Kristen Helton runs Herself Health with the deeply held belief that women over 65 years old experience unique health challenges. The most salient of the population’s challenges? “For far too long their concerns, needs and desires have been ignored,” said Helton.
Herself Health closed a $26 million series A funding round this week that will be used to expand the reach of the primary care provider. With one clinic in St. Paul, Minnesota, the provider hopes to expand its footprint over the next 18 months, bringing its value-based care approach to women seeking a more holistic healthcare experience. Helton, CEO of Herself, told Fierce Healthcare that along with adopting new models of care, the provider is reclaiming Women’s Health itself.
“Women's Health is not just about fertility and maternity,” Helton said. “Women’s Health is just as important later in life as it is earlier in life. The topics and concerns may be different but really understanding how Women's Health may be different, the conditions that are more prevalent, the way in which we treat women and removing the bias from healthcare delivery is incredibly important.”
The company first launched in 2022 and only six months ago brought in $7 million in seed funding. Helton said that in the last six months, the company has learned a great deal about how to best support the population it serves.
Herself conducted interviews with over 700 women. When asked what they hadn’t received from previous providers, the most prevalent answer was simple: being heard. These doctors, the women conveyed, failed to prioritize their unique needs.
Additionally, women expressed concern about the possibilities of unaddressed conditions such as arthritis, Alzheimer’s and heart disease. Women are 33% more likely to be misdiagnosed than men, 43% less likely to receive a chronic heart disease diagnosis and 33% more likely to be misdiagnosed after a stroke.
“I cannot tell you how many times I hear women say we're not valued by society,” Helton said. “So when we do build something, they feel heard. All of the feedback we get from patients is they felt heard, they felt safe. In healthcare, you are vulnerable. It is scary. There is a mismatch in information between the patient and the provider potentially. So listening, sharing information, speaking empathetically and respectfully sounds basic, but it's not. It's not commonplace.”
Building trust with patients and putting their health first pairs well with value-based care, she said. In the new model, incentives are aligned with the breaking down of silos. Instead of being shuffled between specialists, care teams can assess all the risks and benefits of treatment options.
Herself uses a health coach as the coordinating individual connecting a patient’s care team. This role also allows for patient education, follow-ups and assessing gaps in care. “In a fee-for-service world, going the extra mile and focusing on prevention and early intervention is not economically viable,” Helton said.
When a patient comes on board, they are first asked by the health coach what their goals are for their health. Many women, according to Helton, bring up losing weight, joint injuries or pain and fears of osteoporosis.
Women on average face osteoporosis and other bone density conditions at far higher rates than men. Nearly one-fifth of females over the age of 50 experience osteoporosis, in comparison to 4.4% in men, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Low bone mass, a precursor to the disease, was found in half of all women aged 50 and older. That fraction fell to one-third in men.
While joint replacements increase across all groups with age, jumping to surgery can be a far riskier move for someone over 65 than for younger individuals and recovery can be more challenging with someone experiencing bone density.
“In fee for service, you don't have a lot of time, and you have a limited toolbox,” Helton said. “The most likely thing is to get you to the specialist who gets paid to do surgeries. So it's a great example of misaligned incentives. And frankly, once you're older, going under a big surgery, like a joint replacement, has a really big impact on your overall health. Surgery is not something to be taken lightly. I do think it's important to try physical therapy. There are really interesting things we’re seeing delivered with technology and over virtual visits.”
With the new pocket of money, Herself plans to expand the diversity of options offered to patients including virtual care, digital tools and community offerings. This year, the company plans to open two additional clinics in the Minneapolis region. Next year, Herself has earmarked the goal of adding one more market to expand its reach.