Maven Clinic unveiled the Maven Clinical Research Institute on Thursday, a new effort to study how digital health improves care for women and families.
New York City-based Maven Clinic offers support for fertility, maternity, parenting, menopause and other areas. It works with more than 2,000 health plans and employers across 175 countries, including Amazon, Microsoft and AT&T.
The institute is focused on building a large public evidence base for digital women’s and family health. This includes making Maven’s research publicly available, such as its report on the impact of virtual doula care. The institute is guided by clinicians, scientists and community leaders and will help inform Maven’s care models.
In addition, the institute will help support partnerships in the healthcare industry, including among research institutions, technology partners and healthcare innovators. Some of Maven’s partners include Harvard Medical School, Brown University, Posterity and ŌURA.
“The Maven Clinical Research Institute is our engine for evidence,” said Dr. Neel Shah, chief medical officer of Maven Clinic, in an email. “It exists to rigorously evaluate how virtual care actually works for women and families—across outcomes, cost, and equity—and to make that evidence public. In short, we’re setting the scientific standard for digital health in women’s and family care.”
Maven also released its inaugural Clinical Impact Report showing that its virtual care model improves outcomes and lowers costs for underserved populations, including reduced C-section rates among Black members who met with a Maven doula and cost savings for LGBTQIA+ members.
The launch of the institute comes as virtual care continues to gain momentum among patients, with one in three adults using telehealth at some point. However, research on virtual care is lacking, according to Maven Clinic.
“Virtual care is everywhere, but the science hasn’t kept up,” Shah said. “Employers, health plans, and clinicians are being asked to make big decisions without clear, consistent evidence. We launched the Institute to close that gap—to hold digital health to the same bar as any other area of medicine, and to replace hype with proof.”
He added that in five years, he hopes the institute can be a reference point for what good looks like in virtual women’s and family health.
“That means a widely trusted evidence base, clear standards for evaluating digital care, and research that doesn’t just sit in journals—but actively shapes how care is delivered, paid for, and improved at scale,” he said.
Maven Clinic isn’t the only company trying to evaluate digital health. The Peterson Health Technology Institute is also researching virtual care, but in a variety of areas including mental health, musculoskeletal care and diabetes.
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