ARC Fertility, recognized for its pioneering fertility solutions, has enhanced its credibility through validation by the Validation Institute. This endorsement substantiates the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of their services, reinforcing trust among patients and employers. The validation process has been instrumental in demonstrating the substantial healthcare outcomes ARC Fertility delivers.
Key Takeaways from ARC Fertility’s Success
- Increased Awareness and Equity: ARC Fertility has played a crucial role in raising awareness about the importance of fertility benefits in the workplace. Their efforts have helped promote gender equity and inclusivity, particularly in providing support for diverse family formations.
- Impact of Validation Institute: Validation by the Validation Institute has provided ARC Fertility with an authoritative endorsement of their healthcare outcomes. This validation reassures employers and patients of the quality and effectiveness of their fertility programs.
- Benefits for Employers: Employers who partner with ARC Fertility see significant benefits including improved employee satisfaction and productivity. These programs address crucial DEI goals and contribute positively to the overall workplace environment by supporting family forming needs.
- Comprehensive Fertility Care: ARC Fertility offers a holistic approach to fertility care that addresses physical, emotional, and financial aspects. Their validated services ensure that treatments are not only effective but also accessible to a broader range of individuals, thereby enhancing social equity in healthcare.
Introduction to the Discussion
Validation Institute:
Good afternoon everyone. Today I’m joined by Dr. David Adamson, Executive Chairman and CEO of ARC Fertility. Hi David, how are you today?
Dr. David Adamson:
Great, thanks. Really nice to see you again.
Validation Institute:
It’s great to see you again. David, I’m just going to jump right into the questions because the work you do is so vital to helping women and really all folks achieve their goals of having a family. So can I ask, why are we hearing so much more about fertility and family forming benefits now?
Increasing Awareness of Fertility Issues
Dr. David Adamson:
That’s a great question. There are really many reasons that have occurred to infertility’s been around for decades, but in the past few years, there’s been a lot more discussion about it, especially by employers who are becoming aware of infertility.
The reasons for this really started a lot with the gender equity movement, which occurred several years ago when it became obvious that women were not really getting equitable treatment in the workplace.
And when that came about, one of the issues was around fertility and infertility care and freezing eggs. Some larger companies started providing benefits for fertility to help those people and to make things more equitable in the workplace.
But in addition to that, as we all know, there’s been a lot of major social upheavals in the last few years. A lot of issues around social justice have become much more evident.
We had a Supreme Court ruling stating that LGBTQ+ people could not be discriminated against in the workplace. We then had a pandemic which made people really rethink family and work balance and a lot of issues after the pandemic about talent retention and recruitment and changed work environments, as well as getting new generations with very different expectations about family and about how that fits into their work.
So all of these different social trends and forces together have really caused a markedly increased awareness about infertility, fertility care, and family forming.
Employer Challenges and Solutions
Chief Executive Officer of Validation Institute:
Well in keeping with the employers, and it’s great to hear more and more of them are offering these benefits, what are the major barriers for employers in implementing family forming benefits, and what can be done to overcome these barriers?
Dr. David Adamson:
Well, the biggest issue has really been lack of awareness. Most people are not aware that historically one out of eight heterosexual couples have difficulty getting pregnant.
In fact, there was a recent World Health Organization study that said that it’s one out of five people over their lifetime will have difficulty getting pregnant.
So the lack of awareness of this issue has meant that people thought, ‘Well, it hasn’t happened to me, so it’s not really a problem.’ But in fact, it affects a lot of people.
In addition to that, as we just discussed, as we become more aware of some real social injustices, the recognition that single people and those in the LGBTQ+ community really often need help to form their families, and they have every right to form a family like everyone else.
So they often need medical help, fertility care in order to found their families. This is not something that most people have been really aware of, but of course, it’s really great that more people are aware of that now.
The other major barrier, besides lack of awareness, has been a perception that fertility benefits really cost a lot of money. And it’s certainly true that some aspects of high technology are not inexpensive.
However, a lot of fertility and fertility care can be provided through education, information, good healthy lifestyles, and also when family forming benefits come in, you get cost savings through reduction of multiples and through better medical care.
So in the end, it’s really been found that fertility benefits do not cost companies that much money, but these two perceptions—lack of awareness and thinking it’s going to cost a lot—have sort of held employers back. But there are answers for these now, and we’re really happy about that, of course.
The Importance of Validation for ARC Fertility
Validation Institute:
Okay David, so can you talk a little bit about the advantages and benefits to employers when they provide family forming benefits?
Dr. David Adamson:
Yes, family forming benefits provide a lot of benefits to the company. So first of all, it’s pretty obvious that if the benefits are brought in, they’re going to help the individuals who have infertility or those who need help with forming their families.
And we also have good data that people who have infertility really suffer in their ability to be productive at work because of the emotional stress that comes from this, in particular, anxiety and depression, and also financial stress around the cost.
So we also know that when the benefits are provided, productivity goes up, their engagement goes up, and they’re going to be more loyal employers.
So there’s really a benefit for the individual employee when the benefits come in and to that employer. But there’s a bigger story here as well because family forming benefits really need to be inclusive and help single people and also those in the LGBTQ+ community. There are many more people individually who’ll be helped in the company than they might be aware of.
And also, of course, having benefits that address DEI goals of the company are really going to help a lot with company culture and with their strategic objectives.
What’s often also not recognized is that infertility and family forming goals that aren’t met are really affected by social determinants of health, in particular, black women access care only about half as often as white women, not just through the financial barriers but also because of lack of access geographically to clinics and also because of concerns and different perceptions about the healthcare system.
And others, such as Hispanic women, also have difficulty accessing the healthcare system. So when family forming benefits are brought in, they help individuals, but they also significantly help the company culture.
And when this happens, of course, talent retention and recruitment goes up, and this helps the company’s bottom line. So in fact, there are many benefits for employers when they can bring in family forming benefits for everyone in the company.
Validation Institute:
And besides being a past health value award winner, we’re very excited at the Validation Institute that we were able to validate ARC Fertility. Can I ask why was it important to pursue validation?
Dr. David Adamson:
Well, we’ve been involved with helping direct-to-consumer patients for 25 years now, and we know how important outcomes are in healthcare.
We all know there’s a lot of inefficiency in our healthcare system today, and that the outcomes in many cases, despite a lot of money being spent, are not that great.
We really believe it’s important to be able to provide high-quality, cost-effective care with really good outcomes and to be able to document and prove that with evidence.
As we all know, we live in a society with a great deal of marketing, and there’s many claims made about healthcare and many other aspects of society which are very difficult to verify.
At ARC Fertility, we really believe in evidence-based care. We believe in putting the patient first and getting the best outcomes that we want to be able to demonstrate that to others who ask us about the program that we bring, and we looked around and saw that the Validation Institute is a highly respected and regarded national organization that provides real validation for healthcare and outcomes and for what companies are doing.
So we were very excited to be able to participate and send our data to the Validation Institute. It was a very extensive and detailed and rigorous process, and of course, we’re really delighted to be able to demonstrate with national publicly available data that comes from professional organizations and the government that we could provide superior care and cost savings to employers.
So we think it’s really important, the work that the Validation Institute does because the employers out there need to know that when they’re purchasing a product or service, they’re getting the quality that they really want and that they think that they’re getting.
Validation Institute:
Well, David, thank you very much for the great work you’re doing out there with employers and just everybody, and I really appreciate it, so thank you for being here with us today.
Dr. David Adamson:
Thanks very much.
Validation Institute:
And for everyone out there who wants to learn more about ARC Fertility, go to validationinstitute.com and read their validation report. Thank you, everyone. Have a good day.
