Pomelo Care Shares New Data Demonstrating Reduced NICU Utilization, Lower Infant Healthcare Costs, and Improved Quality of Care Through Its Virtual Maternity Care Model

Claims-Based Data Shows Significant Improvements in HEDIS Quality Measures, 45% Shorter NICU Stays, and Over $9,000 in Cost Savings, Including a 20% Reduction in Infant Healthcare Costs

NEW YORK, Sept. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomelo Care, the national leader in evidence-based healthcare for women and children, presented new data at the 2026 annual meetings of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR), and the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM). The findings build on Pomelo's robust body of research, including over 40 peer-reviewed studies demonstrating that proactive, technology-enabled maternity care can improve maternal and neonatal outcomes, reduce healthcare utilization and costs, close critical care gaps, and deliver measurable value for employers and health plans. The findings are drawn from medical claims data, not patient surveys, making Pomelo's results auditable within the same datasets employers and health plans use to track healthcare spend.

The new data demonstrates that Pomelo's virtual care model improves outcomes and reduces healthcare costs across the maternity lifecycle, from prenatal care and NICU utilization through postpartum and infant care. Collectively, the studies found that Pomelo's care model was associated with:

• 45% shorter NICU stays
• 63% reduction in NICU-related costs per delivery
• $9,038 lower average total episode cost
• 20% reduction in total infant healthcare costs
• 10% reduction in infant emergency department costs
• 82% increase in the odds of Timeliness of Prenatal Care (TOPC), as defined by HEDIS
• 47% increase in the odds of Timely Postpartum Care (PPC), as defined by HEDIS

"Employers and health plans are looking for clear evidence that clinically integrated, evidence-based maternity care can improve outcomes while meaningfully reducing costs," said Marta Bralic Kerns, founder and CEO of Pomelo Care. "Pomelo's extensive body of research continues to show that when care is proactive, continuous, and coordinated across pregnancy, postpartum, and infancy, it can reduce complications, lower NICU utilization and emergency care, close critical gaps in maternal care, and deliver measurable value for families and payers alike."

At ACOG, Pomelo presented new data evaluating the impact of proactive virtual maternity support on NICU utilization and maternity episode costs. The analysis compared outcomes for patients who enrolled in Pomelo's program prenatally with a comparison group of patients who enrolled only after delivery, helping isolate the impact of the clinical intervention from a patient's propensity to engage with care. The study found that prenatal engagement with Pomelo was associated with a 45% shorter NICU length of stay, a 63% reduction in NICU-related costs per delivery, and a $9,038 lower average total episode cost. These findings suggest that proactive virtual support layered onto standard prenatal care may help reduce NICU utilization and associated healthcare costs.

At ISPOR, Pomelo presented new data evaluating how early pregnancy identification combined with proactive virtual gap closure can improve HEDIS quality metrics tied to payer reimbursement and accreditation. The analysis examined a virtual maternity program powered by a proprietary identification engine that uses multiple data sources to identify pregnancy early in gestation and connect patients to timely clinical support. It found that the program was associated with an 82.3% increase in the odds of Timeliness of Prenatal Care (TOPC) and a 46.7% increase in the odds of Postpartum Care (PPC). Researchers estimated that, when applied to the Texas Medicaid Pay for Quality Program, these improvements could secure between $2 million and $6 million in quality-based reimbursement for a single mid-sized health plan. These findings show the potential of proactive virtual maternity care to help health plans improve quality performance and close critical gaps in maternal care.

At ARM, Pomelo presented data evaluating the association between engagement in its virtual maternity and infant care program and infant health care costs during the first 60 days of life. It examined more than 9,500 infants and found that engagement with Pomelo's program was associated with a 20.65% reduction in total infant healthcare costs and a 10.24% reduction in infant emergency department costs. It showed that continuous access to Pomelo's multidisciplinary care team, including pediatric providers, nurses, lactation consultants, and mental health specialists, may help families address acute neonatal concerns earlier and reduce avoidable emergency department utilization.

This builds on Pomelo's robust body of evidence, including its flagship study published earlier this year in Pregnancy, which found that longer prenatal engagement with Pomelo was associated with progressively greater reductions in preterm birth, NICU utilization, and healthcare costs.             

About Pomelo Care
Pomelo Care is the national leader in evidence-based healthcare for women and children. We deliver personalized, high-quality clinical interventions from reproductive care and pregnancy, infant care and pediatrics, to hormonal health through perimenopause and menopause, with long-term preventive care and condition management. Our model delivers 24/7 multispecialty care to address the medical, behavioral, and social factors that most significantly impact outcomes for women and children. We partner with payers, employers, and providers to expand access to quality healthcare across the system. Learn more at pomelocare.com.

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Julie Halpin
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SOURCE Pomelo Care