Women’s healthcare in the United States faces an undeniable crisis—fragmented access, gaps in menopause and sexual health care, long appointment wait times, and a persistent lack of physician leadership driving systemic change. Amidst these challenges, HerMD, led by founder Somi Javaid, MD, is offering an innovative blueprint for what accessible, high-quality, and evidence-based women’s healthcare can—and should—look like.
In this episode of the American Journal of Healthcare Strategy podcast, Dr. Javaid shares her deeply personal journey from nearly losing her mother to heart disease to building a multi-state women’s health enterprise that prioritizes empowerment, education, and advocacy. As health systems nationwide grapple with physician burnout and patient dissatisfaction, HerMD’s approach to insurance-based, full-spectrum gynecologic and sexual healthcare is breaking through the noise. In a space dominated by concierge models and financial barriers, Dr. Javaid’s commitment to inclusivity and measurable outcomes offers an urgent, replicable path forward.
What follows is a story of resilience, innovation, and mission-driven leadership—one that executive leaders and healthcare professionals can draw practical lessons from as they seek to revolutionize their own organizations.
Dr. Javaid’s decision to build HerMD was both personal and professional, sparked by a family health crisis and a decade of frontline experience.
When asked about her early motivations, Dr. Javaid is candid: “I nearly lost my mother when she was only 45 years old…her doctors kept telling her it’s too much caffeine, it’s your kids, and they kept blowing her off. She ended up getting rushed into emergent quadruple bypass surgery and nearly lost her life. It was at that moment that I decided to go into Women’s Healthcare.” This formative experience crystallized the disconnect between women’s symptoms and provider response—a gap she saw repeated over years of practice.
After completing her medical training and starting as an OBGYN, Dr. Javaid was immediately struck by the constraints of volume-driven care: “I’m seeing 50 patients a day. I don’t have time to eat, let alone go to the bathroom or to be an advocate to make change.” The result was a system where neither patients nor providers were empowered.
HerMD was born from three core principles she wrote on a piece of paper: Empower. Educate. Advocate. The idea: longer, insurance-based appointments, specialized care in gynecology, menopause, and sexual health, and a practice built to partner with women at every stage.
HerMD’s insurance-based model is a conscious rejection of exclusionary healthcare, sustained through creative revenue streams and operational innovation.
Dr. Javaid is direct about the financial headwinds: “I never said I got [insurance companies] to cooperate with me—it’s still one of our biggest barriers to growth, getting rates that we deserve, particularly given our outcomes.” Many practices confronted by similar pressures turn to concierge or membership models, limiting their reach to those able to pay out of pocket. HerMD took a different path.
Multiple Revenue Streams: To support 40-60 minute appointment times, HerMD integrates a full-service medical spa and surgical/imaging services into each clinic. “It helped me not go concierge, cash-based, or have to pay a membership for our patients.”
The spa focuses on evidence-based, FDA-cleared treatments for women with hormonal imbalances—not luxury add-ons.
Importantly, aesthetic and medical services are delivered by different providers, maintaining clinical integrity.
Inclusive Mission: “We wanted to be inclusive, we wanted to be approachable, we wanted to be accessible.” This has remained the north star, even as the economics of women’s healthcare remain challenging.
This insurance-based, multi-revenue approach allows HerMD to see up to 10,000 patients per clinic (vs. the typical 150 for concierge), scaling its impact without compromising mission or care quality.
HerMD’s specialized focus on menopause and sexual health filled a critical void—long ignored by mainstream gynecology and health systems.
When Dr. Javaid opened her first Cincinnati location, women began arriving from 35 states and three countries. Why? “Back when we started in 2015, we were actually called the Blue Ocean opportunity when we went to fundraise because no one was offering true menopause and sexual health care in an insurance-based system.” With less than 20% of gynecologists trained in menopause and sexual healthcare, HerMD met an unmet need—and patients responded with their feet.
Key differentiators include:
Longer Appointments: 40-60 minute visits allow for comprehensive evaluation and education.
Integrated Services: One-stop access to gynecology, menopause, sexual health, imaging, and evidence-based aesthetics.
Accessibility: Insurance-based care at every location.
Dr. Javaid explains the strategy clearly: “If you are truly trying to change health care beyond the room that you’re in, you have to make it accessible.”
HerMD invests heavily in both provider and patient education, using data-driven protocols and continuous outcome tracking.
Specialty care continuity is a top concern for health systems wary of disruptors. Dr. Javaid addresses this directly: “Less than 20%—now maybe 31%—of providers are trained in menopause and sexual healthcare. I developed something called HerMD University, which is all evidence-based, referenced, doubly peer reviewed, and published for HerMD providers.”
HerMD’s Clinical Quality Pillars:
Standardized Training: Internal programs ensure every provider follows peer-reviewed, evidence-based protocols.
Outcomes Tracking: Data is collected on chief complaints (e.g., vasomotor symptoms, incontinence), comparing HerMD outcomes to the status quo. “We are smashing the status quo.”
Care Algorithms: Operationalizing protocols means every patient receives up-to-date, scientifically validated care.
For patients, HerMD breaks down complex medical information into accessible, multi-modal educational tools—handouts, digital content, newsletters, and community events. This “teach both the patient and the provider” model ensures a higher standard of care and stronger patient partnerships.
A combination of lower patient volumes, team-based care, work-life balance, and growth opportunities results in industry-leading satisfaction—for both patients and clinicians.
Asked directly about staff well-being and attrition, Dr. Javaid is transparent: “Our patient reviews are 4.9 aggregate across the board. Culture is very important to us and a huge focus.”
Key factors driving satisfaction:
Lower Daily Patient Volume: Providers see 15-17 patients per day—vs. 30-50 in traditional practices.
Minimal On-Call Burden: “We have hired a third party to take call for our providers…can you imagine going from 50 patients a day, on call every third or fourth night, to having a job where you see 15 to 17 patients a day with zero call?”
No OB Work: By focusing only on gynecology and menopause, HerMD avoids the unpredictable, urgent demands of obstetrics.
Growth and Flexibility: Staff can move from front desk to national trainer roles; evening and weekend shifts are rotated for fairness.
Turnover isn’t zero—but it’s managed openly. “If any healthcare startup says that they don’t have any turnover, they would not be being honest with you.” The result: a magnet for “the best of the best” providers.
Education is at the heart of HerMD’s mission, equipping women to partner in their own care and closing long-standing gaps in sexual and reproductive health literacy.
Dr. Javaid explains: “Education, advocacy, and empowerment—those are our core pillars. I don’t believe that women can make true choices or be partners in their care without that education that’s been so lacking.”
HerMD uses a multi-modal strategy:
Community Events and Speaking Engagements: Dr. Javaid takes the stage frequently to reach new audiences.
Social Media and Live Streaming: Active presence on Instagram and Facebook.
Educational Newsletters: High click-through rates reflect demand for credible, actionable information.
Patient-Facing Handouts: Complex provider algorithms are translated into accessible educational materials, available digitally and in-office.
Upcoming Podcast Relaunch: More to come as HerMD scales nationally.
This approach reflects research: adults need to see information multiple times, in varied formats, to learn effectively. By combining digital and in-person outreach, HerMD drives measurable increases in preventive care uptake (e.g., Pap smears) and patient engagement.
Dr. Javaid believes slow, steady, regionally focused expansion—rooted in patient needs—beats rapid, venture-driven growth for sustainable impact.
“I bootstrapped my own locations for nearly seven years…opened my second location and broke even in six months.” Had the market been more saturated, she would have grown more slowly, “geographically a lot more constrained,” but never abandoned the mission. Her experience is clear: regionally focused, quality-driven expansion builds brand loyalty and maintains quality control.
For other physicians considering entrepreneurship, Dr. Javaid’s advice is unvarnished:
“When you do start a company you do give a part of yourself away…it’s very emotional and being an entrepreneur is the highest of highs and lowest of lows. Would I tell people to do it? Absolutely…one of the number one things that’s missing in healthcare is physician leadership.”
Physicians are uniquely equipped to design solutions that balance patient, provider, and system needs. HerMD’s blueprint—mission-first, operationally innovative, and data-driven—offers a compelling model for others.
HerMD plans to deepen its impact in existing states, leverage telehealth, and use market clustering for stronger negotiation and brand recognition.
Looking ahead, Dr. Javaid lays out a clear expansion plan:
Deeper Market Penetration: Focus on opening multiple locations within current states before expanding geographically.
Cluster Strategy: “It’s better for marketing, better for branding and brand recognition…better for insurance rates…easier for hiring and moving staff around.”
Telehealth Integration: Supporting clinics with telemedicine for broader reach.
Capital Infusion: Preparing for the next round to support scaling.
HerMD’s future is grounded in operational lessons learned, robust capital strategy, and the ongoing commitment to inclusivity: “Femtech companies…have raised less than 2% of all the capital out there and we were oversubscribed both of our rounds. I think that really speaks volumes to what we’re doing at HerMD.”
Philadelphia and other underserved U.S. markets may soon see HerMD’s model first-hand—a hopeful prospect for regions where access to high-quality gynecologic care remains a significant barrier.
HerMD and Dr. Somi Javaid stand as proof that it’s possible to scale accessible, insurance-based, high-quality women’s healthcare without sacrificing mission, outcomes, or staff well-being. The lesson for executive leaders: the intersection of operational innovation, provider empowerment, and relentless patient advocacy is where the future of healthcare will be built. As Dr. Javaid put it, “I love what I’ve done…when I get women in multiple states telling me we’ve literally changed their lives…it’s a big undertaking. But I would encourage people to take the leap. It’s a scary one—would I do it all over again? Yes.”
Actionable insight: For organizations facing physician burnout, patient access challenges, or slow innovation, the HerMD story is a model worth dissecting and adapting. Invest in your mission, build creative operational models, and let clinical leaders drive the next era of transformation in U.S. healthcare.
