SURGICAL & CRITICAL CARE
SURGICAL & CRITICAL CARE
Women’s health at all ages & stages by Kara Nadeau Photo credit: Gorodenkoff |
stock.adobe.com W
oman’s health spans a broad spectrum of life stages, diseases, and conditions, including preg-
nancy and post-partum care. While one article can’t possibly cover the full scope of women’s health, let’s look at some of the innovations helping providers care for women throughout their lifetimes, and in the case of mothers, their babies as well.
Women’s health and unique challenges to care Female patients face unique health con- ditions not experienced by their male counterparts, including menstrual cycles, pregnancy, menopause, reproductive can- cers, and a higher risk for breast cancer. And for conditions that impact both men and women, the symptoms may present differently.
For example, a study published in May 2022 on JAMA Network Open analyzed data on 2,264 heart attack patients 55 and younger, looking at risk factors for men and women. While leading heart attack risk factors for men were current smoking and family history of heart attack, diabe- tes was further up on the list for women. Depression, high blood pressure, and low household income were stronger risk fac- tors for women than family history.1
Donna M. Baldwin, D.O., Family Medicine Physician, Chief Quality & Innovation Offi cer for CirrusMD, offers this advice to clinicians when caring for their female patients:
“Because women can present differently with symptoms, be an empathetic and good listener. When women talk about depres- sion or when they are having chest pains their concerns can be minimized when the clinician dismisses them as being over emotional. That presents a problem with women wanting to step forward and talk about their symptoms. Clinicians acknowl- edging the symptoms are real and taking them seriously is really important.” Dr. Baldwin notes how women who are caring for children, elderly parents or other family members tend to put themselves last when it comes to healthcare. “It’s often not in the fore- front of women’s minds
Donna M. Baldwin
to seek healthcare for themselves so they defi nitely have more delays in care, which can lead to higher costs and higher mor- bidity and mortality,” said Dr. Baldwin. “Access to care that is easy and on their time is important.”
16 December 2022 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS •
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Dr. Baldwin said is it also about pro- viding women easier access to birth con- trol and safe reproductive care. And as screening recommendations change for conditions, such as breast and colon cancer, women have more questions about when they should be screened based on risk fac- tors. She states: “As our prevention and screening recom- mendations change as we learn, how can technology and telehealth really help get people the right care that they need so they don’t waste a visit? Let’s say you are 39 years old, you just had a pap last year and have no risk factors for cervical cancer but you need a birth control refi ll. You don’t need to go into a physician’s offi ce for that. Maybe you have anxiety and depression – spend time talking with your physician about that. It is about creating a meaningful healthcare experience for women.”
A cutting-edge approach to HPV testing When detected as pre-cancer, cervical can- cer is avoidable. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), every year in the United States 11,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), and more than 4,000 women die from cervi- cal cancer. 2
Today, clinicians can stop this
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