January 18
2023
Why Healthtech Needs More Female Leaders
Brooke LeVasseur CEO, Arista MD.
occupied by women 65% About 30% of the healthcare workforce hold senior leadership positions and 13% The coveted CEO title. As female consumers make most purchasing and usage decisions when it comes to healthcare products and services, the gap between female leaders and end users in the industry is hard to ignore.
Indeed, we should take note of this gap, which is slowly closing as female leadership on boards of Fortune 500 healthcare companies rose slightly, from 22.6% in 2018 to 26% the following year. And while U.S. hospitals tend to have more women at the top, a 2019 Rock Health report found that female representation in this category is just over 37 percent. While progress is certainly being made, diversity that welcomes women into leadership roles in all aspects of health care, particularly in health technology, is critical to meeting the diverse treatment needs of all patients and consumers overall.
Diversity is an essential aspect of our industry.
Across all industries, diversity is important at all levels of the workforce. Not only is it socially correct, but research shows that a variety of workplaces improve financial returns by: 35%. And having a different perspective increases your chances of innovation, creativity, decision-making, and reaching new customer demographics like never before.
Inclusive companies are almost twice as innovative and make better decisions. 87% of time. Just as diverse voices drive business results, gender diversity is necessary to continue to drive technological advances in healthcare to provide improved care for people of all backgrounds.
Especially in health technology, women 20% Executive roles at top 100 medical device companies. While many companies are hiring diversity and inclusion leadership roles to speed change due to the lack of diversity in healthcare technology, it is important to share how gender diversity is taking over the market and benefiting the industry. As a female executive in telemedicine platforms with over 15 years of industry experience, I have seen significant growth and process and product improvements in our company. Forbes, Comparably, Inc. Magazine, Modern Healthcare, USA TodayAnd San Diego Magazine.
Femtech is on the rise.
all Term coined in 2016 Founder Ida Tin proviso, Femtech is being called the future of healthcare. The femtech industry includes software and technologies that address specific needs in women’s health. produce $820 million With global revenues in 2019 alone to serve a market where women spend nearly $500 billion annually on health care, the industry is already addressing women’s health in ways that are long overdue.
From virtual care to menopause, pregnancy and infertility solutions and beyond, femtech addresses a unique and booming market in a space once stigmatized or ignored by the tech industry. And with the rise of femtech is the rise of women’s health leaders. 70% of femtech companies analyzed by McKinsey have at least one female founder, compared to 20% of startups have female leaders. fun, research proposal Female-led inventor teams tend to solve for both male and female-dominated conditions, while men tend to solve for male-only conditions. Women thus play a pivotal role in advancing inclusion within the medtech industry to improve care for society as a whole.
It’s time to close the gender gap in healthcare leadership and elevate more female leaders to positions of responsibility. Medical technology is a rapidly evolving industry in a thriving market. For organizations to thrive, they must place a greater emphasis on diversity, and female leaders are pivotal to their continued success. Expanding leadership opportunities for women in all aspects of health care is not only the socially right thing to do, it’s also critical to continuing to move forward to end the gender gap that hinders our industry.
