Elektra Health

Ringing in 2025 with the addition of a new clinician, Kara Govoni, CNM, MSCP! ✨💜 Kara Govoni is a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) and Menopause Society-Certified Practitioner (MSCP) who is also currently working towards an AASECT certification as a Sexuality Counselor. She has worked as a full-scope CNM for the past 13 years in both obstetrics and gynecology but over the past five years has honed her speciality to sexual health and midlife care, as she feels an increasing passion to help women during some of the most vulnerable — but least-talked-about — times in their lives. She currently resides in Massachusetts with her four children. Fun fact: she’s also a professional organizer in her free time! Learn more & book a visit: https://lnkd.in/e44FMhxg

When we first launched in-network telemedicine care, the response was overwhelming (in the best way!) and we quickly booked up.    Over the past few months, we've been hard at work hiring new clinicians, including Laurel Edmundson, MD! Dr. Edmundson is a board-certified Family Physician who has been in practice for almost 20 years. She has broad experience, having worked in emergency and family medicine, college health, and urgent care settings. She also recently became a Certified Life Coach, helping women live their most authentic and fulfilling lives, and is training to become a mindfulness and meditation teacher. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Lafayette College and medical degree from SUNY Downstate. A lifelong New Yorker, Dr. Edmundson lives in Brooklyn with her two teenagers and two cats.    Book an appointment today and kick off 2025 feeling educated and empowered about menopause: https://lnkd.in/e44FMhxg

As 2024 comes to a close, we’re celebrating all the ways the menopause — and broader women’s health — conversation has evolved over the past 365 days. It’s been a busy year, and while there’s still more work to be done, BIG strides were made. A MASSIVE thank you to our patients, team members, clinicians, advisors, investors, and supporters who have championed Elektra over the past year. We’re grateful for the community of forward-thinking, taboo-smashing women (and men!!) around us. Here’s to continuing this important work in 2025, and closing the menopause care gap for women everywhere. 1️⃣ We kicked off the new year announcing new funding led by UPMC Enterprises with participation from Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health, Catalyst by Wellstar, Flare Capital Partners, and Seven Seven Six 7️⃣7️⃣6️⃣. 2️⃣ We were selected by prestigious organizations in healthcare innovation, including New York City Economic Development Corporation and Chloe Capital's Fellowship Program, AgeTech Collaborative™ from AARP accelerator, Rock Health Innovation Fellowship, and Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. 3️⃣ Our pioneering model of menopause care and support made news, with Elektra's Grace Veras Sealy featured in a piece on Forbes about the work she does as one of our doulas. 4️⃣ We MASSIVELY expanded our insurance coverage, going from 0 to 20+ in-network health plan contracts. We're proud to be the first virtual menopause provider to accept both commercial AND government-insured patients under EmblemHealth, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, Anthem, Molina, MVP Health Care, Healthfirst, Medicaid, Medicare, and more. 5️⃣ We announced strategic partnerships with UPMC, Grow Therapy, BlueSleep, Springbuk, and Beanstalk Benefits, among others. 6️⃣ Elektra's thought leadership was sought out by the academic and private sector for talks, roundtables, podcasts, and panels. Highlights included WHIS (Nada (Osman) Hanafi, Saranya Loehrer, MD, MPH, Roslyn Holliday Moore, Patricia Obermaier), HBS Women's Health Summit (Ricky Cordova, Christina Vosbikian, Lexi Henkel, Adrianne Nickerson, Laura Mackay), Decoding Health (Dennis Kamara), and Advancing Health Innovation Show (Michael Stamatinos). 7️⃣ We interacted with members of the local NYC community at farmers markets and EmblemHealth Neighborhood Care events. 8️⃣ We advocated for wider menopause care access during World Menopause Month with an open letter, op-ed in Ms. Magazine (shout-out to Jennifer Weiss-Wolf!), and Times Square Billboard (thank you, Brex!). 9️⃣ We cherished in-person time together as a team 💜 🔟 We championed and participated in efforts to accelerate groundbreaking advances in science and medicine, including attending The White House's first-ever Conference on Women's Health Research and being selected as a spoke of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Investor Catalyst Hub Network. https://lnkd.in/e-qqJxhU

On Wednesday, Elektra CEO and Co-Founder Jannine Versi had the honor of attending the The White House's first-ever Conference on Women’s Health Research, hosted by President Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. Policy leaders, renowned researchers, and women’s health champions gathered to discuss historical gender gaps in healthcare and the action needed to rightsize them. It wasn’t until 1993 that women were required to be included in U.S. clinical research, and the implications of this systemic failure are still felt today. In the words of speaker Dr. Lisa Mosconi, “we owe women centuries of research.” Despite the historical and existing context of inequity –– and in some states, tangible attacks on women’s reproductive freedom –– the tone of the evening was hopeful. In the past year, the White House has invested nearly 1 billion in women’s health research, and the industry is ripe with innovation. Digital health platforms are democratizing accessing to lifesaving care, and historically overlooked areas like menopause and midlife are receiving unprecendented attention. We’re excited to ride this momentum into 2025 and beyond, and hope you’ll join us. 💜✨

🗽BIG NEWS, NEW YORK!🗽Telemedicine care with Elektra is now covered by UnitedHealthcare, Cigna Healthcare, and Healthfirst. These health plans join Aetna, a CVS Health Company, EmblemHealth, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Molina Healthcare, MVP Health Care, Wellcare Medicare, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and more in expanding access to covered menopause care with Elektra for New Yorkers. Book your visit today: https://lnkd.in/e44FMhxg Here’s a quick refresher on what’s included: ✔️ 30-min telemedicine visit with a board-certified, menopause-trained clinician  ✔️ Labs/prescriptions as needed (hormonal AND non-hormonal options, plus evidence-backed supplements) ✔️ Follow-up messaging & visits with a care team comprised of your clinician and Elektra Guide (aka "menopause doula") ✔️ Access to our education & community platform for evidence-based readings, member-only virtual events & more

We are thrilled to announce that Elektra Health has been selected as a spoke of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Investor Catalyst Hub network! 🎉 We are excited to be a part of this nationwide network dedicated to accelerating groundbreaking advances in science and medicine—all in pursuit of better health outcomes for everyone. #ARPAH #ARPANETH #MedTech #HealthTech #InvestorCatalystHub #HealthInnovation

We're thrilled to introduce two new clinicians to the Elektra team: Yvette Sims and Dawn Black. Both are board-certified Nurse Practitioners with decades of experience caring for midlife women. With these additions, we now have more appointment availability (as soon as December!!) which is ideal for those looking to use up their FSA funds before they expire at the end of the year (IYKYK). You'll notice both Yvette and Dawn have "MSCP" after their name, which stands for The Menopause Society-Certified Practitioner. Seeing an MSCP is one of the best ways to guarantee that your clinician specializes in menopause and is up to date on the latest science & treatments. Book an appointment: https://lnkd.in/ezfX4uXG ✨ Yvette Sims is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner who's been in practice for over 20 years. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Binghamton University and Master of Science from Pace University. In her free time, Yvette enjoys practicing yoga and spending time with her two sons.    ✨ Dawn Black is a board-certified Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner with over 30 years of experience in caring for women in the United States Air Force. She earned her Bachelor and Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Florida. When not working, you can find Dawn spending time with family (her spouse, two children, and three Pomeranians!), traveling, reading, or exercising. 

Such a great video from Mass General Brigham Health Plan showcasing their comprehensive women's health portfolio — Elektra is in great company alongside Poppy Seed Health (pregnancy, postpartum, and loss) and Sword Health (pelvic floor support). We're constantly impressed by health plans like MGBHP who are dedicated to deepening their support for underrepresented areas of women's health. Here's to more of THIS in 2025. 🚀💜 https://lnkd.in/ep4xBcEX

Menopause doulas have been a foundational part of Elektra from day 1, and we LOVE seeing this critical work getting some much-deserved attention in The Times.

We couldn't be happier to announce our partnership with the UPMC Magee-Womens Midlife Health Center (MLHC) 💜 “Providers dedicated to midlife women’s health often find themselves overwhelmed with the task of researching, interpreting complex findings, and updating resources. With UPMC, Elektra is bringing the latest science-based resources directly to patients, making it easy and convenient for them to access the support they need through their existing portal.” — Jannine Versi, Elektra Co-Founder & CEO Read more: https://lnkd.in/eqHUMxQV