MedCity FemFwd: The Gaps in Endometriosis Care

Welcome back to another episode of MedCity FemFwd, a podcast dedicated to exploring the breakthroughs and challenges in women’s health. In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Rani Aravamudhan, senior medical director of Artemis at Nomi Health.

We discuss Nomi Health’s new research on endometriosis, which looks into the costs and gaps of the condition. Endometriosis is a painful chronic condition in which tissue that is similar to the inner lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus.

Marissa Plescia: Welcome back to MedCity FemFwd. I’m Marissa Plescia, reporter for MedCity News. In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Rani Aravamudhan of Nomi Health to discuss the company’s recent research on endometriosis

Hi, Dr. Rani. Thank you so much for joining MedCity FemFwd.

Dr. Rani Aravamudhan: Hi, Marissa. It is very, uh, nice to be here. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.

Marissa Plescia: Yeah, absolutely. Very happy to have you here. Um, maybe just to start, can you just tell me a little bit about yourself and Nomi Health?

Dr. Rani Aravamudhan: Sure. Um, I’m Rani Aravamudhan

I am the senior medical director here at Nomi Health. I’ve been with the company for almost two years. Um, for a background, I am a general physician or a primary care provider, and I have been on the, uh, data and analytics side of, uh, healthcare for a little over 15-plus years now. Uh, Nomi Health, um, is a small company based out of Salt Lake City, and we are truly in the business of rebuilding healthcare from the ground up to make it easier for everyone involved.

Um, that includes all of us members that consume healthcare, um, to the providers and the hospitals that are providing that care to us, and then of course, to the, uh, insurance companies and the employers and health plans that are actually in the business of, um, you know, paying for that care. Um, part of Nomi Health, um, or one of the business units of Nomi Health is Nomi Analytics, um, which has the product Artemis, um, th- where I, um, sit.

Like, that is a part of the business that I sit in. And, um, our, our mission is to really make sure that employers and health plans, um, are able to make very, um, intentional data-driven decisions when it comes to the healthcare that they provide for their consumers. So we have a, um, system where we are able to bring in data from all different sources, that’d be claims, um, from, you know, various, uh, point solution vendors, lab data, disability data, you name it, so that it can all be then tied in at the member level to get a really good picture of, um, how a s- a, a given population or an individual person is consuming healthcare and what do those trends really tell us.

How is that changing over time? And how does that affect the way decisions are really made when it comes to the healthcare of a given population? And, y- you know, how we could help stakeholders do that more effectively and efficiently, thereby trying to control the costs and make sure that there are, you know, better positive outcomes for their members.

Marissa Plescia: Yeah. Yeah, that’s really great. And going off of that, um, you recently re- released some research on endometriosis. Mm-hmm. Um, can you tell me a little bit about why you felt it was important to conduct this research?

Dr. Rani Aravamudhan: Sure. Um, endometriosis, for, uh, those who may not be aware, endometriosis is a women’s health condition where, um- The tissue that lines the innermost lining of our uterus, which is called the endometrium, that tissue actually grows outside of the uterus.

It can grow on the ovaries, it can grow in the fallopian tubes, on the cervix, even on the bladder or the rectum sometimes. So what that, what, what that does is really, um, give way to a, or create a lot of symptoms and, um, you know, conditions, uh, that can be pretty debilitating. By itself, endometriosis is not necessarily dangerous or life-threatening to a woman, but it can be, like I said, extremely debilitating with, um, really very, um, severe pain, uh, pelvic pain, back pain, abdominal pain, very heavy bleeding during menses, um, or even breakthrough bleeding sometimes, where it gets very hard for women to function.

It may be that they have to take time off of work, or they cannot really participate, um, in family activities or, uh, you know, similar things or, you know, have a social life sometimes. Um, sex can be very painful, um- And, uh, it is one of the main causes of, um, infertility among women. So, um, you know, given all of this, um, we also know that, um, the lead time to diagnosis of, uh, endometriosis is anywhere between four to 11 years.

And this is not a statistic that, uh, I’m quoting off of our data, Artemis data or something. This is national data that has been published by the, uh, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Medical Association. So four to 11 years, think about that. That’s a long time for someone to be going from, you know, “I am in severe pain all the time, and, uh, I have no idea what’s going on.”

And they go to their providers, they go to their doctors, and they’re being treated for one symptom or another. And it is really hard, um, for women to sometimes get the attention that they need. Because many times, and, uh, I’m pretty sure that all of us know somebody in our lives that has endometriosis, will tell you, people will tell you, women will tell you that they’ve been told, “Well, that’s just how their body is.

Some women just have heavier periods, and it is just something that you need to learn to live with.” Um, so this is, you know, something that is going on in our culture. And more importantly, um, recently there have been some, um, you know, uh, some, uh, news that has come through where the, um, American College of, um, Obstetrics and Gynecology and some of the European, um, you know, organizations are really talking about, uh, shortening that time to diagnosis so women can get the right care, um, quickly and easily.

Our, um, you know, our intent was to try and see what exactly does that mean from an employer or from a health plan standpoint. If there is this much lead time, what does that mean from a cost standpoint, from a, uh, productivity standpoint in the workforce and that type of thing? So because we do have access to a very large, um, you know, dataset from, you know, we call it our book of business dataset, um, which has the data from all of our customers.

We have over 3,000 employer customers. Um, we felt that it might be a good exercise to see, are we seeing that in our data? Are we seeing this lead time to diagnosis, and what exactly is that costing an employer or a health plan? How is that truly affecting the lives of the women that are, you know, um- that, that do, are, that are afflicted with this condition.

Marissa Plescia: Yeah. Yeah, that’s really great. And going off of that, um, you recently re- released some research on endometriosis. Mm-hmm. Um, can you tell me a little bit about why you felt it was important to conduct this research?

Dr. Rani Aravamudhan: Sure. Um, endometriosis, for, uh, those who may not be aware, endometriosis is a women’s health condition where, um- The tissue that lines the innermost lining of our uterus, which is called the endometrium, that tissue actually grows outside of the uterus.

It can grow on the ovaries, it can grow in the fallopian tubes, on the cervix, even on the bladder or the rectum sometimes. So what that, what, what that does is really, um, give way to a, or create a lot of symptoms and, um, you know, conditions, uh, that can be pretty debilitating. By itself, endometriosis is not necessarily dangerous or life-threatening to a woman, but it can be, like I said, extremely debilitating with, um, really very, um, severe pain, uh, pelvic pain, back pain, abdominal pain, very heavy bleeding during menses, um, or even breakthrough bleeding sometimes, where it gets very hard for women to function.

It may be that they have to take time off of work, or they cannot really participate, um, in family activities or, uh, you know, similar things or, you know, have a social life sometimes. Um, sex can be very painful, um- And, uh, it is one of the main causes of, um, infertility among women. So, um, you know, given all of this, um, we also know that, um, the lead time to diagnosis of, uh, endometriosis is anywhere between four to 11 years.

And this is not a statistic that, uh, I’m quoting off of our data, Artemis data or something. This is national data that has been published by the, uh, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Medical Association. So four to 11 years, think about that. That’s a long time for someone to be going from, you know, “I am in severe pain all the time, and, uh, I have no idea what’s going on.”

And they go to their providers, they go to their doctors, and they’re being treated for one symptom or another. And it is really hard, um, for women to sometimes get the attention that they need. Because many times, and, uh, I’m pretty sure that all of us know somebody in our lives that has endometriosis, will tell you, people will tell you, women will tell you that they’ve been told, “Well, that’s just how their body is.

Some women just have heavier periods, and it is just something that you need to learn to live with.” Um, so this is, you know, something that is going on in our culture. And more importantly, um, recently there have been some, um, you know, uh, some, uh, news that has come through where the, um, American College of, um, Obstetrics and Gynecology and some of the European, um, you know, organizations are really talking about, uh, shortening that time to diagnosis so women can get the right care, um, quickly and easily.

Our, um, you know, our intent was to try and see what exactly does that mean from an employer or from a health plan standpoint. If there is this much lead time, what does that mean from a cost standpoint, from a, uh, productivity standpoint in the workforce and that type of thing? So because we do have access to a very large, um, you know, dataset from, you know, we call it our book of business dataset, um, which has the data from all of our customers.

We have over 3,000 employer customers. Um, we felt that it might be a good exercise to see, are we seeing that in our data? Are we seeing this lead time to diagnosis, and what exactly is that costing an employer or a health plan? How is that truly affecting the lives of the women that are, you know, um- that, that do, are, that are afflicted with this condition.

Marissa Plescia: Yeah. Yeah, that’s really great. And going off of that, um, you recently re- released some research on endometriosis. Mm-hmm. Um, can you tell me a little bit about why you felt it was important to conduct this research?

Dr. Rani Aravamudhan: Sure. Um, endometriosis, for, uh, those who may not be aware, endometriosis is a women’s health condition where, um- The tissue that lines the innermost lining of our uterus, which is called the endometrium, that tissue actually grows outside of the uterus.

It can grow on the ovaries, it can grow in the fallopian tubes, on the cervix, even on the bladder or the rectum sometimes. So what that, what, what that does is really, um, give way to a, or create a lot of symptoms and, um, you know, conditions, uh, that can be pretty debilitating. By itself, endometriosis is not necessarily dangerous or life-threatening to a woman, but it can be, like I said, extremely debilitating with, um, really very, um, severe pain, uh, pelvic pain, back pain, abdominal pain, very heavy bleeding during menses, um, or even breakthrough bleeding sometimes, where it gets very hard for women to function.

It may be that they have to take time off of work, or they cannot really participate, um, in family activities or, uh, you know, similar things or, you know, have a social life sometimes. Um, sex can be very painful, um- And, uh, it is one of the main causes of, um, infertility among women. So, um, you know, given all of this, um, we also know that, um, the lead time to diagnosis of, uh, endometriosis is anywhere between four to 11 years.

And this is not a statistic that, uh, I’m quoting off of our data, Artemis data or something. This is national data that has been published by the, uh, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Medical Association. So four to 11 years, think about that. That’s a long time for someone to be going from, you know, “I am in severe pain all the time, and, uh, I have no idea what’s going on.”

And they go to their providers, they go to their doctors, and they’re being treated for one symptom or another. And it is really hard, um, for women to sometimes get the attention that they need. Because many times, and, uh, I’m pretty sure that all of us know somebody in our lives that has endometriosis, will tell you, people will tell you, women will tell you that they’ve been told, “Well, that’s just how their body is.

Some women just have heavier periods, and it is just something that you need to learn to live with.” Um, so this is, you know, something that is going on in our culture. And more importantly, um, recently there have been some, um, you know, uh, some, uh, news that has come through where the, um, American College of, um, Obstetrics and Gynecology and some of the European, um, you know, organizations are really talking about, uh, shortening that time to diagnosis so women can get the right care, um, quickly and easily.

Our, um, you know, our intent was to try and see what exactly does that mean from an employer or from a health plan standpoint. If there is this much lead time, what does that mean from a cost standpoint, from a, uh, productivity standpoint in the workforce and that type of thing? So because we do have access to a very large, um, you know, dataset from, you know, we call it our book of business dataset, um, which has the data from all of our customers.

We have over 3,000 employer customers. Um, we felt that it might be a good exercise to see, are we seeing that in our data? Are we seeing this lead time to diagnosis, and what exactly is that costing an employer or a health plan? How is that truly affecting the lives of the women that are, you know, um- that, that do, are, that are afflicted with this condition.

Marissa Plescia: Yeah. Yeah, that’s really great. And going off of that, um, you recently re- released some research on endometriosis. Mm-hmm. Um, can you tell me a little bit about why you felt it was important to conduct this research?

Dr. Rani Aravamudhan: Sure. Um, endometriosis, for, uh, those who may not be aware, endometriosis is a women’s health condition where, um- The tissue that lines the innermost lining of our uterus, which is called the endometrium, that tissue actually grows outside of the uterus.

It can grow on the ovaries, it can grow in the fallopian tubes, on the cervix, even on the bladder or the rectum sometimes. So what that, what, what that does is really, um, give way to a, or create a lot of symptoms and, um, you know, conditions, uh, that can be pretty debilitating. By itself, endometriosis is not necessarily dangerous or life-threatening to a woman, but it can be, like I said, extremely debilitating with, um, really very, um, severe pain, uh, pelvic pain, back pain, abdominal pain, very heavy bleeding during menses, um, or even breakthrough bleeding sometimes, where it gets very hard for women to function.

It may be that they have to take time off of work, or they cannot really participate, um, in family activities or, uh, you know, similar things or, you know, have a social life sometimes. Um, sex can be very painful, um- And, uh, it is one of the main causes of, um, infertility among women. So, um, you know, given all of this, um, we also know that, um, the lead time to diagnosis of, uh, endometriosis is anywhere between four to 11 years.

And this is not a statistic that, uh, I’m quoting off of our data, Artemis data or something. This is national data that has been published by the, uh, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Medical Association. So four to 11 years, think about that. That’s a long time for someone to be going from, you know, “I am in severe pain all the time, and, uh, I have no idea what’s going on.”

And they go to their providers, they go to their doctors, and they’re being treated for one symptom or another. And it is really hard, um, for women to sometimes get the attention that they need. Because many times, and, uh, I’m pretty sure that all of us know somebody in our lives that has endometriosis, will tell you, people will tell you, women will tell you that they’ve been told, “Well, that’s just how their body is.

Some women just have heavier periods, and it is just something that you need to learn to live with.” Um, so this is, you know, something that is going on in our culture. And more importantly, um, recently there have been some, um, you know, uh, some, uh, news that has come through where the, um, American College of, um, Obstetrics and Gynecology and some of the European, um, you know, organizations are really talking about, uh, shortening that time to diagnosis so women can get the right care, um, quickly and easily.

Our, um, you know, our intent was to try and see what exactly does that mean from an employer or from a health plan standpoint. If there is this much lead time, what does that mean from a cost standpoint, from a, uh, productivity standpoint in the workforce and that type of thing? So because we do have access to a very large, um, you know, dataset from, you know, we call it our book of business dataset, um, which has the data from all of our customers.

We have over 3,000 employer customers. Um, we felt that it might be a good exercise to see, are we seeing that in our data? Are we seeing this lead time to diagnosis, and what exactly is that costing an employer or a health plan? How is that truly affecting the lives of the women that are, you know, um- that, that do, are, that are afflicted with this condition.

Marissa Plescia: Yeah. Yeah, that’s really great. And going off of that, um, you recently re- released some research on endometriosis. Mm-hmm. Um, can you tell me a little bit about why you felt it was important to conduct this research?

Dr. Rani Aravamudhan: Sure. Um, endometriosis, for, uh, those who may not be aware, endometriosis is a women’s health condition where, um- The tissue that lines the innermost lining of our uterus, which is called the endometrium, that tissue actually grows outside of the uterus.

It can grow on the ovaries, it can grow in the fallopian tubes, on the cervix, even on the bladder or the rectum sometimes. So what that, what, what that does is really, um, give way to a, or create a lot of symptoms and, um, you know, conditions, uh, that can be pretty debilitating. By itself, endometriosis is not necessarily dangerous or life-threatening to a woman, but it can be, like I said, extremely debilitating with, um, really very, um, severe pain, uh, pelvic pain, back pain, abdominal pain, very heavy bleeding during menses, um, or even breakthrough bleeding sometimes, where it gets very hard for women to function.

It may be that they have to take time off of work, or they cannot really participate, um, in family activities or, uh, you know, similar things or, you know, have a social life sometimes. Um, sex can be very painful, um- And, uh, it is one of the main causes of, um, infertility among women. So, um, you know, given all of this, um, we also know that, um, the lead time to diagnosis of, uh, endometriosis is anywhere between four to 11 years.

And this is not a statistic that, uh, I’m quoting off of our data, Artemis data or something. This is national data that has been published by the, uh, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Medical Association. So four to 11 years, think about that. That’s a long time for someone to be going from, you know, “I am in severe pain all the time, and, uh, I have no idea what’s going on.”

And they go to their providers, they go to their doctors, and they’re being treated for one symptom or another. And it is really hard, um, for women to sometimes get the attention that they need. Because many times, and, uh, I’m pretty sure that all of us know somebody in our lives that has endometriosis, will tell you, people will tell you, women will tell you that they’ve been told, “Well, that’s just how their body is.

Some women just have heavier periods, and it is just something that you need to learn to live with.” Um, so this is, you know, something that is going on in our culture. And more importantly, um, recently there have been some, um, you know, uh, some, uh, news that has come through where the, um, American College of, um, Obstetrics and Gynecology and some of the European, um, you know, organizations are really talking about, uh, shortening that time to diagnosis so women can get the right care, um, quickly and easily.

Our, um, you know, our intent was to try and see what exactly does that mean from an employer or from a health plan standpoint. If there is this much lead time, what does that mean from a cost standpoint, from a, uh, productivity standpoint in the workforce and that type of thing? So because we do have access to a very large, um, you know, dataset from, you know, we call it our book of business dataset, um, which has the data from all of our customers.

We have over 3,000 employer customers. Um, we felt that it might be a good exercise to see, are we seeing that in our data? Are we seeing this lead time to diagnosis, and what exactly is that costing an employer or a health plan? How is that truly affecting the lives of the women that are, you know, um- that, that do, are, that are afflicted with this condition.

Marissa Plescia: Yeah. Yeah, that’s really great. And going off of that, um, you recently re- released some research on endometriosis. Mm-hmm. Um, can you tell me a little bit about why you felt it was important to conduct this research?

Dr. Rani Aravamudhan: Sure. Um, endometriosis, for, uh, those who may not be aware, endometriosis is a women’s health condition where, um- The tissue that lines the innermost lining of our uterus, which is called the endometrium, that tissue actually grows outside of the uterus.

It can grow on the ovaries, it can grow in the fallopian tubes, on the cervix, even on the bladder or the rectum sometimes. So what that, what, what that does is really, um, give way to a, or create a lot of symptoms and, um, you know, conditions, uh, that can be pretty debilitating. By itself, endometriosis is not necessarily dangerous or life-threatening to a woman, but it can be, like I said, extremely debilitating with, um, really very, um, severe pain, uh, pelvic pain, back pain, abdominal pain, very heavy bleeding during menses, um, or even breakthrough bleeding sometimes, where it gets very hard for women to function.

It may be that they have to take time off of work, or they cannot really participate, um, in family activities or, uh, you know, similar things or, you know, have a social life sometimes. Um, sex can be very painful, um- And, uh, it is one of the main causes of, um, infertility among women. So, um, you know, given all of this, um, we also know that, um, the lead time to diagnosis of, uh, endometriosis is anywhere between four to 11 years.

And this is not a statistic that, uh, I’m quoting off of our data, Artemis data or something. This is national data that has been published by the, uh, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Medical Association. So four to 11 years, think about that. That’s a long time for someone to be going from, you know, “I am in severe pain all the time, and, uh, I have no idea what’s going on.”

And they go to their providers, they go to their doctors, and they’re being treated for one symptom or another. And it is really hard, um, for women to sometimes get the attention that they need. Because many times, and, uh, I’m pretty sure that all of us know somebody in our lives that has endometriosis, will tell you, people will tell you, women will tell you that they’ve been told, “Well, that’s just how their body is.

Some women just have heavier periods, and it is just something that you need to learn to live with.” Um, so this is, you know, something that is going on in our culture. And more importantly, um, recently there have been some, um, you know, uh, some, uh, news that has come through where the, um, American College of, um, Obstetrics and Gynecology and some of the European, um, you know, organizations are really talking about, uh, shortening that time to diagnosis so women can get the right care, um, quickly and easily.

Our, um, you know, our intent was to try and see what exactly does that mean from an employer or from a health plan standpoint. If there is this much lead time, what does that mean from a cost standpoint, from a, uh, productivity standpoint in the workforce and that type of thing? So because we do have access to a very large, um, you know, dataset from, you know, we call it our book of business dataset, um, which has the data from all of our customers.

We have over 3,000 employer customers. Um, we felt that it might be a good exercise to see, are we seeing that in our data? Are we seeing this lead time to diagnosis, and what exactly is that costing an employer or a health plan? How is that truly affecting the lives of the women that are, you know, um- that, that do, are, that are afflicted with this condition.

Marissa Plescia: Yeah. Yeah, that’s really great. And going off of that, um, you recently re- released some research on endometriosis. Mm-hmm. Um, can you tell me a little bit about why you felt it was important to conduct this research?

Dr. Rani Aravamudhan: Sure. Um, endometriosis, for, uh, those who may not be aware, endometriosis is a women’s health condition where, um- The tissue that lines the innermost lining of our uterus, which is called the endometrium, that tissue actually grows outside of the uterus.

It can grow on the ovaries, it can grow in the fallopian tubes, on the cervix, even on the bladder or the rectum sometimes. So what that, what, what that does is really, um, give way to a, or create a lot of symptoms and, um, you know, conditions, uh, that can be pretty debilitating. By itself, endometriosis is not necessarily dangerous or life-threatening to a woman, but it can be, like I said, extremely debilitating with, um, really very, um, severe pain, uh, pelvic pain, back pain, abdominal pain, very heavy bleeding during menses, um, or even breakthrough bleeding sometimes, where it gets very hard for women to function.

It may be that they have to take time off of work, or they cannot really participate, um, in family activities or, uh, you know, similar things or, you know, have a social life sometimes. Um, sex can be very painful, um- And, uh, it is one of the main causes of, um, infertility among women. So, um, you know, given all of this, um, we also know that, um, the lead time to diagnosis of, uh, endometriosis is anywhere between four to 11 years.

And this is not a statistic that, uh, I’m quoting off of our data, Artemis data or something. This is national data that has been published by the, uh, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the

Source link