WellTheory's CEO shares how a chronic disease diagnosis changed her approach to healthcare

At 25, Ellen Rudolph's biggest concerns weren't navigating a busy social life and making it to work on time; it was her mysteriously deteriorating health that left her suddenly bedridden, with no clear answers as to why. 

"I was supposed to be thriving, living my best life and climbing the career ladder," Rudolph says. "Instead, it felt like I was being struck down. It was terrifying. I thought I was acutely ill and dying." 

Rudolph suffered through a whole host of strange and seemingly unexplainable neurological and cardiac symptoms, ranging from debilitating fatigue to brain fog. Rudolph missed deadlines, blew through her vacation and sick time and spent approximately $10,000 searching for specialists who could help her get a handle on her spiraling condition. Instead, doctors dismissed her concerns and referred her to therapists, blaming her lifestyle on the way she felt. 

"I got to the point in my own journey where I started to question myself, too," she recalls. "I told myself that maybe it really had been a stressful couple of months. Still, I felt really lost and like I didn't have anyone to lean on, which made it incredibly challenging to keep searching for a provider that would say 'I believe you.'"

Read more: Why employers can't afford to stick with a traditional healthcare model

It took nearly two years for Rudolph to be diagnosed with Lyme disease, an autoimmune disorder. Now 30, Rudolph has found ways to manage her symptoms and work toward recovery. It also drove her to start WellTheory, a virtual healthcare platform that helps employees with autoimmune disorders navigate the healthcare system. 

"It wasn't until I really got to the root cause of my symptoms and changed my diet and lifestyle that I was able to reclaim my health," she says. "Afterwards, I learned the unfortunate reality that my story is actually not unique at all." 

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Medical gaslighting

Women make up approximately 80% of the 50 million patients diagnosed annually with an autoimmune disorder, according to the National Institutes of Health. However, among women 18 to 64 who have visited a healthcare provider in the last two years, 29% reported that their doctor dismissed their health concerns in that time period, according to KFF. Fifteen percent also said that a provider did not believe they were telling the truth, while 19% said their doctor assumed something about them without asking and 13% said that a provider suggested they were personally to blame for a health problem. 

As a result, women spend 25% more of their lives suffering through debilitating health conditions than men, according to a report from the World Economic Forum and the McKinsey Health Institute, and it's costing employers. Among other autoimmune disorders, for example, rheumatoid arthritis costs self-funded employers $34K per employee annually, according to data from the American College of Rheumatology. Conditions like lupus are forcing 15% of patients to leave the workforce within five years of the appearance of symptoms, according to the National Library of Medicine. 

Read more: How much longer can employers endure rising healthcare costs?

These concerning statistics were at the forefront of Rudolph's mind — and mission — when she created WellTheory. 

"This is part of why [women] have historically been underserved," she says. "Autoimmune diseases are disproportionately impacting women and people of color and leading to more medical gaslighting in the healthcare system." 

The time between the first doctor's visit and diagnosis for the average patient is approximately six months, according to the National Library of Medicine. For autoimmune patients, the wait time nearly quadruples to 4.5 years, with patients seeing an average of four doctors, according to the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association. 

WellTheory wants to minimize the time spent visiting multiple specialists and get patients to the right care more efficiently. Patients sign up for an hour-long intake session and fill out an assessment that looks at every aspect of a patient's life over the course of several years to find potential underlying causes. For example, in Rudolph's case, mold in her apartment is what triggered the autoimmune response that led to her Lyme diagnosis.  

"A lot of the process is also acknowledging someone's lived experience," Rudolph says. "We have patients that maybe have been diagnosed for over 10 years, but they still haven't been able to find treatments or solutions that work. What we're trying to do is create a more compassionate type of care."

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WellTheory can't diagnose or treat employees directly; instead they focus their efforts on supporting employees in between doctor's visits, in an attempt to streamline the process to treatment and diagnosis. Their panel of providers can also refer undiagnosed employees to specialists if they're getting overlooked by their doctors based on their intake form and their symptoms. 

More inclusive care

But companies like WellTheory can't do it alone — employers play an essential role in ensuring their workers have the resources they need to care for their health. One way is to partner with third-party platforms that offer more comprehensive care options. Another is to do annual reviews of the providers already in their network to ensure that the care provided by their partners is as inclusive as possible.

"Make sure your network has good coverage of different types of specialists because there are gaps in the current healthcare system," Rudolph says. "Really lean on supplementary programs that can plug those gaps and help all employees to incorporate positive habits around their health and lifestyle." 

Making sure that diagnoses are accessible to employees in need is a pivotal next step for healthcare offerings if organizations want to not only retain their talent, but cultivate a productive, engaged workplace culture. 

"Give your people time and space and account for the fact that there's a population that tends to have more doctor's appointments than others," she says. "Make talking about [the diagnosis journey] culturally acceptable because putting your health first is the most important thing, so demonstrate that through your actions."