Many women’s underlying health conditions often go under- or undiagnosed. When present, common women’s gynecologic conditions, such as endometriosis, cause unnecessary suffering, limit women’s roles at home, and lead to economic and workplace challenges. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the power to help by addressing problems associated with managing these conditions for both employers and employees by focusing on unmet needs in disease management, including delayed diagnoses and screening, frequent misdiagnoses, unnecessary referrals and high health care costs.

In a recent International Foundation webcast, “Empowering Women’s Health Through AI,” Mark Amouzgar, CEO and co-founder of March Health, discussed ways AI can transform women’s health, the types of AI in employee wellness initiatives and emerging AI-powered tools for women’s health solutions.

Transforming Women’s Health

AI in women’s health leverages data analysis and machine learning to improve diagnoses, provide personalized treatments and enhance care management by analyzing biomarkers as well as imaging data and genetic and clinical variables. According to Amouzgar, this type of analysis helps detect conditions early, predict outcomes, and provide proactive and personalized women’s health solutions. Importantly, AI is not biased and does not dismiss symptoms the way current health care methods can.

AI in the Workplace

Amouzgar goes on to discuss four types of AI solutions to address wellness in the workplace: tailored wellness support, proactive health insights, instant support solutions and navigating ethical issues.

1. Tailored wellness support. AI analyzes data to create personalized recommendations for lifestyle, diet and mental health changes, whereas traditional wellness initiatives may use a more uniform approach. AI acts as a health agent to build new habits and improve an employee’s quality of life.
2. Proactive health insights. AI analyzes an employee’s medical history to predict health risks. It enables early detection of chronic diseases and supports timely interventions to improve well-being and productivity.
3. Instant support solutions. AI tools offer 24/7 assistance unlike periodic medical check-ups and telehealth. They can provide immediate support such as offering stress management techniques and suggestions for rearranging schedules to reduce stress, allowing employers to help employees better manage their well-being.
4. Navigating ethical issues. AI ensures robust data protection and transparency. Through thoughtful design, inequalities in AI systems can be avoided. Diversity can be promoted in the AI development process. AI can also regularly evaluate the fairness of wellness initiatives.

AI-Powered Tools

Amouzgar talks about emerging AI-powered technologies in women’s health that are available right now, including:

• Advanced diagnostics. Allows AI to assist in earlier detection of medical conditions, leading to better treatment options and patient outcomes.
• Innovative wearables. Tracks symptoms and provides actionable health data. Smart wearables can assist with providing insights into health conditions by monitoring vital signs like heart rate, blood pressure, sleep patterns and activity levels.
• Improved accessibility. Former telehealth platforms are being enhanced to provide access to specialized care and can be optimized as an AI platform that provides instant access for patients.

Final Thoughts

When employers think about women’s health conditions and their impacts on the workplace, Amouzgar reminds employers that AI can help bridge critical gaps in women’s health, address inclusivity and organizational success, and reduce health-related barriers and absenteeism. Employers using AI solutions must make sure they remain complaint with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)—that the data remains protected, anonymous and safe through privacy and encryption practices.

To learn more about Amouzgar’s call to action for employers to use AI to provide personalized support, early detection and increased engagement, view the entire webcast recording, “Empowering Women’s Health Through AI.” To learn more about AI’s potential impact in a variety of benefit plans, visit our AI/ChatGPT Toolkit.

Developed by International Foundation Information Center staff. This does not constitute legal advice. Please consult your plan professionals for legal advice.