check-ins have been cancelled for a population of women who are in a time of their lives when they need it most. With it comes a lingering anxiety to even go to the remaining preventative care appointments that remain as scheduled, while risking contracting COVID-19.
Along the continuum, healthcare professionals are reducing in-person visits, and one way we’re seeing that manifest is a drastic cut to the total number of prenatal visits a mom or soon-to-be-mom is having.
“The standard had been 12 to 14 prenatal visits, including the one six-week postpartum [visit],” said Judith Nowlin. “As soon as COVID came around, these physicians and care providers were looking for a way to dramatically reduce the need for women to come on site. And they found that they could reduce visits to 4 to 6 prenatal visits.”
Not only are the frequency of visits changing, what that visit looks like is very different from just a few months ago. An experience that was once intimate and supported by partners and family, has turned into a visit lacking human touch or intimacy. Amy Beckley, the Founder and CEO of Proov shared a story of a woman who visited a fertility treatment appointment alone, without the support from her partner. Besides being asked to wait in a parking garage before the doctor called her to the visit (and then having to be escorted to the office by a nurse), women across the country, just like the woman from Amy’s story, are losing out on precious moments like hearing the baby’s heartbeat.
One of the most serious implications of COVID-19 is the time it has taken away from women who are trying to conceive, where less time — and waiting— sometimes isn’t an option.
“When you have just such a short window every month, putting it on hold one month is a big deal,” said Amy Shannon, Chief Commercial Officer at Prima-Temp. “Especially as women have been waiting longer and longer, age wise, to be able to have their children, that window closes with every month. And there’s a sense of urgency.”
More data, more control
Losing access to in-person visits means women are turning to at-home diagnostics, over-the-counter solutions and remote-patient monitoring. This also means that women are hyper-focused on their own data and rhythms, having to rely on both the information they’re tracking and their own gut instincts without being able to check it with an office visit. This also means that women are more informed than before.
“People are asking better questions,” said Sara Bates of MamaMend. “They are more aware of what’s going on in their bodies so they can recognize what’s a symptom and what’s normal… I think it really helps healthcare providers be able to do their jobs more effectively.”
Remote-patient monitoring and connection to electronic medical records means that a doctor or clinician can be flagged when a patient’s data point is outside the range of normal, allowing the doctor to play an active role in women’s health when they are needed.
“COVID or not, I think that that is one of the best things that’s ever happened to health care,” said Judith Nowlin.
Women are getting access to precision data like never before. In a situation when they have minutes with their physician, being armed with data from your specific needs can create an environment for a more productive visit.
“It changes it from a subjective conversation to a more objective, quantitative conversation,” said Amy Shannon. “It [also] brings confidence to that woman in that discussion. She has something to bring to the table. She’s got very specific questions to engage and I think it changes the tone of that conversation and the expectation of what she expects to get out of the appointment.”
Habits That Are Here to Stay
Now that stay-at-home orders and social distancing are becoming the new norm, new habits are forming — some bad and some good.
With the inflection of data comes rising concerns of data privacy and misinformation. Health tech companies have a responsibility to maintain transparency with their users — especially when it comes to their health data — and who does or doesn’t have access to it.
Another concern is the rise of “maternity care deserts” in rural areas where women have to drive hours to an appointment, or where there’s not an OB provider or services offered at the local hospital. And with the economic impact of coronavirus, there’s a risk that these hospitals will be closed indefinitely, widening the area of maternity care deserts.
“It’s a huge concern to think about these deserts becoming even greater in their spread across our nation,” said Judith Nowlin. “There is a silver lining. And that is telehealth, remote, virtual, and home care.”
It’s no surprise that one access point that has rocketed to the top of alternative care methods is telemedicine. Before COVID, there were women and HCPs who had never even wanted to try telemedicine, who are now relying on it for all of their visits — and this is especially true among the postpartum population of women.
“In addition to typical barriers, you also have a newborn that you have to pack up, and time around nap times and feedings. That can be a huge barrier to care—or finding childcare for that baby, if you need to go by yourself to a visit.” said Sara Bates. “We’re really seeing telehealth take off in the postpartum space. It’s so much more convenient and people love it.”
Looking Ahead
Now that the initial shock of coronavirus is over, what the next normal might be like is beginning to emerge. The early response in femtech and women’s healthcare could be a direct reflection of what we can expect for the future of health in general.
One of the most significant themes that could shape our femtech future is the idea of more physicians adopting at-home services and solutions for women. A holistic approach that includes electronic medical records integration, over-the-counter diagnostics and access to data means women can stay at home, without risking their health for a visit. Now that both physicians and women have been forced to change their habits and move beyond the hard part of adopting these new practices, our panelists agree that this will be the next normal in women’s health.
About our panelists
Sara Bates, CEO and Co-Founder at MamaMend
Amy Beckley, CEO and Founder at Proov
Judith Nowlin, Founder and Former CEO at iBirth
Amy Shannon, Chief Commercialization Officer at Prima-Temp
Moderator
Kristin Apple, President at LINUS