Women's Health in the United States

Women comprise 50.8% of our population and have specialized biological and psychosocial attributes that necessitate specialized care.

Given their major proportion in our demographics, it's clear to see that unmet healthcare needs of women will affect our nation as a whole. 

Access to care, seeking care, and outcomes are a byproduct of economic inequality, and more specifically, poverty. Seeking adequate care is a challenge for low-income women due to the high cost of care.

  “Women are disproportionately impacted by the high cost of care, as they tend to have lower incomes than men, use more medical services, spend more annually on care, and are more likely to face challenges affording and accessing care primarily due to their reproductive healthcare needs, longer life expectancies, and increased risk for multiple chronic diseases.”   

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4761820/ 

Women’s health care in the United States currently contains both inequities and disparities in resource allocation and access. 

Powered by Esri

The lack of access to ob/gyn services cited above includes hospitals. What about standalone clinics, whether non-profit or private? Excluding hospitals, as this care desert analysis does, 65% of US counties have zero women's health clinics

Let's make this a little easier to see. Use the buttons below to highlight the number of health clinics across the country.

And, not all women's health clinics are created equal. Across the United States locations called 'Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPC)' purport to offer women the care they need. According to the AMA CPC do not offer what may be called comprehensive care.

Crisis pregnancy centers are organizations that seek to intercept women with unintended pregnancies who might be considering abortion. Their mission is to prevent abortions by persuading women that adoption or parenting is a better option. They strive to give the impression that they are clinical centers, offering legitimate medical services and advice, yet they are exempt from regulatory, licensure, and credentialing oversight that apply to health care facilities. Because the religious ideology of these centers’ owners and employees takes priority over the health and well-being of the women seeking care at these centers, women do not receive comprehensive, accurate, evidence-based clinical information about all available options. Although crisis pregnancy centers enjoy First Amendment rights protections, their propagation of misinformation should be regarded as an ethical violation that undermines women’s health.

And access to comprehensive health care is vital to the well being to women across the country. You may believe that the clinic nearest you will give you unbiased and accurate information. You may believe that the clinic nearest you will offer you medical services and be staffed by medical practitioners. At least 25% of the clinics nationwide in the first map are crisis pregnancy centers.

Considering only clinics that offer comprehensive care 76% of U.S. counties have none

The slider map below allows you to see how the number of clinics within a state changes when you remove CPC from the picture.

0 Women's Health Centers

27,351,670 women live in counties with no health clinics, including CPC. When you remove the CPC and want to know how many women do not have comprehensive health care the number rises to 36,394,896.

8,917,601 women live in counties with only CPC on hand. 22% of women in the United States have no comprehensive health care in their county.

Left with CPC included | Right without CPC

Over 60% of the women's health centers in Mississippi are crisis pregnancy centers

The case being heard by the Supreme Court, Dobbs v Jackson, that may decide whether, or not, Roe v Wade is overturned concerns the sole abortion provider in Mississippi, Jackson Women's Health Organization. With Roe overturned the owner has made it clear that she will  move her clinic to New Mexico . If that happens Mississippi's 10 comprehensive clinics will number 9. Many clinics in other states are making similar plans.

Fifteen percent of women report having a disability or chronic disease that keeps them from participating fully in work, school, housework, or other activities. Women with Medicaid (29%), low-income women (24%), and older women (21%) are more likely than their counterparts to report having a disability or chronic disease. 

To view an overlay of the poverty rate (%) in three states' counties use the buttons below.

Which brings us to the states.

Women's health care consists of far more than reproductive rights but access to complete, informative, and unbiased care must take into account the role reproductive rights are controlled by federal and state governments.

The Guttmacher Institute classifies a state's hostility to reproductive rights as:

And with Roe overturned...

Effects of These Disparities and the Future

“Fifteen percent of women report having a disability or chronic disease that keeps them from participating fully in work, school, housework, or other activities. Women with Medicaid (29%), low-income women (24%), and older women (21%) are more likely than their counterparts to report having a disability or chronic disease.” 

What HSR.health Provides

HSR.health is an innovation-first healthcare technology firm and the leading provider of health-focused geospatial data analytics. Our AI-enabled, geospatial platform curates data globally and provides actionable health risk data analytics to healthcare industry professionals, NGO’s, and government entities.

Capabilities

• Leverage machine learning, artificial intelligence, and other advanced algorithms to gain insights into their relationship between social determinants of health (SDOH) and global outcomes, health equity, disease transmission, and the economic risk from health emergencies.

• Provide curated visualizations of geospatial data analytics and innovative risk indices through our GeoHealth Platform to provide decision-makers with actionable risk insights.

• Global data mining from disparate sources within and outside the healthcare sector.

• Tailored datasets optimized for organizations' unique needs.

Contact

impact@hsr.health

Ajay K. Gupta

Founder & CEO, CISSP, MBA

Dr. Ram Peruvemba

Chief Medical Officer

Madeline Lynch

madeline@hsr.health

703-424-3655