Diana Health: Hospital-Integrated Women's Health Platform

Executive Summary

Diana Health raised $55M Series C (September 2025) to scale hospital-partnered maternal care network. Total funding: $101M since 2020. Critical constraint: midwife workforce shortage threatens scalability despite proven clinical model.

Business Model & Integration Strategy

Core Approach

• Co-designs and operates women's health programs directly within hospitals
• Integration model: Embeds within existing labor/delivery units and outpatient clinics
• Partnership strategy: Collaboration rather than competition with hospital systems
• Revenue model: Accepts all major commercial payers and Medicaid

Current Scale

• Patient volume: 80,000+ patients annually
• Geographic footprint: 9 hospital partners across Tennessee, Florida, Texas
• Market position: Hospital-integrated vs. standalone clinic model

Clinical Model & Outcomes

Team-Based Care Structure

• Core team: Certified nurse-midwives + OB-GYNs + mental health professionals
• Care enhancement: Longer appointment times, wraparound support
• Service scope: Nutritional counseling, mental health services, comprehensive women's health

Measured Outcomes

• Patient satisfaction: Net Promoter Score mid-80s
• Clinical improvements: Reduced C-section rates, preterm births, NICU admissions, postpartum hemorrhage
• Equity achievement: Parity between Medicaid and commercial population outcomes
• Evidence base: Midwifery care demonstrates improved outcomes in research literature

Technology Infrastructure

Current Implementation

• EHR integration: Custom patient app integrated with AthenaHealth EHR
• AI capabilities: Ambience Healthcare automated scribe technology
• Patient engagement: Telehealth capabilities, educational tools, goal-setting
• Digital leverage: Utilizes women's high digital health engagement patterns

Planned Enhancements

• AI expansion: Advanced provider insights and platform improvements
• Scalability focus: Technology investments to support model replication

Market Context & Challenges

Critical Problem Addressed

• US maternal mortality: 32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births (worst among developed nations)
• Healthcare system pressure: Need for improved outcomes while reducing costs
• Market timing: Healthcare systems increasingly focused on value-based care

Implementation Barriers

Workforce Constraints

• Primary risk: Insufficient midwife supply nationwide
• Scalability threat: Cannot expand faster than workforce development
• Training pipeline: Limited by educational capacity and licensing requirements

Cultural Resistance

• Hospital integration risk: Institutional resistance to midwifery-led care models
• Change management: Requires fundamental culture shifts in traditional OB units
• Sustainability concern: Risk of becoming "well-funded experiment that dies in committee"

Resource Requirements

Financial Investment

• Funding to date: $101M total ($55M Series C)
• Investor profile: HealthQuest Capital (lead), Norwest Venture Partners, .406 Ventures, LRVHealth, AlleyCorp
• Board additions: Dr. Neel Shah (Maven Clinic CMO), Witney McKiernan (HealthQuest Capital)

Operational Prerequisites

• Hospital partnership: Requires institutional commitment to model integration
• Provider recruitment: Dependent on certified nurse-midwife availability
• Technology integration: EHR compatibility and digital infrastructure
• Cultural alignment: Hospital leadership buy-in for midwifery-centered care

Expansion Strategy & Growth Factors

Scaling Approach

• Geographic expansion: Physical footprint growth across new markets
• Program deepening: Enhanced integrated clinical programming
• Platform enhancement: Digital capabilities improvement for scalability

Success Dependencies

• Workforce development: Solving midwife shortage through training partnerships
• Hospital culture change: Demonstrating sustainable integration model
• Outcome validation: Continued proof of clinical and financial benefits
• Technology scaling: Platform capabilities to support rapid growth

Critical Success Factors

What Must Work

1. Midwife pipeline development: Training and retention programs
2. Hospital cultural integration: Sustained institutional support beyond pilot phase
3. Clinical outcome consistency: Maintaining quality across diverse hospital environments
4. Financial sustainability: Proving value-based care economics at scale

Failure Modes

• Workforce bottleneck: Growth limited by midwife availability
• Cultural rejection: Hospital reversion to traditional OB models
• Quality degradation: Outcomes suffer during rapid scaling
• Integration complexity: Technology and operational challenges in diverse hospital systems

Decision Framework for Healthcare Systems

When to Consider Partnership

• Current outcomes: Below-average maternal health metrics
• Cultural readiness: Leadership committed to care model transformation
• Infrastructure capability: EHR integration and change management capacity
• Market pressure: Value-based care contracts or quality improvement mandates

Implementation Prerequisites

• Executive sponsorship: C-suite commitment to cultural change
• Provider engagement: OB-GYN willingness to collaborate with midwives
• Technical readiness: EHR integration capabilities
• Financial alignment: Payment model supporting comprehensive care approach

This model represents a proven but constrained approach to maternal health improvement, with scalability fundamentally limited by workforce availability and institutional culture change requirements.