SheSolves
Why SheSolves?
SheSolves aims to increase the participation of women in healthcare innovation across Mass General Brigham. Why? Because ~80% of healthcare is delivered formally and informally by women, and yet few women are part of the design and delivery of healthcare innovations.
By the Numbers—
80%
- Women comprise ~80% of the healthcare workforce in the US
- Majority of women (77%-94%) are the healthcare decision-makers for themselves and other family members
12%
- In the US, just 12.8% of patents have a woman as a primary inventor
- Only 21% of all US patents have at least one woman inventor
2%
- 2.4% of all venture capital investments went to women-led start-ups in 2021
- 85% of VC funding went to all-male teams in 2019
Increasing women’s participation and leadership in healthcare innovation is essential: data shows women are more likely to address healthcare challenges faced by girls and women. Therefore, more women innovating means more solutions that address disparities in women’s health. Currently, women receive medical care that is not tailored to their bodies or experiences. As a result, women:
- have two times the failure rate of hip implants
- are twice as likely to have severe adverse drug events
- are 50% more likely to be misdiagnosed when experiencing a heart attack and are more likely to die from heart attacks
We believe the healthcare system would be better for everyone if there were more women innovators, and particularly better for addressing challenges women uniquely face.
True to our design-thinking methodology, we launched SheSolves with a survey to ask folks about their experiences in healthcare innovation. The insights shared with us were tremendous (N=426). Below are three major recommendations from our data:
Support the individual innovator and her idea as she traverses the product development process
Address infrastructure and systemic challenges that consistently prohibit women from participating in healthcare innovation
Build a community of peers and leadership that encourages women and advocates for their participation in healthcare innovation
Across all three themes, survey responses called for programming to center women, from funding opportunities to spaces to mentors and networks.
We’re designing programs tailored to meet these needs, starting with the SheSolves Awards.
SheSolves Awards
The SheSolves Awards is a request for proposal open to any Mass General Brigham employee who identifies as a woman and has an idea to make healthcare more user-friendly. The SheSolves Awards aims to support the innovator (and/or team) and move her idea forward through funding up to $25,000 and product development support.
Contact Us
Interested in learning more about SheSolves? Let’s chat.
Sandra: sjbutler@mgb.org
