As we've done in years past, we're kicking off 2025 with a forecast of women’s health trends, highlighting opportunities for healthcare providers to create programs tailored to the changing landscape.
Many of the trends we identified last year are still with us as we begin 2025.
- OB units continue to close, strong investment in new forms of care delivery persists and is growing, and quality outcomes remain a focus of both provider organizations and the government.
- Care teams remain a hot topic as organizations strive for care models that will allow them to keep their OB programs open and achieve their desired outcomes.
- Finally, the government’s impact on the future of women's health remains top of mind, both with the incoming Trump administration and each state working through its own unique approach to reproductive rights.
In addition to these continuing trends, here are four new drivers reshaping women's health in 2025.
1. Women's Health–Focused Primary Care
Traditionally, women have received much of their primary care from their OB/GYN, as the reasons for these patients to see an internal medicine (IM) or family medicine (FM) provider have not been made clear to them.
In recent years, however, the provision of primary care has been segmenting in interesting ways. There has been a proliferation of older adult clinics and concierge medicine/subscription clinics in addition to traditional primary care offerings—and we are now seeing these same alternative care models dedicated to women's health. Major academic and not-for-profit systems are highlighting their expanded women’s health primary care offerings, and niche market players are focusing on care for women over the age of 65 and women’s health–specific concierge practices. Figure 1 highlights four distinct practice models that are on the rise.
Figure 1: Emerging Women's Health Care Delivery Sites
What to Look for in 2025
As primary care providers, investors, and health systems alike look to build connections with the women in their communities, women's health–focused primary care offerings—which can take many forms to fit an array of population segments—should be a strong consideration. Expect to see an increasing number of providers focusing on women’s primary care and differentiating their offerings to attract new patients.
2. Retail Offerings
In addition to the emergence of new care delivery sites, we are seeing a greater interest in and emphasis on complementary or nontraditional healthcare services (e.g., medical weight management, nutrition, lactation, fitness, focused physical therapy offerings). Particularly as use of GLP-1 medications continues to grow, patients will be looking for a menu of services to help them achieve and maintain their health and lifestyle goals.
There are many reasons healthcare providers may want to pursue a diversified women's health portfolio, including capturing more of the health spend, creating seamless and coordinated care for services that complement traditional healthcare, and broadening the population of patients interacting with the system.
We also predict primary care and OB/GYN practices will offer a wider range of women’s health services, from medical spa treatments (e.g., aesthetics, laser) to holistic medicine (e.g., massage, acupuncture, Reiki), as illustrated in figure 2.
Figure 2: Ideal Care Environment
What to Look for in 2025
Expect to see a rise in retail women's health offerings. To be successful, retail offerings must be aligned with the mission, goals, and direction of an organization. Moreover, these services should be tailored to the unique needs of the community, which will enable the organization to expand its reach, attract or maintain a new patient population, and access a new revenue stream.
3. Aligned Specialty Care
A greater recognition of the unique needs of women as they relate to specialty care is driving an increased need for gender-specific specialty care offerings. Those who focus on women's health specialty areas such as cardiology, orthopedics, and neurology will be able to build focused Centers of Excellence.
In academic programs, organizations are offering more connection points with specialty offerings, such as cardiovascular health or pregnancy and heart disease clinics. In nonacademic settings, primary care practices with a women's health focus are increasingly emphasizing their connection to specialty providers who have a unique understanding of women’s health to show they are intentional about their referral and care partners.
We would be remiss not to mention the rapid rise in menopause programs, from clinically specific offerings within larger practices to menopause-only and direct-to-employer programs. Over the past decade, healthcare providers have increasingly acknowledged the major impact of perimenopause and menopause on the physical and mental well-being of women. These focused programs seek to identify root-cause concerns and alleviate symptoms to improve the quality of women's daily lives.
What to Look for in 2025
Systems and providers are looking to differentiate their specialty care offerings, and to do so, many are structuring specialty programs that cater to women patients. They can do this on their own or in partnership with private entities investing in this space. Expect organizations to implement strategies focused on highlighting their unique competencies related to women's health and garnering additional referral sources or self-referred patients.
4. Fertility Care
Finally, we have written previously about trends in fertility care, including the sharp rise in demand for services, and we expect to see continued growth and investments in this space in 2025. Individual states are mandating coverage for aspects of fertility care from both private insurance and Medicaid, and more large employers are beginning to offer these benefits. As a result, the provision of fertility care via a variety of fertility clinics—from private equity to private practice to health system owned—will continue to grow, especially as the average age of OB patients increases.
What to Look for in 2025
As fertility benefits expand, so too will fertility clinics. Increasing competition means that practices will need to differentiate themselves based on outcomes and patient experience. Expect to see new practices and practice models emerge in 2025 as the potential patient base expands. Existing practices will want to carefully evaluate their operations, their financial standing, and their patient experience to compete and grow.
Edited by Emily Johnson
Published January 31, 2025
