Skillful clinicians incorporate the best available evidence in the care of their patients. This is no small feat, given the rapidly changing landscape for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of many health conditions, along with evidence that highlights the importance of personalizing treatments of many health conditions based on the specific patient and health condition. One aspect of personalization that doesn’t require sophisticated testing is simply incorporating sex-based evidence in clinical care. There are many differences between men and women that are easy to recognize. There are many other differences that are just beginning to be appreciated across the full spectrum of health care. Rigorous studies that evaluate genetic and physiologic attributes are increasing the available evidence that clinicians can incorporate directly into patient care. [JAMA Network]

The term women’s health gained popularity in response to the well-documented research funding gaps for health conditions that affect women exclusively, predominantly, or disproportionately. Due to resulting knowledge gaps, clinicians using the best available evidence may not have information that reflect sex-based differences. Over time, “women’s health” has been thought of as a proxy for reproductive health, menopause, and breast cancer. Yet women’s health is everywhere, spanning all of health care for women. Evidence of sex-based differences is accumulating in virtually every specialty, and JAMA and the JAMA Network journals are publishing a growing number of impactful original research studies highlighting these differences. The more we learn, the more we recognize the gaps in our sex-based knowledge.

JAMA enthusiastically launches JAMA+ Women’s Health as a curated source of trusted clinical information to help clinicians advance health care for women worldwide (jamanetwork.com/channels/womens-health). With this launch, JAMA elevates its commitment to women’s health and seeks to publish even more original research, policy, and opinion articles. JAMA+ Women’s Health will make scholarly content discoverable for busy clinicians who are interested in the latest evidence and guidance for patient care. Engaging multimedia and graphics will augment these articles.

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