New York – September 22, 2026 -- Pomelo Care presented new claims-based data at three major 2026 medical conferences showing its virtual maternity care model cut NICU-related costs per delivery by 63% and reduced average total episode costs by $9,038.
Prenatal engagement with Pomelo cuts NICU stays by 45%, ACOG data shows
At the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists annual meeting, Pomelo compared patients who enrolled prenatally against those who joined only after delivery. The prenatal cohort saw a 45% shorter NICU length of stay and a 63% reduction in NICU-related costs per delivery, alongside the $9,038 drop in average total episode cost.
Infant healthcare costs fall 20% among more than 9,500 infants tracked at ARM
Data presented at the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting examined over 9,500 infants and found engagement with Pomelo's virtual maternity and infant care program was associated with a 20.65% reduction in total infant healthcare costs during the first 60 days of life. Infant emergency department costs fell 10.24% in the same cohort, a result Pomelo attributes to continuous access to pediatric providers, nurses, lactation consultants, and mental health specialists.
ISPOR data links early pregnancy identification to $2-6 million in payer reimbursement potential
Pomelo's ISPOR presentation evaluated a proprietary identification engine that flags pregnancies early using multiple data sources and connects patients to virtual clinical support. The program was associated with an 82.3% increase in the odds of Timeliness of Prenatal Care and a 46.7% increase in the odds of Timely Postpartum Care, both HEDIS measures tied to payer reimbursement and accreditation. Researchers estimated that applying these improvements to the Texas Medicaid Pay for Quality Program could secure between $2 million and $6 million in quality-based reimbursement for a single mid-sized health plan.
The findings build on a flagship Pomelo study published earlier in 2026 in the journal Pregnancy, which found longer prenatal engagement with the program correlated with progressively greater reductions in preterm birth, NICU utilization, and healthcare costs. Pomelo Care founder and CEO Marta Bralic Kerns said the data continues to show that proactive, coordinated care across pregnancy, postpartum, and infancy can lower complications and deliver measurable value for payers.