Nearly 200 Million Women Suffer from Endometriosis
Of those women, roughly 70% experience unmanaged pain and symptoms that negatively impact their quality of life. Currently, there is no “cure” for endometriosis. Patients often undergo expensive out-of-pocket surgeries to remove painful endometriosis lesions or are told to go on birth control in order to shut down their cycle. Women with endometriosis experience disruptions in their careers, infertility, and financial stress. There have been remarkably few studies investigating the cause or potential treatments, and patient education is hard to come by because healthcare providers are often not well versed in current endometriosis care standards. As Elanza founder Brittany Hawkins states, “There is no condition more underserved than endometriosis.”
In recent years there has been an increase in endometriosis awareness and research. More and more, scientists, doctors, and women living with the condition are figuring out that lifestyle can play a major role in the management of endometriosis pain. The problem? The management of these various lifestyle factors like diet, stress management, toxin avoidance, exercise, supplementation, (the list goes on…) can be incredibly burdensome, especially when weighed down by symptoms, work, parenting, and other life stressors.
ELANZA’s Solution
ELANZA offers personalized, multimodal endometriosis care plans. Their virtual platform pairs women with a personal care navigator and provides data insights to help track progress. Plans are updated monthly, providing consistent, responsive support.
ELANZA personalized care is backed by board-certified OB/GYNs, MDs, and wellness specialists who are available to support women with endometriosis in a variety of areas. Care can be directed towards pain management, or personalized to support fertility.
Because of the limited availability of education surrounding endometriosis, even for medical professionals, finding specialized care can be extremely difficult. Women often have to travel hours to find doctors they trust, and surgeons who are qualified to remove lesions. ELANZA aims to leverage its virtual care system to reach millions of women suffering from endometriosis who are unable to find specialized care in their hometowns.
The start-up, ELANZA, which counts a Stanford Gynecology and Obstetrics Professor Emeritus amongst its clinical advisory, emerged from Techstars New York accelerator and received funding from Human Ventures, Gaingels and the Accel Scout Fund. It has recently joined the Re/Wire development studio run by the consumer health company HALEON.
Femovate’s Impact
ELANZA Wellness was awarded sponsorship through Guidea’s Femovate program in 2022.
As part of the Femovate sponsorship, the digital health experts at Guidea worked with ELANZA founders Catherine Hendy and Brittany Hawkins to draft the early version of the customer experience. We started by identifying the promise of the product, UX success metrics, archetypal users, and situational persons. We then worked together to map the ideal customer journey and ways to provide early value for women seeking second opinions, pain relief and other aid. For development, Guidea provided early wireframes with a specific focus on sign up, subscribing, onboarding and care navigation.
For more information about ELANZA Wellness, visit www.elanzawellness.com and follow them on LinkedIn
For more information on Femovate visit www.femovate.com and follow us on LinkedIn
For interviews please contact Theresa Neil
