Originally published by Femtech Insider on March 13, 2023
Iron Health, a tech-enabled, virtual care partner that empowers OB/GYNs and their patients, has launched to support better outcomes across a woman’s healthcare journey. The company serves as an extension of the OB/GYN practice by giving patients quick access to their own personal primary and specialty care team. The fragmentation between OB/GYN, primary, specialty, behavioral, and wellness care has been a longstanding issue in women’s healthcare. With Iron Health, OB/GYNs are able to provide their patients with a full spectrum view of their health, while also focusing on their area of expertise.
Built at Redesign Health in 2022 Iron Health is now launching with $4.5M in seed funding. Maternal health focused non-profit March of Dimes, who recently announced their investment in Raydiant Oxymetry, is among Iron Health’s investors. The Iron Health founding team has rich experience across clinical practice, health technology, patient engagement, and entrepreneurship. Leveraging March of Dimes’ clinical experts, research, educational content, and market reach, the company hopes to create more immediate and scalable social impact that improves the health outcomes and care gaps for all women.
Recent data has shown that nearly 30% of the female population is without a primary care provider (PCP), and the use of primary care continues to decline. OB/GYNs are increasingly expected to serve as three-in-one providers, with nearly 50% of OB/GYNs considering themselves PCPs, and 84% prescribing anxiety and depression medicine to patients knowing many women will not get the treatment they need otherwise. This stress on both providers and patients is only projected to grow with an expected shortfall of up to 22,000 OB/GYNs by 2050.
Stephanie Winans, CEO and Founder of Iron Health, recognizes the challenges women face when accessing healthcare. She explains: “Women’s health providers and their patients are being left behind in the digital health evolution, with fragmentation and access challenges causing women to miss vital screenings, early interventions, and coordination of care. Iron Health partners with OB/GYNs to strengthen a woman’s healthcare experience, enabling access to the equitable and quality care women need when they need it, within the traditional healthcare system – not outside it.”
Despite the emergence and adoption of new digital solutions in women’s health, many operate outside of a woman’s existing care network or serve as point solutions focused on one specific healthcare need. Iron Health’s click-and-mortar hybrid model is designed around the way patients actually access care – focusing on OB/GYNs, the doctors that women often trust the most, and augmenting a woman’s existing care network with a virtual team of multi-specialty providers.
Iron Health’s tech-enabled, virtual care platform helps OB/GYNs provide their patients with quick access to Iron Health’s advanced practice providers and specialists, creating a connected circle of care. Patients benefit from having a dedicated Care Team of providers who deliver comprehensive care via virtual visits and direct messaging, in connection with their OB/GYN. Iron Health is launching its services in direct partnership with OB/GYN practices and healthcare systems.