Hi everyone. It's Dr BCW with Beyond Clinical Walls. I'm so excited for you to meet my two guests, sarah Dorbin and Lauren Orlik, both co-founders of HeartSnug. This. I don't even want to call it just a product or anything like that, because it's something that is needed in the healthcare system with every journey of health, and they have done it, and I am so excited for you to hear the reasons why they did it and what changes it is producing when you experience healthcare. So welcome Sarah, sarah, welcome Lauren. First, I would love for you to share a little bit about yourself. So, sarah, if you want to go first, please introduce yourself to the listeners.

Great. Hi everyone and thank you so much. It's wonderful being here. I'm Sarah and I was born with a very complex heart defect and I had open heart surgery as a baby and my care throughout many, many years was primarily at a research hospital. So there was a lot of clinician exposure as it pertains to, you know, cardiology appointments and chest exposure. And I'll never forget when I was a teen I felt incredibly insecure with all of my doctor's appointments because typically in cardiology you're given like a towel that you cover your chest with during echograms, but it often gets manipulated, which you know perfectly fine. Their doctors are there to help and so I never had an issue with it, but I remember feeling insecure about it. So, fast forward, about five years ago, I did have a minor stroke which landed me back into the medical landscape, and that's when it really hit me that there had been no advancement as it pertains to medical garments and there's really an unmet need. So that is really the impetus of how HeartSnug came to be, and I'll let Lauren share.

Yeah, hi, I'm Lauren, and it's wonderful to be here and to be on your podcast. Thank you so much for having us. Sarah and I are lifelong friends and you know seeing firsthand what medical exams and procedures you know does to somebody female patient in the LGBTQ plus world.

Really, you know the impact physically and mentally. Yes, she's being helped physically, but mentally there's, you know, a lot of unspoken communication that goes on and feelings that one has while undergoing various appointments and procedures. At the time, you know, I was asked to lead a cancer benefit for patients to use scalp cooling to keep their hair during chemo process and so, seeing firsthand what you know appointments does on someone and really the medical gown and the manipulation can have an effect of exposed, you know, chest and other body parts that don't always necessarily need to be exposed. And so we got on a call and really talked about all the various areas yes, cardiology, but from teen to geriatric care, with the average chest size in the US being 34DD, we really said, you know, with women being 51% of the population and little being done on medical undergarments and the innovation versus the rest of the medical landscape and innovations being made to really improve women's health care, this area was really untouched and our deep dive of what is out there, you know, coming to realize the medical gown was created in 1619 by Charles de Lorme and very, very little innovation.

And so we, you know our third co-founder, lisa, has two teen girls and seeing firsthand what medical appointments you know does on a young teen, we thought listen enough is enough. We know better, we know more. So we got on a call, we drew her out, drew Heart Snug out and what we wanted and the feasibility and the outcome and the support and we want to. You know we're not here replacing the medical gown, but we're here saying you know we can work with it and provide patients more physical support and, as we see, doctors and nurses can work with HeartSnug very easily and the huge impact it's making so far. So we're really proud of what we created and work for day in, day out.

And you know what I'm remiss to say. I don't think we actually described heart snag to the listeners and what it is.

Yes. Well, I have one more thing to like. When I'm hearing both of your stories of the reason why and talking about how you know one thing that you said, sarah, I think was very important, you remember, and you're like, oh, the doctors have to do what they need to do. It didn't really bother me, but it did bother you and it's bothering so many different women and, as you mentioned, lauren, you know why is there a need to really have this exposure when it's not needed?

When we talk about healthcare, we talk about really providing, do no harm, providing all of the facets to help people, whether it's physical or mental, and that includes your garments.

That includes the tools, the techniques that we use every day to help people need to be accessible, but also something that is protective of someone's intimate and mental health, and so I think that part is something that we have to look at, and the fact that you also shared this medical garment has been used since 1619.

Let's repeat that again there is no reason why we have to continue to use that. Yes, and I love how you said this combination, but I feel you are both on something that is going to set the trajectory, the mission forward, of changing what we did before and making it new so we can meet the needs of really delivering equitable, accessible healthcare. And so now we'll get into. You know all of the pieces of how it works, but I think the story behind it and the message is so important to put at the forefront, because when you know that, it helps share that story of why you do what you do. So I'd love to hear a little bit more about you know exactly how it works and so forth about you know exactly how it works and so forth.

So Heart Snug is a sports bra-like design and it is adjustable with a front Velcro closure and there's elastic at the bottom for support. And it's like a sports bra with disposable, medical grade material.

And the way we designed her especially is to make her x-ray safe so that you know when patients are laying down and going into various imaging and other treatments. Contrary to what people think, when you lie a woman down, the chest doesn't just stick straight up right. We're asking patients to run on a treadmill for an echo stress test and not supporting the patient's chest, and so we designed her so that the electrodes can stay in and that the chest can still be examined for a stethoscope or other various areas. And you bring up such a great point of and that's a pillar in our mission vision values is equity and accessibility.

It's not for just those that can afford her, you that can afford heart snug. It's really to meet the. We want to see it as a standard of excellence and we're working with hospitals and clinics and other doctors within these institutions to offer them to their patients when they go to check in with their medical gown so that they're given HeartSnug as an option. Not everybody has that privacy and sensitivity, but it's a level one garment. It doesn't need FDA approval, we just need champion doctors to bring it in. And we're working with procurement and supply chain and all those great areas to really make this change happen.

I'd say. What I would add is is we know that the patient experience is so vital and it's just so important now. I mean, every appointment you go to, on the back of the door there's a phone number and it talks about, you know, reaching out at hospitals to the patient experience team if there's any issue. So we would like to think of HeartSnug in all hospitals, and because patients have a choice where they seek care, they might be more likely to choose a facility that respects this layer of privacy that they maybe hadn't even thought about in the past, but now it's an option.

And there's two pieces that I think of when we look at the great progress we are making or not even just progress, but awareness on women's health and the movement, and through that we have identified that a lot of the algorithms, a lot of the just procedures that we use or medications, have been structured on males, on males.

And so, to your point, lauren, when we're talking about those stress tests and running on a treadmill and not having support as a woman because of that mindset, this is a male patient.

So you have identified an area in health that we have left untapped, and that's one thing that I shared in the beginning of the opening that this is a very vital piece in healthcare that needs to be at the forefront. And, sarah, you mentioned, you know, having the choice as a patient to decide which clinic, which hospital will really value my privacy, because my privacy is also part of my overall health and how I experience or go through this journey, and so I think those parts are so important when we look at delivering care, and you both have created something that really can be with someone throughout their journey, whether it's a chest x-ray, whether it's having to disrobe even if you're not having an image or a chest x-ray. You have something that keeps you feeling secure, and I think that's something that we haven't seen, so I think that's fantastic. So tell me a little bit about what progress has been made with HeartSnug and what are you excited about.

Great question. I mean we are very excited we have new leads in areas and verticals coming in within patients and doctors saying well, patients specifically saying I wish I had HeartSnug for X, y and Z. And so then we follow up with those areas and provide patients with HeartSnug so that we can really empower the patient to take it to their next appointment. For hospitals and organizations, we're working with various areas within their departments and Sarah's leaving in a little bit to go to UCLA to go talk to about 45, 50 nurses and really do a demonstration of the actual product itself. And you know we can sit here and talk about HeartSnug but there's so much to HeartSnug that you know, when you feel and touch it and actually put on the garment, that there's a whole nother level of protection. That happens and I'd be remiss to say but there's such a huge area of what we deal with.

You know, with HeartSnug is there's a cultural and there's a past trauma perspective for patients. And you know, when we talk about patients and we talk to doctors and nurses and clinical staff, everybody's a patient right at one point or another. And so we are, you know, really making headway and progress within trials to lead to, you know, actually providing and becoming approved vendors, which we are at some really large hospitals. Uh, we've selected. We're selected to be part of this amazing femtechTech cohort this weekend in Connecticut to present Heart Snug to so many different individuals and key players, and we're doing podcasts like yours, and we just can't get out there fast enough. And it's from an international perspective, because women are 51% of the population. So we are out there and doing this every day, so it's quite exciting to see.

Well, I love this and I would love for you to share. How can listeners reach out to you, learn more, whether they want to try one on, if hospitals want to connect with you, share with me, share with the listeners right now how they can get ahold of you.

Yeah, absolutely. There's so many different ways. Right now, you can go on our website, wwwheartsnugcom. There's an info button and email and that goes right to us and we can, you know, begin that conversation and make it happen. There is we're on Amazon, which is really exciting, so patients can buy a five-pack and we'll send it out to them based on their individual size. We have a strong Instagram. It's at HeartSnug. Always follow us on LinkedIn. My personal account's Lauren Orlick, there's Sarah Dorban, Lisa Humiston and or HeartSnug, and we are easily accessible and willing to work with anybody. To you know, bring HeartSnug into their offices or make sure that it's in their go bag for various appointments and procedures appointments and procedures.

I love that. It has been a pleasure just to hear not only about HeartSnug, but to hear the story and the reason why and how it's making a change in healthcare in so many different ways. So I'm excited to see what's to come, and I'm just grateful that you both joined Beyond Clinical Walls. So, as always, I end the show with a level of gratitude. Thank you to everyone who took the time to listen to Beyond Clinical Walls. I am truly grateful. This is Dr BCW with Beyond Clinical Walls.

Oh, I just got the chills.