Launch launch to help women's health providers build independent practices
Women are known to be often misdiagnosed and abused. Meanwhile, doctors are dealing with major burnout. According to the American Medical Association, more than 45% of doctors reported at least one burnout symptom in 2023.
These two problems are exactly what new startups aim to solve. The monarch was launched on Tuesday to provide women's health providers with the support and technology needed to establish independent practices.
“Patients and their doctors are actually asking for the same thing,” Anna Lohrfink, co-founder and chief product officer of Monarch, said in an interview. “They want more time. They want more thoughtful, proactive care, not just treating women when they are sick or wrong. … That's what we built with Monarch. We built a partner for doctors to help them transition from this broken traditional system to serving women more effectively and keeping them healthy and transitioning to stay healthy for the long term.”
When working with doctors (usually OB/Gyns) who want to build their own practice, the company first understands existing patients and follows them into new models, as well as their new practice goals.
It can then help companies build practices including support for operations, real estate, pricing strategies, brands, email campaigns, and more. After that, it can help doctors retain patients and develop exercises, provide webinars and Q&A sessions to explain new models and provide team training. After the exercise is launched, Monarch will provide ongoing support to help with the practice scale.
Each practice enabled by Monarch sets its own pricing for patients, based on the services it provides, the size of the patient panel and the regional market. It is usually between $300 and $550 per month. Some women’s health care services doctors provide include bone health, cardiac metabolic health, menopause support and weight care. Physicians mainly establish physical exercises, but have the option to add telemedicine. The first monarch-based practice was in Los Angeles.
According to Lohrfink, in the traditional model, doctors will see about 30 patients a day, giving them only about 10 to 15 minutes each time. But in the monarch's model, visits to patients usually last about 45 minutes. Doctors also have full ownership of the practice, as well as the freedom to make their own clinical decisions. There is no fairness in the monarch, but charges doctors for helping them build practices.
“We think it’s so important that our doctors retain control and ownership of their practices,” Lohrfink said. “We think our job is empowering doctors. We provide support infrastructure and scaffolding to make it possible, but at the end of the day, we see doctors looking for a way to provide better care and we just want to make it all possible.”
The name Monarch comes from the idea of giving doctors and patients more control over their care and health. Ultimately, the company hopes to “rebuild women’s health care”, Lohrfink said.
Several other companies help doctors build their own practices, including tips on health and mental health directions for direct primary care.
Image source: Andrii Shyp, Getty Images
