For employers
Private gut health care your people will actually use.
Nerva is a digital GI behavioral care program for employees with persistent symptoms and disrupted work. The six-week program is available on demand, with no appointments.
- 300,000+ people supported
- 8,000 active US providers
- RCT published in the AJG1
- 4.7 / 5 from 30,000+ member reviews
The hidden workforce cost
Functional GI is common. Its impact at work is easy to miss.
Functional GI conditions, clinically called disorders of gut-brain interaction, include IBS and related conditions where pain, bloating, constipation or diarrhoea can persist after structural disease is ruled out. They are private, episodic and unlikely to appear clearly in HR data.
40%+
of adults worldwide meet criteria for a disorder of gut-brain interaction.2
86%
of employed adults with IBS reported impairment while working.16
1.97 hours
of work were lost each week on average among employed adults with IBS.16
Category prevalence is global. Workplace figures are from a UK Rome IV IBS study of 467 employed adults and are not an Australian workforce estimate.2,16
The solution
Care every employee can start today.
Nerva gives employees a private six-week gut-brain behavioral care program from their phone, with daily guided sessions, practical skills and progress tracking. Employers receive aggregate reporting on completion and outcomes.
- Multimodal functional GI care
A private daily session
One 15-minute guided brain-gut session a day for six weeks: on their phone, wherever they are, with no appointment to book.
- AI-guided accountability
Keep more employees engaged through completion
AI tailors coaching, accountability and reminders to employee preferences and goals, helping them stay on track.
- Outcomes and reporting
Progress they can see
Check-ins on validated symptom measures show employees their own trajectory across the six weeks.
- Clinical governance
Humans, when it matters
Our care team screens at intake, reaches out to members who go quiet, and escalates warning signs to a provider.
The Nerva difference
The only virtual GI solution backed by a randomized controlled trial
Backed by 17 published studies, including a peer-reviewed randomized controlled trial.
81%1of participants met the primary symptom endpoint, compared with 63% on active control.
Randomized controlled trial · N=244 · active control · AJG 2025 Read the research →
- clinically significant abdominal-pain reduction, compared with 35% on control
- 71%
- adults randomized against a matched psychoeducation control
- 244
RCT: n=244 randomized; n=240 primary analysis. Company-funded. Results do not imply cure or remission.
Independent evaluation by PHTI
“Within the evidence reviewed, Nerva presented the strongest overall evidence for improving IBS symptoms.”
Peterson Health Technology InstituteVirtual Gastrointestinal Care Solutions, March 20267
Real-world outcomes
Symptoms improved. Work and management costs improved with them.
Among Nerva completers, six-month IBS management costs fell from US$1,259 to US$502. Mean presenteeism fell from 40% to 24% and mean absenteeism from 7.5% to 2.0%. Retrospective completer analysis of 17,000+ users, not a controlled employer study.5
Enrollment and engagement
The GI benefit employees actually use.
Employees can start immediately, without appointments or waitlists, and receive six weeks of care designed to keep them engaged.
- 8,000
- active US providers
- 300K+
- people supported
- 156M
- gut-brain care minutes
Nerva platform data, August 2026.
Condition-specific GI care, available instantly.
Nerva complements EAP, wellbeing and telehealth benefits with a validated six-week program for functional GI.
Next to your EAP
General support. Nerva targets functional GI.
Next to a wellbeing app
General content. Nerva delivers a validated six-week program.1
Next to telehealth
Appointments depend on clinician supply. Nerva starts immediately.
How it works as a benefit
Private for them. Clear for you.
Employees never have to disclose gut symptoms at work. You see aggregate engagement and outcomes.
The employee
Owns their care in full
- Signs up privately from any device, with nothing to disclose at work
- Their symptoms, check-ins and progress stay theirs
- Our care team support runs member-to-Nerva, never through you
The employer
Sees the aggregate picture only
- Uptake, engagement and outcomes at the population level
- Privacy-compliant reporting on an agreed cadence
Launch without a systems integration.
Nerva runs alongside your carrier or TPA with no claims feed or clinical integration.
Per enrolled employee. Not PEPM.
Pay only for employees who enroll, with outcome-linked terms available.
- Eligibility list or company link
- Communications templates included
- Aggregate reporting on a cadence
Built in Melbourne. Validated with Monash.
Nerva was founded in Melbourne. Its clinical program was developed and validated with Monash University and Australian participants.1,10
Give employees functional GI care they can start today.
A private health insurer? There's a page for you →
References
- Anderson, Ellen J.; Peters, Simone L.; Gibson, Peter R.; Halmos, Emma P. Comparison of Digitally Delivered Gut-Directed Hypnotherapy Program With an Active Control for Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The American Journal of Gastroenterology 120(2):p 440-448, February 2025. DOI: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000002921
- Sperber, A. D. et al. Worldwide Prevalence and Burden of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders, Results of Rome Foundation Global Study. Gastroenterology, 2021;160(1):99–114: more than 40% of adults worldwide meet criteria for a disorder of gut-brain interaction (functional gastrointestinal disorder).
- Peters, S. L.; Gibson, P. R.; Halmos, E. P. App-delivered gut-directed hypnotherapy halves the long-term costs associated with managing Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) symptoms and improves work productivity. Retrospective study of 17,000+ Nerva users, presented at Digestive Disease Week: IBS management costs fell from USD 1,259 to USD 502 over six months, with significant long-term improvements in work absenteeism, presenteeism and overall productivity. Retrospective completer analysis, not a controlled trial.
- Lacy, B. E. et al. ACG Clinical Guideline: Management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2021.
- Peterson Health Technology Institute. Virtual Gastrointestinal Care Solutions Assessment. March 2026. PHTI estimated $1,889 in average annual net savings per commercial user for wraparound functional GI care, using IBS as the representative condition. Cross-assessment estimates were $1,300 for MSK, $600 for depression and anxiety, $400 for opioid use and substance use disorder, with no savings identified for hypertension or diabetes.
- Peters, S. L.; Yao, C. K.; Philpott, H.; Yelland, G. W.; Muir, J. G.; Gibson, P. R. Randomised clinical trial: the efficacy of gut-directed hypnotherapy is similar to that of the low FODMAP diet for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 2016;44(5):447–459. A Monash University trial with Australian participants.
- Goodoory, V. C.; Ng, C. E.; Black, C. J.; Ford, A. C. Impact of Rome IV irritable bowel syndrome on work and activities of daily living. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 2022;56(5):844–856. Among 467 employed adults with Rome IV IBS recruited from a UK registry, 85.6% reported presenteeism, 28.5% reported absenteeism and mean work lost was 1.97 hours per week. This is international IBS research, not an Australian workforce estimate.