Employers have a role to play in addressing gaps in quality care and access for women … [+]
For Joanna Strober, founder and CEO of Midi Health, her company's mission grew out of her own personal experience. After going through her head-scratching and costly process of understanding her own perimenopausal symptoms, she realized that the quality of care and access that women face from their mid-30s onwards was overwhelming. I now fully understand the gap between
Combining her commitment to improving healthcare options for women with her passion for digital health, Joanna built Midi, the only fully insured virtual care platform for women over 40. did. I sat down with my girlfriend Joanna to discuss her experience building Midi and how employers can best support women going through menopause (spoiler alert – cooling blankets as a bonus) ).
Tell us about your path to Midi Health and what drew you to this field.
Joanna: I've done many different things in my career, but the common thread is always problem solving. When I was pregnant in 1998, I was an early investor in Baby Center. I have always had a desire to solve problems by investing in companies or starting my own business.
The company I founded before Midi was focused on addressing childhood obesity, and this was something that I had some experience with within my family. Midi Health is also very personal to me. When I was 47 years old, I suddenly couldn't sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night, soaking wet, and then spent the rest of the day feeling restless, groggy, and unable to sleep. But I still had my period, so I didn't know that it was related to menopause. At that time, I didn't really understand the concept of menopause, which begins at the age of 35.
I went to various health care providers for help because I didn't have any background about my experience, but I didn't connect these visits and it all had to do with my hormones and being a woman. I didn't understand that it was there. I had a really hard time getting proper care. At one point I was prescribed sleeping pills, but was told to rarely take them. I took a $10,000 sleep study to find out why I can't sleep. I tried all these different things, but in the end, the answer was simple. My hormones were not good. And it took me far too long to figure it out. In the end, I went online. I paid a remote visit to a specialist in Los Angeles who prescribed the appropriate hormones, and I immediately felt better. But insurance didn't cover it, so he had to pay $500 in cash.
Unfortunately, there are very few experts in this field. They charge high fees commensurate with their expertise, which means most of us don't have access to this important level of care. As just one example, in New York City, a hormone specialist may charge him $2,000 per visit.
I am very committed to solving this problem, first by looking at how to train more professional health care providers and second, by looking at ways to make treatments more covered and available to women. I became interested in
This is not our first approach to digital health. What gaps or challenges do you see across the healthcare sector? What role do you think technology plays in improving spaces for patients?
Joanna: What's so interesting about technology is that no one actually wants to go in person and receive care anymore. And technology can provide that to them. Why do I have to drive to the hospital and wait in the waiting room for someone to take my blood pressure to talk about painful sex or sleep problems? Technology is very easy to solve this problem and make care easier and more accessible.
I believe that an online relationship is much better for this type of care than being in an office. Patients also receive the highest quality of care because they are no longer limited by whether a specialist lives nearby.
Second, we're leveraging AI in some really cool ways. Patients may come in with problems such as brain fog, anxiety, and joint pain. It is impossible for one provider to have expertise in all of these conditions, so historically patients have been sent to multiple providers without such connections. Just like I was.
At Midi, we have all of our protocols built into our AI, allowing us to run patient notes through our program after a single visit to see if we missed any important connections. Maybe we forgot to ask about your brain fog. Or you may have a history of blood clots. We can tell you which medicine is suitable for you. No one doctor can know all of this, so being able to use AI and technology to provide a far better and more connected understanding of your health than any single doctor or specialist can access is extremely exciting. It's exciting.
This type of care coordination is very important to people. When you think about the workplace and the increasing pressure on organizations to provide a more holistic approach to supporting the health of their employees, employers are coming to you to discuss this aspect of connected care. Have you noticed any aspects that you say are helpful? Do they resonate with the business leaders you work with?
Joanna: That's exactly right. Firstly, this means significantly fewer employee bookings. Ideally, this would allow employees to get clearer answers about their health, sooner. This means that employers have less to pay for and worry about. With virtual care, patients often don't have to leave work for their appointments.
Employers also pay a lot of money for mental health support for their employees. Many women may actually be taking medication or undergoing treatment for hormone-related illnesses. There is a lot of data on this. When female hormones are balanced, the incidence of depression and anxiety is significantly reduced. This clearly has a huge impact on women in the workplace, both in terms of the time it takes to visit and ensuring they receive the right care to develop as employees.
Can you tell us a little more specifically about Midi? How would you describe Midi's mission? What do you think you bring to women that they can't find anywhere else?
Joanna: Midi is a specialized care clinic. We are focused on expanding access to the highest quality expertise from experts around the world and work closely with experts to develop treatment protocols. We provide the highest quality care for women aged 35 to 65 to address all of these truly challenging symptoms, from brain fog and anxiety to sleep issues.
The Midi platform is completely virtual, meaning there is no face-to-face interaction. However, because we have relationships with in-person providers across the country, when Midi clients need in-person care, we can refer them to the right location. We also help clients track preventive care, such as mammograms and colonoscopies.
In reality, we often see women treat themselves less carefully after having children. We want to remind and encourage them to seek preventive care and be proactive in their health journey.
I'm very interested and have recently done some write about – The theme is menopause, especially how it affects women in the workplace. How do you think the lack of resources and information about menopause affects women? What impact does this have in the workplace?
Joanna: It has a big impact. Many women say they don't apply for a raise because of menopausal symptoms. Approximately 25 percent of women consider quitting their jobs because of these symptoms, and 10 percent actually quit. Crazy, but it makes sense, right? If you can't take care of your health and feel like you're not functioning well enough to work or take care of your children and parents, you're bound to struggle.
Back to what I was talking about about menopause. It is known that menopause occurs when menstruation stops, but many people do not know that these symptoms begin in their mid-30s. So when we forget things, have trouble sleeping, and feel sick, we don't think it's due to low estrogen, which can be corrected.
The other day, a woman told me that she doesn't like to talk about menopause at work because it would be stigmatized. But if she knows she can fix it, she's less likely to feel like it derails her.
Our social conventions around women's health (first parental leave, then fertility, mental health, and now menopause) aren't actually serving us. As CHROs and CPOs, we believe we must be transformers in the workforce. I want to make sure that HR people are demanding the right things and demanding the right things from the company. Do you think the conversation is developing in a meaningful way? How far has it progressed and where does more work need to be done?
Joanna: At the end of the day, all we need is more employers on board. Insurance companies move incredibly slowly. All the employer has to do is say, “I need to cover this as a medical benefit.” If your employer doesn't tell you, your insurance won't cover it. It's that simple.
What advice do you have for People and Total Rewards leaders who want to do more for their employees in this space?
Joanna: Let's work with Midi! All you have to do is tell your insurance company that you want this covered. Next, provide education that shows employees that specialized care is available and accessible.
However, it is important to emphasize that I am not forcing menopause Policy; This should be viewed as a women's health issue.
So when there are gaps in care, the onus is actually on the employer to advocate for the employee.
Joanna: Yes, think of it that way. These are not people who need additional vacation or special policies. They just need proper care. This is not a feeling of helplessness.the health care If it is given, it will enable the growth of the employees.
It's not coaching, it's not discussion.this is about Care. Many companies don't have the care aspect, so they offer coaching or discussion groups or cooling mattresses because there's no care available. This is a medical problem and needs to be treated and resolved as such.
