Jannine Versi
Co-Founder + CEO, Elektra Health
Bio: Jannine Versi is the CEO and Co-Founder of Elektra Health. She has spent her career in healthcare, tech, and government, including roles at Google, in the Obama Administration, and White House. Prior to Elektra, she was on the founding team of Cityblock Health, a digital health unicorn that pioneered a value-based care model integrating the social determinants of health. She’s an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Business School, and was a Fulbright Scholar. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and twins.
Org Info: Elektra provides evidence-based education, medical care, and peer support for women navigating menopause and their midlife health into the Medicare years. Partnering with organizations like EmblemHealth, Mass General Brigham health plan, and UPMC—as well as participating in-network with nearly 20 health plans—Elektra is the first virtual menopause clinic to welcome Medicare and Medicaid patients, crucial for enhancing health outcomes, access, and equity. Its target population is the 50M women undergoing menopause who are also at risk for the associated chronic diseases that accelerate during this transition.
What motivated you to pursue your current work?
I’ve been inspired by solutions offering greater access in women’s health during the reproductive window, particularly in fertility and family building. At the same time, I’m astonished by how overlooked women are in their midlife years. As a society, we neglect women as they age out of childbearing, driven by ageism and sexism. Changing this reality for half the population, so women can age in good health and without unnecessary suffering, is why I pursue this work.
What distinct value does your work bring to the digital health field?
The Elektra model offers personalized care at scale. Its digital platform makes clinical care more efficient by enabling patient education and peer support between visits. This meets patients where they are and shifts the burden of intensive patient education upstream of the clinical visit. Given the limited time most providers can spend with patients, this digital engagement and education is crucial to extend and augment care delivery. Elektra promotes self-efficacy and informed decision-making. This drives effective symptom management and facilitates better preventative health outcomes during these crucial midlife years.
How does your work impact your target end-users or stakeholders?
The type of specialty care Elektra offers is rarely covered by insurance. Elektra’s model enables wider access for patients with employer-sponsored and more importantly, government-based insurance including Medicare and Medicaid. In an area of medicine where Black and brown women experience more intensive symptoms that start earlier and last longer, it’s a clear health equity imperative to offer all women access to evidence-based treatment options to manage symptoms and mitigate suffering.
What is one exciting update or near-term opportunity that you would like to share with the digital health community?
At the start of 2024, Elektra had zero in network contracts. 6 months later, we have over 16 and growing. This includes a number of managed New York managed Medicaid plans which represents a major development in health equity and expansion of access to care.
Bio: Jannine Versi is the CEO and Co-Founder of Elektra Health. She has spent her career in healthcare, tech, and government, including roles at Google, in the Obama Administration, and White House. Prior to Elektra, she was on the founding team of Cityblock Health, a digital health unicorn that pioneered a value-based care model integrating the social determinants of health. She’s an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Business School, and was a Fulbright Scholar. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and twins.
Org Info: Elektra provides evidence-based education, medical care, and peer support for women navigating menopause and their midlife health into the Medicare years. Partnering with organizations like EmblemHealth, Mass General Brigham health plan, and UPMC—as well as participating in-network with nearly 20 health plans—Elektra is the first virtual menopause clinic to welcome Medicare and Medicaid patients, crucial for enhancing health outcomes, access, and equity. Its target population is the 50M women undergoing menopause who are also at risk for the associated chronic diseases that accelerate during this transition.
What motivated you to pursue your current work?
I’ve been inspired by solutions offering greater access in women’s health during the reproductive window, particularly in fertility and family building. At the same time, I’m astonished by how overlooked women are in their midlife years. As a society, we neglect women as they age out of childbearing, driven by ageism and sexism. Changing this reality for half the population, so women can age in good health and without unnecessary suffering, is why I pursue this work.
What distinct value does your work bring to the digital health field?
The Elektra model offers personalized care at scale. Its digital platform makes clinical care more efficient by enabling patient education and peer support between visits. This meets patients where they are and shifts the burden of intensive patient education upstream of the clinical visit. Given the limited time most providers can spend with patients, this digital engagement and education is crucial to extend and augment care delivery. Elektra promotes self-efficacy and informed decision-making. This drives effective symptom management and facilitates better preventative health outcomes during these crucial midlife years.
How does your work impact your target end-users or stakeholders?
The type of specialty care Elektra offers is rarely covered by insurance. Elektra’s model enables wider access for patients with employer-sponsored and more importantly, government-based insurance including Medicare and Medicaid. In an area of medicine where Black and brown women experience more intensive symptoms that start earlier and last longer, it’s a clear health equity imperative to offer all women access to evidence-based treatment options to manage symptoms and mitigate suffering.
What is one exciting update or near-term opportunity that you would like to share with the digital health community?
At the start of 2024, Elektra had zero in network contracts. 6 months later, we have over 16 and growing. This includes a number of managed New York managed Medicaid plans which represents a major development in health equity and expansion of access to care.