Migraines are one of the most common presentations in emergency departments, nationwide.
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Migraines are one of the most prevalent conditions which impact women globally. Today, women’s telehealth provider Wisp announced that it will be addressing this through a new, dedicated care vertical for the company, entailing a variety of services ranging from online consults and prescribing therapies to on-going follow-up and longitudinal care for patients. The goal for the company is to make migraine care easy to access and affordable for individuals: migraine consults will cost $60 and quarterly check-ins will cost $30.
The care model is different from traditional telehealth providers; patients will start with an intake form and upload a video detailing their symptoms and interest in care. A licensed provider on Wisp’s side will then review it along with the patient’s medical history and symptoms, and then provide a recommended treatment plan and send any prescriptions directly to the patient’s pharmacy. The idea is that asynchronous care will provide patients the flexibility and speed to get the care that they need quickly; no need to try and solve for a mutually convenient appointment time.
Monica Cepak, CEO of Wisp, explains that most patients typically provide feedback that they prefer asynchronous care and more efficient means to get the care that they want. Cepak also explains that her goal in building Wisp is to be “the one stop shop for women across all life stages.” Migraines are among the most common problems across all age groups, and for Cepak, there are not enough providers paying attention to this space.
This is indeed well documented; per the Mayo Clinic, migraines impact one in five women, and are nearly three times more prevalent in women than men due to hormonal fluctuations. Furthermore, migraines can be quite debilitating, far beyond just a routine headache. They may cause a variety of very serious symptoms, including throbbing pain, severe sensitivity to light, sound, and smells; additionally, they often cause nausea and vomiting. Patients report that they often feel exhausted for a day after a migraine attack due to their serious effects.
There is a severe need for this care in the United States; studies have suggested that “Every 10 seconds, someone in the U.S. goes to the emergency room complaining of head pain, and approximately 1.2 million visits are for acute migraine attacks.” This is one of the most common presentations in emergency departments, and given how expensive ED visits can be, they are often incredibly costly to the overall healthcare ecosystem. Outpatient, asynchronous care outlets such as Wisp, can provide a huge respite to both patients and the healthcare system as a whole, in terms of access, affordability and convenience.
Many players in the space are recognizing the growing market for this type of care and this cohort of patients. Neura Health, for example, is another actor in this space, focusing primarily on synchronous, live telehealth visits. Even large healthcare organizations, such as BSW, are operating dedicated clinics and services for headaches, given how common these issues are. As for women’s health more broadly, companies like Millie are emerging, hyper-focused on maternity, gynecology and more recently, menopause and perimenopause care.
All of this is a welcome change, as women have been a historically underserved population in healthcare. Research overwhelmingly indicates that women face incredibly large health gaps for acute care, preventative care, research funding and drug development. This is the exact need that companies like Wisp and others that are solely dedicated to this space are trying to address.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saibala/2025/10/28/womens-telehealth-company-wisp-launches-migraine-care/
