May 28, 2025
As we celebrate Women's Health Month, it's the perfect time to examine a critical issue affecting businesses nationwide. Women's unique needs have been historically overlooked by our healthcare system. At Hello Alpha, we're changing that.
The statistics are staggering: women spend 25% more of their lives in poor health than men.¹ But this isn't just a health crisis—it's an economic one with profound business implications.
The challenges women face in our healthcare system create significant costs for businesses. Women make up nearly 60% of U.S. workers.² When their health needs are not addressed, companies pay the price.
A staggering 90% of national healthcare costs are devoted to chronic and mental health conditions, which have a significant impact on women. Unfortunately, women face higher rates of misdiagnosis, unnecessary specialist referrals, and gender bias in the doctor's office.
From autoimmune diseases (where 80% of patients are women³) to gynecologic conditions like endometriosis that take an average of 7-10 years to diagnose⁴, women's health conditions that are not treated directly impact workforce productivity and company bottom lines.
The lack of specialized training is also a major cost driver: only 9% of medical schools offer women's health courses.⁵ Not surprisingly, women are 30% more likely to be misdiagnosed than men.⁶ These systemic failures contribute to $750 billion total cost for misdiagnosis in the U.S. healthcare system⁷, with each misdiagnosis costing approximately $436 per visit.⁸
For businesses, research from multiple sources illustrates the financial impact of these healthcare shortcomings:
Our women's health-focused telemedicine platform doesn't just improve health outcomes—it delivers measurable business value with a potential 4:1 return on investment. This is consistent with what we've seen in real-world implementations, such as our partnership with Sonrava Health, which achieved a 363% ROI from preventive visits alone.⁸
Here's how telemedicine helps to drive costs down:
Hello Alpha delivers tangible business value through improved health outcomes⁸:
For a national employer with 5,500 employees, our analysis showed potential savings of $556,000 per year through our value-based contract approach, impacting approximately 10% of their medical claims spend for the adult female population.⁸
Primary care is essential to address women's unique health needs throughout every life stage, from puberty and reproduction to menopause. To achieve the vision of comprehensive primary care for women, Hello Alpha delivers accessible, high-quality, prevention-focused services—integrated with behavioral health care—that improve health outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and promote health equity.
A key part of our offering is a dedicated primary care provider who is an expert in women's health for each patient. Benefits leaders recognize that women in the workforce are a dynamic and vitally important part of their business.
Unfortunately, traditional healthcare is expensive for employers and their employees. With Hello Alpha's virtual primary care solution for women, cost savings start immediately with a simple flat monthly fee per engaged user.
For employers, providing access to specialized women's healthcare isn't just about cost savings. It's a competitive advantage in recruitment and retention. Such benefits signal a company's commitment to employee wellbeing.
According to Mercer's research, employers looking to attract and retain women are now focusing beyond traditional benefits toward a more holistic approach to supporting women's health¹⁵. In fact, a recent Aon report notes that: "if 20 percent of a company's population is going through menopause or struggling to start a family and not feeling supported, absenteeism may be higher, more employees will be disengaged and some will likely quit. Those costs add up."¹⁶
Our judgment-free, comprehensive care approach matters particularly when you consider that 80% of women with chronic pain report experiencing some form of gender discrimination from their healthcare providers.¹⁴ By addressing these needs directly, companies can create a better workplace that attracts and retains top talent.
In the workplace, untreated—or incorrectly treated—preventable women's health conditions lead to financial consequences for both employees and their employers due to absenteeism, presenteeism, turnover, and direct healthcare costs. A women's health benefit can align healthcare benefits with company HR strategies to improve employee engagement, while offsetting the direct and indirect costs of gender bias in the healthcare system.
Women's Health Month reminds us that investing in women's health is both a social responsibility and a business imperative. At Hello Alpha, I've seen firsthand how our technology removes barriers and humanizes healthcare—all while delivering significant cost savings and productivity gains for businesses.
When your employees struggle with menopause, fertility, chronic conditions, or other health issues, our dedicated providers deliver personalized care. We respect their time, understand their experiences, and recognize their unique health journeys.
Investing in women's health isn't just the right thing to do—it pays dividends. The future of healthcare isn't about working harder to navigate a broken system. It's about building something better that works for women and for your bottom line. At Hello Alpha, we're leading that change, one online visit at a time.
As Women's Health Month draws to a close, our work doesn't end here. Our commitment to closing the gender health gap continues year-round. The challenges women face in healthcare aren't confined to a single month of awareness—and neither is our solution.
We're in this for the long haul, because women's health deserves more than a monthly spotlight. It demands sustained action, innovation, and investment.
Join us in making women's health a priority every day of the year.
Please note: Hello Alpha is an inclusive health company. We welcome everyone regardless of sex, gender or background. We will never turn a patient away.
Women's health
Gloria Lau is the cofounder and CEO of Hello Alpha, with a mission to improve access to women’s healthcare needs. She has over a decade of experience in data science and machine learning, ranging from small startups to public companies like Linkedin and Google. She is a consulting faculty at Stanford Engineering. She has an MS and PhD from Stanford, and a BS from UCLA.
