Many Americans lack a primary care provider. Because of this problem, women often end up using their OB/GYN as their primary care provider, which can be problematic because OB/GYNs aren’t trained to provide primary care. Nearly half of OB/GYNs have reported considering themselves primary care providers, and 84% have prescribed anxiety and depression medications to patients because they know it will be difficult for them to get the treatment they need otherwise.
A new women’s healthcare startup launched on Thursday to help tackle this issue. Iron Health debuted with a mission to decrease the fragmentation between OB/GYN, primary, specialty, behavioral and wellness care, as well as provide OB/GYNs with a more full-spectrum view of their patients’ health.
The company was built at Redesign Health, a New York City-based company that launches healthcare startups. It was launched in partnership with March of Dimes, a nonprofit focused on improving maternal and infant health.
In addition to its launch, Iron also announced the completion of a $4.5 million seed investment round, with participation from March of Dimes’ innovation fund.
“The name was inspired from the idea of ‘the strength from within,’ drawing from the fact that women need twice as much iron than men, and that women are stronger when their health is in their own hands,” CEO Stephanie Winans said in a recent interview.
Iron’s sells its virtual care platform to OB/GYN practices and health systems to provide them access to new reimbursable services. The platform allows OB/GYNs to leverage a network of providers, enabling them to provide their patients with comprehensive healthcare services.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Through Iron’s platform, OB/GYNs connect their patients to a multidisciplinary team of advanced practice providers and specialists. This team is led by a dedicated care manager who has a full picture of the patient’s health history and is reachable on an on-demand basis.
Iron’s OB/GYN customers choose the services they need to best support their patients, Winans explained. Examples include primary care, mental healthcare, chronic disease management, nutrition coaching, and special support for pregnancy and menopause life stages like postpartum hypertension or perimenopause symptom management.
Once an OB/GYN selects these services, Iron onboards the patient onto its platform. They can then access virtual care through video visits and direct messaging with their care team — which includes nurses, nurse practitioners, dieticians and clinical social workers. Iron documents these visits and messages in the EHR so that the patient’s OB/GYN stays in the loop on this extended care, as well as to facilitate reimbursement.
There are plenty of women’s healthcare startups on the market, including Tia, Upliv and Daye. But Winans thinks that Iron differentiates itself through its direct partnership model with OB/GYNs, who are consistently reported as women’s most trusted healthcare providers.
“By partnering directly with OB/GYNs, we believe we can alleviate some of the growing concerns over OB/GYN capacity and support OB/GYNs in providing a better care experience and outcomes for their patients while reducing burnout and adding an economic benefit,” Winans declared.
Photo: FotografiaBasica, Getty Images
