Women’s Health Innovation: Insights from NYC Health Week

In November last year, the FDA removed the black box warning on menopause hormone therapies following a review of the data. This was unprecedented in healthcare, allowing for more accurate and balanced information about the benefits and risk of hormone replacement therapy and its impact on overall health.

At Women’s Health Week in New York, one theme stood out clearly which echoed this shift in perspective. We are starting to move beyond narrow definitions of women’s health and toward a more comprehensive, system-level view. What is emerging is a shift from reactive care to proactive, data-driven, long-term health management.

Here are some of the key insights shaping that transition.

Moving beyond a narrow definition of women’s health

Women’s health has often been defined by only three areas: menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause. Each still requires deeper understanding.

However, a more systemic view is emerging. Hormones influence every aspect of health, from cardiovascular disease to cognitive decline. Changes such as the renaming of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) to Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS) to better reflect its broader metabolic and endocrine impact signal progress.

Until women’s health is treated as a whole-body, whole-life challenge, innovation will remain at the edges rather than reshaping the system.

The cost of being ‘not that sick’

A recurring theme from founders of women’s health-focused businesses was the experience many women face when seeking care: being told they are “not that sick.”

This is not just frustrating. It is dangerous.

Women still take, on average, more than four years to receive a diagnosis in comparison to men. Conditions such as cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in women, are frequently misdiagnosed or overlooked because symptoms can present differently. Too often, women are reassured or misdiagnosed with anxiety, delaying critical investigation and treatment.

The implication is clear. Current diagnostic pathways are not designed with women in mind.

Closing the data gap

Despite progress, one of the biggest barriers to change remains data. For years, women were excluded from or significantly under-represented in clinical trials. This has created a lack of high-quality, representative data in women’s health.

Wearable technologies are beginning to play a critical role. They enable individuals to collect their own health data and validate lived experiences. By making previously invisible symptoms measurable, these tools are helping reshape clinical conversations. The next step is advancing these technologies to capture a broader range of biomarkers, including continuous hormone monitoring.

At the same time, initiatives such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) All of Us research program, which includes whole genome sequencing, are creating new opportunities to better understand both rare and complex conditions at scale. This dataset is particularly valuable, with women making up 63 percent of the current cohort.

Until healthcare systems are built around how women actually present, rather than how models expect them to, we will continue solving the wrong problems too late.

Side view closeup of woman checking glucose levels on phone with monitoring device on arm

From lifespan to healthspan

Another clear shift is the growing focus on longevity, not just living longer, but living better.

Preventive, longitudinal care is emerging as a key lever. By consistently monitoring factors such as bone health, cardiovascular health, cognitive function, and hormonal balance, there is real potential to improve both lifespan and healthspan.

The challenge now is infrastructure.

Delivering continuous care requires new models that integrate data, support earlier intervention, and are backed by insurance systems willing to invest earlier rather than reactively. In the long term, this approach has the potential to improve outcomes while reducing overall healthcare costs.

Technology is advancing, but trust still matters

Technology is rapidly expanding access to healthcare, particularly through virtual care models and AI-driven tools. These innovations are creating opportunities to reach more people, more quickly.

However, they are not without limitations.

A recurring concern raised during the week was the reliability of AI in women’s health. One statistic shared suggested that 60 percent of responses from AI tools on women’s health topics were incorrect. While AI is already transforming areas such as biomarker discovery and accelerating the development of new therapeutics, its outputs must be approached with rigor.

The opportunity lies in balancing innovation with trust.

Young adult child give gift AI smart watch IOT app to mature middle age old mum.

Investment is growing, but positioning is key

Investment in women’s health is increasing, with billions now being deployed each year, primarily at the early and seed stages.

This signals strong interest, but it also highlights how new the category still is.

A key insight from investors was the importance of framing opportunities effectively. Rather than focusing solely on the problems women face, successful pitches are those that clearly articulate the scale of the business opportunity, whether that means defining new categories or redefining standards of care.

For founders, this requires a shift in narrative from unmet need to market potential.

Innovation to watch

Several companies stood out as examples of how the space is evolving:

Eight Sleep is addressing physiological changes during pregnancy by adapting sleep environments in real time, moving from monitoring to intervention.
Oura is positioning itself as a long-term healthcare partner, moving from episodic insights to continuous care and support, including ambitions around prescribing.
Nemere is using non-invasive AI to detect anemia risk through imaging, enabling more accessible screening.
Mirvie is predicting pregnancy complications months in advance through RNA analysis, enabling earlier intervention.
Novo Nordisk is exploring how to move beyond treatment into the full patient experience, particularly in weight management where ongoing support remains limited.

What this means for the future

If there is one overarching takeaway, it is this: women’s health is not a category. It is a systems challenge.

Progress will depend on:

Closing the data gap through integrated data ecosystems, not isolated products.
Building diagnostic models around real-world presentation.
Creating infrastructure that supports continuous, not episodic, care.
Developing technologies that are both innovative and clinically reliable.
Framing women’s health as a core driver of healthcare, not a subset.

Group of multi generational women hugging each other

The opportunity

For organizations working in healthcare, this is not a niche.

It is one of the clearest opportunities to rethink how care is designed, delivered, and experienced.

Those who succeed will not just build better products.

They will reshape the system around the realities of women’s health and, in doing so, improve healthcare for everyone.

How Ensera Design can help

If you are developing new healthcare solutions in a rapidly evolving space, understanding real-world needs and system-level challenges early is critical.

At Ensera Design, we combine deep women’s health and MedTech expertise with a diverse, multidisciplinary team that reflects the users we design for. By bringing different perspectives into research, design, and development, we help translate complex challenges into clear innovation opportunities and scalable solutions that work in real-world settings.

Speak to our team to explore how insight-led, system-level thinking on women's lived experiences can help shape better healthcare solutions.

Get in touch with our team