Women’s Health Equity Initiative
AdvaMed is dedicated to ensuring our industry focuses their efforts on treating and raising the awareness of women’s health conditions.
Mission and Goals
To raise awareness regarding the medical technologies that our members make to treat women’s health conditions and to raise awareness and reduce inequities related to the need to diagnose, include in research, and improve health outcomes for women.
Our 3 goals focus on:
- Awareness – Develop the business case for women’s health equity.
- Access – Improve care access by women
- Research Diversity – Improve environment for recruiting and retaining women in research.
Women’s health includes conditions that:
- Are unique/specific to women
- Predominantly affect women
- Affect women differently than men
Our Work
Completed
In November 2023, the White House announced the launch of a new Initiative on Women’s Health Research. The White House states that “Women make up half of the United States population, but for too long, a lack of timely research and data on women’s health has left health care providers without important tools to diagnose and treat millions of women with debilitating conditions, including cardiovascular disease…” As part of this new Initiative, the White House was soliciting comments from stakeholders. AdvaMed, with input from WHEI members, has submitted a list of recommendations we believe can move the agenda forward. You can review the AdvaMed recommendations here.
In Progress
AdvaMed is undertaking a comprehensive assessment of the current landscape in the U.S. for innovative women’s health technologies. We are especially interested in identifying specific gaps in research funding, coverage, reimbursement, and coding. The results of this assessment, expected in Q4 2024, will help to inform our activities going forward.
Want to Get Involved?
Join the Working Group:
The Women’s Health Equity Initiative (WHEI) Working Group is open to all members with an interest in women’s health issues. We meet monthly to discuss current projects.
Join the Subcommittee:
The Women’s Health Equity Initiative (WHEI) Subcommittee is open to CEOs and other C-suite level members with an interest in women’s health issues. We meet quarterly to provide high-level strategic guidance for the Working Group, and to provide updates to the Board-level Health Equity and Diversity Committee. The Subcommittee is chaired by Tracy MacNeal, CEO, Materna Medical.
Contact [email protected] to join the Working Group or the Subcommittee.
Women in Cardiovascular Device Trials
AdvaMed has developed Take Her Health to Heart, a public awareness campaign to encourage recruitment, enrollment, and retention of women in cardiovascular device trials. You can read more about this program and access resources here.