About one in every four male deaths is related to heart disease, making it the leading cause of death for men in the U.S. One company is looking to alleviate the situation.
San Francisco-based Hims & Hers, a health and wellness platform, recently announced that it is expanding into cardiovascular health through its new solution called Heart Health by Hims. The direct-to-consumer telehealth company serves both men and women and offers support for sexual health, hair, mental health and skin, among other areas.
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Heart Health by Hims is currently only available for men. When patients start with Hims, they’ll complete an evaluation that asks about symptoms, family history, and risk factors like smoking and others. Hims then applies risk-assessment protocols used by the American College of Cardiology in its risk calculator (the company has a partnership with the American College of Cardiology) and a Hims provider will review the information to determine the best form of treatment for that patient.
“The provider then sees, ‘Okay, this is an individual who’s struggling with erectile dysfunction and has X, Y and Z cardiovascular risk factors, which puts them in a risk bucket.’ Then based on that risk bucket, here are the clinical guidelines that the medical directors within our company and through their partnerships recommend are the best preventative care,” said Andrew Dudum, Hims & Hers co-founder and CEO, in an interview.
The company can personalize the patient’s needed treatment into a single pill (this is done through the Hims & Hers’ new “dual action” capabilities, which allows them to support both sexual health and heart health together). Since the patient may not have come to the company for heart problems specifically, a Hims provider will reach out to the patient and let them know that they noticed certain risk factors for cardiovascular disease and inform them that treatment could be added to their medication. If the patient agrees to this, then the medication is processed and shipped to the patient’s home.
“The patient gets communication that they have a treatment that can be optimized to treat the core issue they’re coming in for — which is erectile dysfunction — but also that they have indications of these other risks and cardiovascular disease, and the treatments can allow for heart support benefits if they would like,” Dudum said.
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Through the partnership with the American College of Cardiology, patients also have access to the organization’s CardioSmart.org, which offers cardiovascular health resources and education materials. In addition, a provider may request that a patient get extra testing done through Labcorp, with which Hims & Hers has a partnership as well. Then, lab results are integrated into Hims & Hers’ electronic medical record.
Heart Health by Hims costs consumers between $30 to $45 a month, according to Dudum. This includes the personalized treatment and medication, shipping, the ability to have follow-up appointments with their provider and other support services.
Other direct-to-consumer telehealth companies include Ro and Amazon Clinic. However, neither of these companies appear to have cardiovascular health support.
Ultimately, with Heart Health by Hims, Hims & Hers aims to have a meaningful impact on the number of men who die by heart disease each year.
“It’s the number one killer of men in the country overwhelmingly, and has been for a very, very long time,” Dudum said. “Really, no matter what anyone has done in the last couple of decades, it’s not changing. When you talk to men in their 30s, 40s, 50s plus, most of them don’t get tested. They don’t know that they’re struggling. … In part it’s because it’s largely asymptomatic: You wake up in the morning, you look in the mirror and you might notice you’re aging or might notice you look sleepy, but you don’t notice that you’re about to have a heart attack.”
Photo: eakrin rasadonyindee, Getty Images
