July 15, 2026 |
The phrase “patient-centered care” is tossed around freely in healthcare corporate boardrooms. Yet, for more than half the population, that promise routinely fractures. In the latest episode of the Hear From Her podcast, host Sara Thorpe explored this systematic breakdown with two industry executives: Leah Blackwell, Regional Chief Nursing Officer at UF Health Shands Greater Gainesville, and Kelli Newman, President of Newman and Newman Inc. Their diagnostic conclusion is clear: healthcare systems are failing women because they are designed around episodic care and male physiological baselines, rather than a woman’s holistic health trajectory.

Listen to the full episode here.
Beyond “Bikini Medicine”
Kelli Newman highlights a restrictive phenomenon coined by cardiologists as “bikini medicine”, clinical models that limit the scope of women’s health strictly to breast and reproductive health. This narrow approach leaves massive gaps in treating the leading causes of death in women, such as heart disease and lung cancer.
“Statistics show that only 44% of American women know heart disease is their leading cause of death,” Newman points out. This clinical blind spot is exacerbated when women present with complex, subjective, or atypical symptoms, such as jaw pain during a myocardial infarction and find themselves dismissed or misdirected to a dentist instead of an emergency room.
Listen to the full episode here.
To combat this, Blackwell outlines three essential clinical shifts:
When clinicians push back claiming these practices take too much time, Blackwell offers a tangible, 90-second strategy: standardize the first and last three minutes of every visit. By intentionally asking patients what matters most, what worries them, and establishing a clear plan, providers pivot from a transactional interaction to a deeply relational one.
Listen to the full episode here.
The Macroeconomic Ripple Effect
Designing systems around women is far from a niche social initiative; it is an aggressive driver of market share and system viability. Women drive the clear majority of healthcare utilization and household medical choices. When a healthcare organization builds legitimate, lifespan-integrated trust with a female patient, it secures a powerful competitive advantage. That loyalty directly optimizes downstream market share across completely different medical departments throughout the entire network. To truly innovate, healthcare organizations must move past aesthetic fixes like pink walls and actively operationalize respect.
This content was provided by Medscape Education
Company Details
Latest Content from Medscape Education
Get ready for an exciting experience at AASLD 2024! The Medscape team is thrilled to be in San Diego from November 15-19 for this year’s AASLD conference, where we will…
Every year, the medical community recognizes the month of November as Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) Awareness month. C. diff is a public health threat that causes around 500,000 infections every…
With a commitment to advancing the field of continuing medical education, the Medscape team will be travelling to Madrid for the 17th Annual European CME Forum and bringing with them…
LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Women’s Brain Foundation (WBF), the global pioneer that has advanced the inclusion of sex- and gender-based evidence-generation in all research, drug development, and healthcare since 2017; and Medscape…
IDWeek starts tomorrow, October 16, and Medscape is bringing outcomes and education! We are excited to announce Medscape is presenting six posters that highlight the significant impact of our educational…
Medscape Education showcases its strong track record in providing high-quality education in the field of pulmonology at the annual conference of the American College of Chest Physicians in Boston, Massachusetts,…
With World Heart Day just having passed (29th September), Medscape wants to take the opportunity to look back and recap what was accomplished at ESC 2024. At this year’s event,…
Women have played a crucial role in rare disease awareness and better care, overcoming gender biases and systemic challenges to drive progress in this often-overlooked field.
Yesterday marked World Heart Day, and Medscape is at the forefront with a featured article in Media Planet’s cardiology campaign highlighting gaps in obesity care and education. This important piece…
We’re celebrating Healthcare Simulation Week 2024 by highlighting the transformative power of our multi-award-winning medical simulation programs, which have proven impact in delivering significant improvements in clinical skills and outcomes….
