I’ll Take a Shot of Bedside Manner
My fertility medical team is an hour away. That means I have to take an hour to get there, an hour to get back, get there a half hour earlier to preregister, give myself another half hour buffer (at least) if they’re running late, then an hour for the actual appointment itself.
I have to block out at least 4 hours every time I need to go in.
That’s half a work day. I accrue 80 hours of sick time each year. Going for a round of IVF? OMG… the amount of time I’ll need to take from my banked sick hours. The stress and anxiety in just scheduling an appointment to be seen is unreal. Add on the heavy discussions of the cost of a fertility treatment plan AND the amount of medications and injections that you’ll have to take.
I feel numb walking out of these appointments.
I get back home to walk the dogs, catch up on work emails, and think about what to make for dinner. The whole process of getting an appointment and meeting with my medical team is just exhausting. As I rehash the appointment over and over again to put together a synopsis to share with my husband at the dinner table, it clicks. Nobody asked me one baseline question during my time at the clinic today.
The value of “How are you?” is egregiously underrated in the world of fertility care.
And maybe it’s a generational gap that we need to fill. Trends indicate that women are having children later in life with birth rates higher for women in their 30s and 40s. Generational gaps bring generational expectations which can be a challenge at times.
Entrepreneur.com identified gaps in healthcare that they’re seeing based on today’s “millennial” patient:
More virtual care options are a necessity,
Online access to physicians and specialists,
Approachable, accessible, personalized care, and
Price transparency from the start.
This change in attitude has been made abundantly clear in today’s femhealth forums. Even physicians on residency Reddit threads are talking about elevated expectations when it comes to bedside manners. From one thread contributor:
Boomers seem (hard emphasis on seem) like they're more dedicated to patient care (they just expect YOU to put forward that dedication on their behalf). Millennial attendings, at least in my experience, are somewhat more dispossessed and treat things more like a job...which is what it is. Both go home at the same time, boomers just expect you to stay later whereas millennials want you to go home at the same time too. Not saying either deliver lesser quality of care, it is just attitude.
So what are the implications of this generational attitude for reproductive health innovation? They’re HUGE - and founders are taking notice. Take Hera Fertility as an example. I recently had the pleasure of meeting with their Founder & CEO, Thiv Paramsothy. Hera Fertility is checking the boxes by providing:
Virtual care with 1-on-1 virtual consults. Their monthly membership model is bridging the gap between affordability and accessibility. Remember all that extra sick time wasted on travel to see your medical team? Virtual care meets the demands of today’s working (infertile) women.
Online access to a team of experts and partner network. There’s a level of reassurance knowing you can go to one convenient online location to get your questions answered from a panel of experts including fertility specialists, nurses, advisors, pharmacists and embryologists. When I asked Thiv about all of the in-person testing required for infertility cases, they’ve already proactively planned by developing an ecosystem of referral labs and IUI/IVF clinics. They are continuing to build out this partner network with more locations as they expand throughout the United States.
Approachable, accessible, and personalized care. Your first round of consults include in-depth discussions about your health and symptoms. Unlike other physicians who immediately jump to a full round of testing, their human-driven approach leads to a personalized diagnostic report. Unlimited text and call support is provided throughout your entire journey. They don’t jump the gun immediately to recommend IUI/IVF. They take your infertility story and symptoms into consideration and provide a guided path to explore innovative options.
Price transparency from the start. I luckily have insurance although the majority of coverage costs for infertility are not covered - and by majority, it’s like 90% that I have to pay out of pocket. Hera’s membership model is pretty straight forward. It doesn’t include the costs of drugs, additional testing and the actual costs of IUI/IVF, but it provides an affordable option compared to other companies that I’ve seen in the industry.
I recognize that I am not only a patient, but part of the consumer demographic in the infertility place. Innovation that saves time and money is so important. More women need equitable access. More women need urgent care. More women need an approachable, human-focused team.
Is personalization scalable in the world of healthcare?
No.
Is humanity necessary when solving the problem of human making?
Yes.
If you feel like you are not being heard or are not comfortable with your reproductive health team, there are other options out there. Feel empowered to reach out to another clinic. You may be surprised to find exactly what you’ve been looking for.
Sunny side bump,
Olivia
