Introducing a Nationally Accessible Women’s Pelvic Health Program From Hinge Health

When I was a few months’ postpartum with my first child, I asked my obstetrician for a referral to a pelvic-floor physical therapist. The only appointment I could get was in two months, midday, and would require me to commute 30 minutes each way. It was impractical in those overstretched, newborn, working-mom days. I never followed up to get the care I needed.

I’m not alone. Millions of moms across America struggle with a care gap that affects their postpartum recovery. In fact, one in four women has a pelvic-floor disorder, and three in four women have musculoskeletal (MSK) pain during pregnancy and postpartum. And yet, they remain highly underserved, with fewer than 7% of physical therapists licensed in pelvic health. In stark contrast, in France, all postpartum women receive at least 10 pelvic-floor physical therapy visits to aid in their recovery. The market solutions that exist to treat conditions like pelvic pain, urinary and bowel incontinence, and diastasis (abdominal separation) are few and unscaled. Women (including everyone with vaginal anatomy), should not have to suffer in silence.

Today, we’re excited to announce the expansion of our Digital Musculoskeletal Clinic™ to include a nationally accessible Women’s Pelvic Health Program. Now we have a solution that millions of women around the country can access to meet their pelvic health needs—right from the comfort and privacy of their homes. The program draws on the best practices and clinically validated care models that we’ve developed over the years.

The Hinge Health Women’s Pelvic Health Program includes the following:

Care for the unique MSK needs of women: This includes prolapse, abdominal separation (diastasis recti), bladder and bowel problems, and chronic pelvic pain. The pathway supports women at all stages of life, including when pelvic disorders are most common: pregnancy, the postpartum period, and menopause.

A comprehensive care team: Same-day video visits with highly trained pelvic-floor physical therapists who customize digital exercise programs, women's health coaches to spur lifestyle modifications, and urogynecologists to support care escalations.

A single platform for all MSK care: All care is accessible within a member’s existing Hinge Health platform. Pelvic-floor disorders frequently co-occur with other MSK pain, such as hip and back pain, necessitating coordinated care. A single platform enables comprehensive whole-body treatment and unprecedented flexibility.

Proactive education and engagement: Pelvic-health education is integrated across all Digital Clinic offerings to increase awareness and tackle stigma, ensuring that members get needed care earlier. In addition, Hinge Health care teams proactively identify high-risk members who would benefit from a pelvic-health assessment via HingeConnect’s integration with nearly one million in-person providers.

Members with access to Hinge Health through their employer pay nothing out of pocket for these services, as with any other MSK condition.

Hinge Health pioneered the Digital Musculoskeletal Clinic. This launch represents the passion and effort of an all-female team to build a program for women to ensure that their health needs are no longer systematically misunderstood and trivialized. By offering Hinge Health as an employee benefit, employers are taking advantage of a unique opportunity to provide equitable and accessible health insurance coverage, putting women's health on a par with all health.