Expanding Maternal Care Access with Partum Health – Meghan Doyle

Becker’s Healthcare Podcast | Host: Laura Deardorff | Guest: Meghan Doyle, CEO, Partum Health
Date: February 16, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode of the Becker’s Healthcare Podcast, host Laura Deardorff talks with Meghan Doyle, CEO of Partum Health, about expanding access to maternal care. They explore Partum Health’s mission, innovative care models, recent Medicaid expansion, key challenges, and Meghan's vision for the future of maternal healthcare. The conversation is built around the growing need for holistic, equitable, and accessible support for mothers and families—combining in-person and virtual solutions and engaging health system partnerships.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Partum Health’s Mission & Model

[01:04 – 02:46]

• Integrated Maternal and Family Care: Partum Health complements OB and midwife care with specialty supports—behavioral health, lactation, nutrition, physical therapy, and doula care.
• Hybrid Model: Mixes virtual and in-person services, with digital navigation ensuring a frictionless patient experience and early, preventive access.
• Founder’s Perspective: Meghan’s journey as a healthcare business leader and a mother shaped her understanding of the gaps in maternal care, fueling her commitment to holistic women's health.

Quote:
"It was really that experience of starting my own family that helped me identify the opportunity to really better serve women and their families when it comes to taking care of their whole mental, emotional and physical health."
—Meghan Doyle [02:32]

2025 Initiative: Expanding to Medicaid Populations

[03:08 – 05:25]

• First Foray into Medicaid: 2025 marked Partum Health's expansion into serving Medicaid patients, responding to regulatory changes now covering doula care in over 20 states.
• Workforce and Partnership Growth: Became one of Illinois' first providers with a significant, Medicaid-contracted doula workforce, collaborating with state MCOs.
• Building New Provider Infrastructure: Overcame challenges in credentialing, contracting, and integrating this new provider type into Medicaid.

Quote:
"This has been a huge part of our last year, is really getting that entire service line up and running to serve a segment of the population that not only needs and deserves this support, but has also shown in a lot of research to really benefit in a differentially positive way."
—Meghan Doyle [04:44]

Key Priorities & Headwinds for 2026

[05:52 – 09:40]

• Health System Partnerships: Embedding Partum Health’s complementary care into health system workflows for seamless, end-to-end patient support—both in and out of traditional clinic settings.
• Innovative Care Models: Preparing to launch new, unannounced partnership models aiming for greater continuity and better outcomes for all patients.
• Reimbursement Challenges: Persistent disparities in women’s health reimbursement; need to prove value in improved outcomes and cost reduction, and advocate for equitable rates.

Quote:
"For us, that's probably both, you know, a big part of the opportunity. And also we recognize that we're starting from a little bit of a disadvantage when it comes to the reimbursement for a lot of women's health procedures and services relative to men's..."
—Meghan Doyle [08:29]

Greatest Challenge: Building Infrastructure for New Provider Types

[10:15 – 12:22]

• Doulas as a New Provider Type: The growth of doula coverage presents infrastructure challenges—credentialing varies state by state, and systems must be built almost from scratch.
• Balancing Delivery and Capacity Building: The dual need to simultaneously provide care and develop sustainable provider, tech, and administrative infrastructures.

Quote:
"It's this dual challenge of being able to both serve patients, to be in market, delivering care and kind of building and navigating the infrastructure needs for an entirely new part of the workforce and doing that in parallel."
—Meghan Doyle [11:32]

Innovation & Rapid Learning: Proactive Patient Engagement

[12:46 – 15:09]

• New Care Models: Moving from reactive to proactive care by anticipating patient needs, standardizing engagement, and expanding early access to services (e.g., intro to perinatal mental health).
• Technology & Education: Using tech and communication to educate and empower patients, build routines, and promote preventive rather than crisis-driven utilization.
• Prevention Focus: Ensuring every patient knows about and can access services that prevent complications and improve both short- and long-term outcomes.

Quote:
"It's really about how to help patients, patients navigate that in a more proactive fashion and to build a care model that kind of anticipates those needs from a patient rather than waiting for them to raise their hand or be in a crisis moment when they're seeking that support."
—Meghan Doyle [13:11]

Growth & Opportunities

[15:30 – 17:42]

• Health System Collaboration: Deepening partnerships to standardize patient experiences and outreach; making holistic perinatal care mainstream, not the exception.
• Real-World Impact: Emphasis on being present “outside the four walls” of clinics/hospitals to reach families and create gold-standard care moments.
• Market Receptivity: Noted excitement and openness from health systems eager to innovate and partner, as seen at recent Becker’s events.

Quote:
"That's probably for us... the biggest opportunity that we see is just taking this type of support to more patients and doing that in a way that really works hand in hand with the care that they're already receiving, you know, from systems on the ground."
—Meghan Doyle [17:09]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We are definitely an organization that believes in blending the best of technology with in person care.” —Meghan Doyle [01:23]
• "Being one of the first providers in our home state of Illinois to have, you know, a large and growing number of doulas who are providing care really in partnership with MCOs." —Meghan Doyle [04:08]
• “There’s such a need to really step up the level of support that patients have access to and have access to through their insurance.” —Meghan Doyle [07:16]
• "How do we design technology and patient engagement and communication such that we're enabling them to take a much more proactive approach to their care?" —Meghan Doyle [14:03]
• “So for us, that's a big focus in the coming year is really finding more of those partners who want to bring that really innovative experience to women and families.” —Meghan Doyle [16:25]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:04 – Meghan Doyle’s introduction and Partum Health overview
• 03:08 – 2025 Medicaid Medicaid program expansion
• 05:52 – Priorities & upcoming partnerships for 2026
• 08:29 – Reimbursement challenges in women’s health
• 10:15 – The biggest challenge: Infrastructure for doula care
• 12:46 – Innovation: Proactive care models & patient engagement
• 15:30 – Growth strategy and partnership opportunities

Summary

Meghan Doyle provides a compelling look into how Partum Health is innovating the maternal care ecosystem—addressing systemic gaps, expanding Medicaid-supported services, meeting infrastructural challenges in real time, and striving for a proactive, rather than reactive, model of patient engagement. Partum Health’s collaborative approach with health systems, proactive patient navigation, and strong advocacy for reimbursement parity are positioning it at the forefront of women’s health and family care innovation.