Women are done with healthcare that doesn't listen. You know the script: “Have you tried diet and exercise?” “Try to get more sleep.” “That’s just part of getting older.” These aren’t outlier experiences.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 29% of women say a provider has dismissed their concerns, compared to 21% of men. Among women 18 to 35, nearly half report at least one negative interaction with a provider in the past two years.
Women spend 25% more of their lives in poor health compared to men. Not because they're sicker, but because the system wasn't designed to hear them, diagnose them accurately, or treat them as whole people.
The McKinsey Health Institute and World Economic Forum call it the women's health gap, and they estimate that closing it could deliver the equivalent of seven additional healthy days per woman, per year: a full week of life back.
The demand for something better is real. But the response requires more than just additional investment—something needs to be built that women actually trust.
Experience Is the Differentiator
A few brands are proving that when you design the entire experience around women instead of the clinical protocol, the trust follows.
Oula Health has redesigned maternity care in NYC by combining midwifery and OB care under one roof, in warm, intentionally designed clinic spaces. Their model includes care navigators, tech-supported pregnancy tracking, and personalized birth planning. The patient signal is clear and consistent: women feel heard, respected, and treated like whole people.
Tia takes the model further. With clinics across New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco, Tia fuses primary care, gynecology, mental health, and wellness into one integrated experience in spaces designed with patient input. 70% of Tia members hadn't had a preventive exam in the year before joining. Once enrolled, patients engage in preventive care at two to three times the national average.
These brands share a philosophy that resonates with their patients. The environment, care model, communication, and operations all reinforce the same message: we thought about you before you walked in. As patients increasingly feel healthcare systems prioritize profits over patients, this makes a huge difference.
You Can't Design What You Haven't Studied
Published data tells you the category story: where the fractures are, which populations are most affected. It doesn't tell you your story. What do your patients experience at each touchpoint? Where does trust build, and where does it break? What language signals respect versus dismissal?
The brands that have figured this out share one thing in common: they stopped designing from assumptions and started designing from evidence. Good research gets underneath those questions, uncovering not just what women say they want, but the behaviors and experiences that actually shape their decisions, build their trust, and drive them to stay or leave. That's the difference between a brand that says "we listen" and one that has structured its operations to prove it.
MDRG helps brands uncover what their patients actually think, feel, and need. If you're building in women's healthcare and want research to guide the way, let's talk.
Topics from this blog: Qualitative Research Healthcare Women's Healthcare