Zaya Care, a network of pregnancy and postpartum care that takes insurance, will leverage Zocdoc to broaden access to maternity services.

WHY IT MATTERS
New parents can now find and book video and in-person appointments online with participating Zaya Care maternity providers, including pregnancy acupuncturists, maternal mental health therapists, dietitians, pelvic floor therapists and lactation consultants using Zocdoc.com or the free Zocdoc app.

These maternity care specialists accept Aetna, Centivo, Emblem Health, Empire BlueCross BlueShield, Oscar, Oxford Freedom and United Healthcare insurance plans.

As many as 40% of women do not receive the postpartum care they need, said Leoni Runge, Zaya Care founder and CEO, in today's announcement.

"Through our partnership with Zocdoc, we will be better able to grow our presence, and advance our progress toward helping more pregnant and postpartum patients access the care they need, and achieve positive health outcomes," she said.

THE LARGER TREND
Access to maternity services, especially postpartum specialty services, has been lacking, and many in the healthcare sector are turning to technology to improve access – including the Mayo Clinic.

The disparity has been especially pronounced for Black Americans.

CyncHealth, a not-for-profit health information exchange for Nebraska and Iowa, and its partners were recently recognized by the Department of Health and Human Services' Racial Equity in Postpartum Care Challenge for their efforts to identify mothers and infants in need of care and to facilitate and support holistic coordination of their care throughout the pregnancy and postpartum experience.

"In Douglas County, Black infant mortality rate is 14.5 in every 1,000 births, which is more than double the rate of white and Hispanic infant mortality," according to Jaime Bland, CEO of CyncHealth.

ON THE RECORD
"We're proud to partner with Zaya Care, and to add the first-ever lactation consultant booking option to Zocdoc," said Dr. Oliver Kharraz, Zocdoc founder and CEO, in the announcement.

Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.