Complex-pregnancy referrals from community and Methodist hospitals, the postpartum year, midlife and pelvic health, and fast-growing suburbs.
Monthly remote monitoring, care management and membership models that 2026 payment rules now reward.
Convert the department's research network and patient diversity into grants, industry partnerships and published outcomes.
| Force | What changed | What it opens |
|---|---|---|
| Policy | Texas Medicaid/CHIP postpartum coverage is 12 months (HB 12, effective March 1, 2024; CHIP Perinatal excluded). Of Texas pregnancy-related deaths in 2020, about 1 in 4 occurred 43 days to 1 year after pregnancy; about 80% were judged preventable. | A billable, accountable postpartum year. Problem visits, collaborative care and monitoring are billed outside any OB package; Texas Medicaid already pays per visit. |
| Regulatory | FDA moved to remove boxed warnings for CVD, breast cancer and dementia on menopausal hormone therapy (Nov 10, 2025); the estrogen-alone endometrial cancer warning stays. Elinzanetant approved Oct 2025. | Pent-up midlife demand returns to clinic |
| Payment | 2026 CPT adds short-duration monitoring codes (99445, 99470; RTM 98985, 98979). Time-based services spared the 2026 -2.5% efficiency adjustment. | Recurring monthly revenue per patient |
| OB coding | CPT 2027 retires the global OB codes (59400, 59510, 59610, 59618, 59430): from Jan 1, 2027 every prenatal and postpartum visit is billed on its own. | Every visit in the pregnancy year is paid on its own, so continuity becomes revenue |
| Demographics | Houston metro added 126,720 people in one year, most of any US metro. Montgomery County +4%, Fort Bend +2.5%. | New suburban demand, likely commercial-heavy |
| Competition | Texas Children's $200M+ Pavilion expansion (2026). Houston Methodist Cypress, Sugar Land and Woodlands builds. Memorial Hermann Katy and Cypress towers. | A window that closes in 24-36 months |
The Fetal Center at Children's Memorial Hermann, a national referral center. Level IV maternal care at Memorial Hermann-TMC. Placenta accreta and MFM fellowship strength.
NICHD MFMU Network site (2023-2030) and the only Texas institution in both the MFMU and Neonatal Research Networks. Gilstrap Center.
Memorial Hermann-TMC plus seven suburban Memorial Hermann hospitals and Harris Health LBJ, with a new 390-bed LBJ hospital including L&D opening late 2028.
Urogynecology at six outpatient sites and, as I understand it, an existing referral pathway for women over 60 with incontinence.
McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics, TEAM-AI and SAFE centers, ChatGPT Edu, and the UT System enterprise Abridge ambient scribe agreement.
In public sources I could not find a dedicated menopause program, cardio-obstetrics clinic, postpartum-year program or REI division; suburban general OB/GYN is lighter. Please correct me.
| Service line | TAM | SAM | SOM (Y3) | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midlife: menopause + pelvic floor | ~$790M | ~$111M | $4-5.5M | ~956K women 45-64 x 20% moderate/severe VMS x $1,200; ~1.49M women 45+ x 25% UI/PFD x $1,500. SAM: catchment 50% x insured 80% x care-seeking 35% |
| Suburban OB/GYN satellites | ~$738M | ~$258M | $4.1M / site | 105K births x $3,500 global professional + 2.47M women 18-64 x 60% visit x $250. SAM: west Fort Bend, west Harris, Waller, Montgomery (35%) |
| Concierge women's health | ~$830M | ~$33M | $1.8M | ~277K households $200K+ x $3,000. SAM: within 25-30 min of TMC / Memorial City x 10% willing. SOM: 500 members |
| Connected pregnancy (RPM) | ~$42M | ~$10.5M | ~$0.5M + avoided readmissions | 105K births x $400 RPM episode; 25% at-risk share. Main value: quality and payer contracts |
| Tele-MFM hub, rural Texas | Not sized: grant and MCO-contract funded | ~15K births/yr in maternity care deserts | ||
| Houston Methodist | Baylor / Texas Children's | UTHealth + Memorial Hermann | Kelsey-Seybold | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Multi-hospital system, suburban delivery growth | Academic + children's flagship at TMC | Academic dept. + 8 MH hospitals + LBJ safety net | Payer-integrated multispecialty group |
| Scale | ~14,000 births, 8 hospitals | 6,000+ births at Pavilion, expanding | ~7,900 births (MH-TMC + LBJ) | OB/GYN at 6 sites (incl. Woodlands, Katy, Atascocita) |
| Top maternal level | Level III | Level IV | Level IV | n/a |
| Fetal / MFM | MFM through affiliated groups (Pediatrix at TMC; Texas Children's at West). No academic MFM division, fellowship or fetal therapy found. | Fetal Center, 8 MFM clinics | The Fetal Center, MFM fellowship | Not researched |
| Menopause | None found | Dedicated Menopause Center | None found (MH-Midi telehealth) | Not researched |
| Suburban moves | Cypress (2025), Sugar Land $60M, Woodlands $240M | MFM clinics in suburbs; OB/GYN in Pearland | MH Katy $282.5M, Cypress $277.5M towers | Cypress site 2026 |
West Fort Bend first; system margin with Memorial Hermann
Years 1-3Hybrid concierge, still bills insurance
Year 1Closed-loop continence pathway plus menopause
Year 1Remote BP plus cardio-obstetrics
Year 1 Years 1-3Collaborative care model, billed monthly
Year 1Deserts, Level I-II hospitals, transfer line
Years 1-3Biobank + RWE contracts, alongside the MFMU program
Years 1-3Preeclampsia, fetal heart AI, PPH
Years 1-3 Years 3-5Home HPV self-collection, AI cytology, oncofertility
Years 1-3Referral loop, coding integrity, prior auth, triage
Year 1ERAS, OR supplies, visit redesign, safety, gainsharing
Year 1 Years 1-3Pills show when it starts:
Pro formas: 1-3; savings: 11.
| Corridor | Signal | Read |
|---|---|---|
| West Fort Bend / Fulshear / Richmond | Fort Bend +24K/yr; Fulshear $178K income; UT multispecialty in Cinco Ranch and Rosenberg; MH Katy tower | First |
| Conroe / north Montgomery | +30K/yr, +4%; Woodlands crowded, north I-45 likely under-built | Second |
| Cypress / 290 | HM Cypress, MH tower 2027, Kelsey 2026 | MFM only |
| Y1 | Y2 | Y3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clinic collections | 1.19 | 2.61 | 4.13 |
| Clinic profit (loss) after its own costs | -1.42 | -1.04 | -0.56 |
| Hospital profit from the clinic's deliveries and surgeries (30% margin) | 0.75 | 1.64 | 2.60 |
| Combined profit, UTHealth + Memorial Hermann | -0.67 | +0.60 | +2.04 |
| Deliveries / surgeries sent to MH | 154/66 | 336/144 | 532/228 |
The clinic alone loses money through Year 3. Its deliveries and surgeries earn Memorial Hermann about $0.75-2.6M a year, so the combined system turns positive in Year 2. This is why we ask MH for a funds-flow agreement. Capex $1.6M; the clinic breaks even alone only at ~$106 collected per wRVU (model: $95). Conservative hospital case (Merritt Hawkins): Year 3 combined ~+$1.0M.
Benchmarks: Scripps concierge $3,780/yr (<65); MDVIP "low four figures"; MD2 Houston $26,000 a year. No Houston concierge OB/GYN price found.
| Y1 | Y2 | Y3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Members | 150 | 350 | 500 |
| Revenue | 0.54 | 1.26 | 1.80 |
| Direct costs | 0.73 | 1.06 | 1.34 |
| Margin | -0.19 | +0.20 | +0.46 |
Capex $0.5M. Operating and cumulative breakeven in Y2; ~370 members at full Y3 staffing. Y3 margin 25%. Feeds commercial deliveries, surgery and philanthropy.
| $M | Y1 | Y2 | Y3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 1.31 | 2.52 | 4.18 |
| Clinic margin | -0.93 | -0.25 | +0.32 |
| With surgical cases | -0.63 | +0.18 | +1.09 |
Capex $1.0M. Pelvic floor PT is the margin lever. Year 4 clinic +$0.52M; +$0.74M with a cash-pay menopause tier.
| Service | Codes | Approx. value | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remote physiologic monitoring (Medicare, commercial) | 99453, 99454 / 99445, 99457 / 99470, 99458 | $73-140 per pt-month + $22 setup | Postpartum and antepartum hypertension |
| Home BP telemonitoring (Texas Medicaid) | S9110 (hospital, home health agency, FQHC or RHC) + 99091 (physician, once per 30 days) | TMPPM rates; prior auth | Hypertension plus a risk factor; pregnancy hypertension fit to confirm |
| Remote therapeutic monitoring | 98975, 98977 / 98985, 98980 / 98979, 98981 | ~$66-135 per pt-month | App-guided pelvic floor trainer: Medicare only; not paid by Texas Medicaid; BCBSTX deems home devices not medically necessary. |
| Collaborative care (BH) | 99492-99494; APCM add-ons G0568-G0570 | ~$146-162 (APCM, vendor) | Perinatal depression and anxiety (Texas Medicaid benefit since 2022) |
| Principal / chronic care mgmt | 99424, 99490, 99491, 99487 | ~$66-144 per pt-month | Chronic HTN, pregestational diabetes, prolapse |
| eConsults | 99451, 99452, 99446-99449 | ~$35 per consult (99451) | MFM and urogyn for community OBs and primary care |
| PTNS course | 64566 | ~$117 per session; ~$1,400 per course | Urgency incontinence, office-based |
| Urodynamics | 51728 / 51729 + 51797, 51741, 51798 | $500+ per full study | Continence pathway workup |
| Longitudinal visit add-on | G2211 | $17.37 per visit | Midlife and chronic gyn follow-up |
Maternity care deserts (46.5% of Texas counties, March of Dimes 2023; ~15K births a year), Level I-II community hospitals across the region, FQHCs and Harris Health clinics.
Scheduled tele-MFM consults, 24/7 one-call transfer line to the Level IV center and Fetal Center, eConsults within 48 hours, shared RPM for high-risk patients after they return home.
eConsult and telehealth codes, downstream transfers and fetal procedures, hospital service agreements, HRSA and state grants, MCO contracts.
One consented cohort linking MH-TMC, LBJ and the MH suburban network, adding remote-monitoring and imaging data, built to partner with existing Houston biobanks such as Baylor/TCH PeriBank, not duplicate them.
Industry RWE: diagnostics (cfRNA preeclampsia tests, sFlt-1/PlGF), fetal heart AI vendors, CTG AI vendors, pelvic device registries
Federal: NIH ORWH (~$106.5M FY2026), NICHD, PCORI comparative effectiveness, ARPA-H women's health programs (Sprint: ~$110M to 23 teams)
State and philanthropy: maternal health and prevention grants
| Study | Evidence today | Regulatory | Department role |
|---|---|---|---|
| sFlt-1/PlGF triage for inpatients with hypertensive disorders | PRAECIS (18 US hospitals; manufacturer-funded); ratio ≥40 flags severe features within 2 weeks | FDA-cleared (Thermo Fisher 2023; Roche 2025) | Protocol plus cost and length-of-stay study |
| First-trimester FMF screening vs risk-factor aspirin | ASPRE RCT: aspirin 150 mg vs placebo in FMF screen-positive women cut preterm preeclampsia >60%; FMF vs US risk-factor selection untested head-to-head | Algorithm not FDA-reviewed | US pragmatic trial in a Medicaid-heavy cohort (PCORI, NIH) |
| AI fetal heart QI network | Company data: many CHDs missed on routine scans | BrightHeart 510(k)s + PCCP; Sonio 510(k) | Detection-rate registry across MH imaging sites |
| PPH and severe morbidity prediction | One external validation (2025 preprint, 8 hospitals): a published model fell to AUC 0.60 | Uncleared decision support | Prospective silent trial, then implementation |
First at-home cervical screening device FDA-approved May 2025 (Teal Wand). Mailed-kit outreach to under-screened Harris County women with FQHC partners and colposcopy access. NCI-fundable.
Hologic Genius Digital Diagnostics FDA-cleared January 2024; company reports 28% fewer false negatives for high-grade lesions. Throughput and quality study with Pathology.
Texas HB 1649 (2023) requires state-regulated plans to cover fertility preservation before gonadotoxic treatment. Referral pathway with oncology; partner on IVF rather than build.
| Use | What it does | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Referral-to-revenue loop | Tracks every referral from the 60+ pathway: scheduled, seen, treated, billed, outcome. Flags leakage and no-shows for outreach | Referral completion rate; revenue per referral |
| Documentation integrity | Uses the existing Abridge scribe to capture complexity accurately (MDM, G2211), with audit sampling against upcoding | E/M distribution vs benchmark; denial rate |
| Prior authorization | Drafts and tracks prior auths for imaging, procedures and devices | Days to authorization; staff hours |
| Inbox and RPM triage | Routes patient messages and out-of-range BP readings by urgency to nurse protocols | Time to response; nurse panel size |
| Capacity model | Forecasts demand by site and service, sets AI-supported panel sizes | Third-next-available; visits per FTE |
| # | Initiative | Evidence | Annual savings (est.) | Captured by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Extend and audit ERAS for cesarean and gyn surgery where not standard; same-day discharge after MIS hysterectomy | $349 less per cesarean, ~0.5 day shorter stay (n=3,679, pre-post); gyn meta-analysis ~$2,129 per patient | $0.99-1.60M | Hospital |
| 2 | Gyn OR supply: standard preference cards, surgeon cost scorecards, reprocessed sealing devices, robotic stewardship for straightforward benign cases (2007-2010 cost data; re-check) | Surgeon cost feedback (JAMA Surg); reprocessing saved US facilities $465.8M in 2023 (AMDR industry survey) | $0.36-1.11M | Hospital |
| 3 | Prenatal care redesign: fewer low-risk visits, hybrid virtual schedule, APP and RN-led routine care | MiPATH recommendations; ACOG supports tailored schedules | $0.22-1.47M capacity | Department |
| 4 | Central scheduling, automated reminders, predictive overbooking | No-show cost ~$196 per missed visit (BMC HSR, 2008 data) | $0.15-0.78M capacity | UT Physicians |
| 5 | Fewer NTSV cesareans (low-risk first births); extend the Ob/Gyn Hospitalist division's model across suburban MH sites | California: 26.0% to 22.8%, no added neonatal harm (JAMA) | $0.25-0.43M | Mostly payers |
| 6 | Prior-auth automation and denial prevention | Denial rework ~$25 per claim (MGMA-attributed, ~2017) | $0.16-0.43M | UT Physicians |
| 7 | OB safety program: AIM/TexasAIM bundles, team drills, fetal-monitoring certification, OB safety nurse; meets CMS obstetric training and quality requirements due 2027 | Yale: claims payments $50.7M to $2.9M across two 5-year periods (single site; 1998-2002 vs 2003-2007 data) | $0.05-0.24M + claims | UT liability plan, hospital |
| 8-10 | Office hysteroscopy; video interpreting and scribe/transcription consolidation with Abridge; postpartum remote BP | Site-of-service data; readmission evidence mixed | $0.21-1.14M | Mixed |
■ Satellite ■ Signature membership ■ Midlife & Pelvic System contribution, $M
| Initiative | Capex | Y3 system | Breakeven |
|---|---|---|---|
| Satellite (4 MD) | $1.6M | +$2.04M | Y2 (system) |
| Signature membership | $0.5M | +$0.46M | Y2 (operating) |
| Midlife & Pelvic | $1.0M | +$1.09M | Y2 (system) |
| Total | $3.1M | +$3.59M | Cumulative +$3.08M by Y3 (after depreciation) |
| Clinic-only (department) | Y1 -$2.54M · Y2 -$1.09M · Y3 +$0.22M | ||
Conservative case (Merritt Hawkins benchmark for the satellite): Y3 total ~+$2.5M.
| Lever | Breakeven / sensitivity |
|---|---|
| Satellite collections per wRVU | Clinic-only breakeven ~$106; at $85 loses ~$0.70M/yr; at $115 earns ~$0.30M |
| Hospital downstream value | Base $2.2M per MD; conservative $1.35M still positive in Y3 |
| Signature membership | Breakeven ~370 members at full Y3 staffing; each 100 members ~ $0.36M revenue |
| Midlife center ramp | 55% / 80% / 95% productivity; PT staffing drives margin |
| 2027 Medicare | Temporary +2.5% expires; procedure cuts likely |
| Domain | Measures | Year-3 target (illustrative) |
|---|---|---|
| Growth | New patients by site and service; suburban share; deliveries from satellite physicians | ~530 deliveries per satellite |
| Financial | Contribution by initiative; collections per wRVU; denial rate; cost per case; LOS; recurring revenue share | +$3.6M system contribution (incl. MH downstream) |
| Quality | Postpartum BP ascertainment and HTN readmissions; NTSV cesarean rate; severe maternal morbidity; screening completion | BP ascertainment >85% |
| Access | Third-next-available; 60+ referral completion; eConsult turnaround | eConsult <48 hours |
| Academic | Extramural funding; industry contracts; publications from department programs | 3+ new funded studies |
| People | Faculty retention; burnout scores; recruitment fill rate; resident outcomes | Burnout below baseline |
Urogynecologists (URPS), cardio-obstetrics, menopause-certified clinicians, APPs and pelvic floor PTs. Joint recruitments with cardiology and psychiatry.
Residents rotate through the postpartum year, midlife center and tele-MFM hub. Prepare the program for the new LBJ hospital in 2028.
Ambient documentation to cut after-hours work; protected time for program leads; transparent incentive tied to the scorecard.
| Input | Value used | Replace with |
|---|---|---|
| Metro births | ~105,000/yr (estimate) | DSHS Vital Statistics Table 9 by county |
| Women by age band | MSA x 50.4% female x assumed age shares | ACS table B01001, 9 MSA counties |
| Collections per wRVU | $95 (tested $85-125) | UT Physicians OB/GYN actuals |
| Hospital net per delivery / gyn case; contribution | $12,000 delivery; $10,000 gyn case (satellite); $12,000 urogyn case (midlife); 30% | Memorial Hermann actuals and funds-flow terms |
| Deliveries per general OB/GYN | 140 per year at maturity | Department actuals |
| Support staff; malpractice | 3.5 FTE per MD at $58K; $40K per MD | UT Physicians staffing model; UT self-insurance |
| Concierge fee and ramp | $3,000 average; 150 / 350 / 500 members | Market test with current patients |
| Midlife center productivity | PT 11 visits/day x $110; menopause 20 visits/day x $160 | Department and PT benchmarks |
| Reimbursement rates | 2026 Medicare national, secondary sources | CMS PFS Look-Up (Houston locality), TMPPM, payer contracts |
| Competitor footprint | Search-based clinic lists | Drive-time study by corridor |
Full source list with URLs is in the accompanying business plan.