Why women are driving the need for a digital health revolution

It is digital innovation that will allow a more equitable landscape for women’s health needs, says Harriet Evans. 

On average, women require more medical care within their lifetimes than men. The physiological differences between the genders are a significant factor in this, as women need more frequent gynaecological and reproductive consultation appointments such as contraception needs, reproductive care, cervical screening, and menopause treatment. 

On top of this, when it comes to contact levels with healthcare services, the prevalence of gender stereotypes also can’t be denied.

Due to the division of domestic labour in the majority of opposite-sex relationships, it is more likely to be the female partner or parent that takes on the admin of managing the family healthcare.

Women also spend more on healthcare products per year due to purchasing menstrual products for themselves, as well as shopping for a range of medical products for the whole family or household.

And yet, despite these facts, women have historically been underrepresented in medical trials, and research into female physiology and health research is allocated less funding than that of men.

Additionally, a recent government women’s health survey found that a staggering 84 per cent of UK women have felt that they were not listened to or taken seriously by a health professional within their lifetimes. 

These issues mean that women feel they have to become accustomed to advocating for their own health needs and those of their loved ones.

They conduct their own research to assist with gaining an accurate diagnosis for any symptoms they have, seek community support for guidance, and actively investigate new health and wellness products to support treatment of symptoms. 

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a wide variety of digital progress has accelerated out of necessity, with many public serving industries taking advantage of existing technologies to bring their services online.

People have become accustomed to reaching for their phones or laptops to access various everyday services, and therefore consumer expectations for convenience are higher than they’ve ever been for many industries, but this digital revolution has also helped companies manage customer traffic and requirements more effectively. 

The NHS is currently facing a plethora of challenges, such as staff shortages, union strikes, and supply chain issues, amid increasing patient volume, and on top of this, healthcare services have also needed to be faster to adopt the same level of digital transformation that the public has come to expect as a standard.

The result is a pressure-fuelled environment with frustration brewing from both patients and health professionals.

Existing technologies could significantly impact patients’ and consumers’ relationships with health services when modernisation occurs.

Currently, there is a power imbalance between the institution of healthcare and its users, with access to personal medical records being controlled and owned by doctors and hospitals.

Care and advice are only accessible through a narrow system, and there is little flexibility when scheduling appointments and procedures – both in local GP practices and in hospitals.

Investment in digital technology had the opportunity to provide patients more autonomy, and improve doctors’ efficiency and productivity by streamlining admin, planning, scheduling, and increased access to patient data. 

When a potential patient requires an appointment with their GP or a specialist at a hospital, they are often faced with very long waiting times due to the unpredictable nature of the environment and staff shortages.

Getting an appointment itself can take a long time, and often offers no flexibility to the patient, with hospital appointments in particular often being dictated rather than arranged to fit the patient’s schedule. Appointments running late are an expected standard.

As mothers manage health appointments for children more frequently than fathers, and women require more appointments than men, women are therefore losing the most vital hours. However, the technology exists in other industries which would be a huge help here. 

Through the use of a universal app which tracks volume and activity within the service environment, similar to a train departure board, patients could be alerted to delays and altered appointment times and manage their time more effectively.

Allowing more patient autonomy in booking appointments digitally would also give women more flexibility and convenience.

This would be a significant improvement for working mothers especially, who are currently expected to sacrifice their office or work from home time without consideration for important meetings or deadlines – both for their own appointments and for their families’.  

Implementing a universal digital healthcare platform for public and professional use could vastly improve experiences for both patients and providers.

This trusted platform could become the one-stop online environment for booking appointments and reporting symptoms before seeing the doctor.

Accessing personal medical history through a secure system (such as is applied in online banking) would allow patients to be more informed during their time with the doctor.

Machine learning could also be integrated to alert medical professionals to patterns to assist and speed up diagnosis, rather than doctors having to review patient notes and history ahead of appointments manually.

Artificial intelligence could potentially use symptoms entered by the patient in advance to assess whether the patient needs to be examined in person, or if the appointment could be conducted virtually, therefore saving the time required out of someone’s day and also reducing exposure to contagious illnesses.

If pharmacies were connected to the system, patients could track the closest place with their prescription in stock, or even order it for home delivery for further convenience.

Such a platform could also be a source of health information for users to understand their conditions and provide vital research data that could improve understanding of female physiology and outcomes for women. It would allow researchers access to massive datasets and to invite specific demographics to participate in surveys and trials.

Users could opt-in to anonymously share data from their wearable devices, providing valuable information on an unprecedented scale that could ultimately accelerate progress and inform key decision makers.

To adapt and survive, digital tech solutions and healthcare services must become aligned, and it is digital innovation that will allow a more equitable landscape for women’s health needs. 

Harriet Evans is the growth lead at the healthcare management platform, Healistic. She is passionate about mental health and she trained as a mental health first aider with MHFA England.