Elektra Health | Understanding the cost impact of the menopause care gap
Elektra empowers women navigating the menopause journey and the decades that follow with an integrative, evidence-based care model. It pairs peer support and MD-vetted education with convenient telemedicine care from board-certified clinicians. Elektra works with top employers and health plans across the US to offer people experiencing menopause the care and support they deserve. |
Industry Use Case |
Challenge
Understanding the cost impact of the menopause care gap
Over fifty million women in the US are navigating menopause today. They face a massive care gap due to a lack of adequate provider training, stigma around women’s health and aging, and confusion around hormone therapy. Symptoms related to menopause remain overwhelmingly underdiagnosed and undertreated despite this being a universal experience for women. Furthermore, research increasingly ties chronic disease risk in women with the menopausal decline in hormone production. Elektra Health sought to better understand the cost impact of this care gap in terms of menopause symptoms and comorbid conditions (e.g., metabolic syndrome) and highlight the need for additional focus and care in this area.
Solution
Benchmarking, and analyzing comorbidity segmentation
Impact
Publishing the first study of its kind in a decade
The resulting actuarial claims analysis unearthed key findings, including:
- Only ~19% of women between ages 40 to 60 received a clinical menopause diagnosis, according to the claims data, even though up to 80% generally experience symptoms, according to clinical literature.
- The population who received a clinical menopause diagnosis incurred 45% more healthcare costs, on average, per year.
- For patients diagnosed with menopause, comorbid conditions such as metabolic disorders, hypertension, and joint pain are both more prevalent and costly compared to undiagnosed patients: 37% and $2,572, 14% and $4,133, 38% and $3,965, respectively.