For commercial health plans
Lower GI costs without adding clinical capacity.
Nerva uses AI to deliver personalized digestive care for members with persistent symptoms at population scale. It works alongside your existing medical network without requiring a clinician for every member.
- 300,000+ people supported
- 8,000 active US providers
- RCT published in the AJG1
Persistent digestive symptoms keep generating avoidable GI utilization.
After serious disease is ruled out, many members continue cycling through visits, tests and medications because the care their symptoms need remains difficult to access.
2021 US GI healthcare expenditure
$111.8B
annual GI healthcare spend.12
- cost driver for plan sponsors.18
- Top 3
- reason adults visit the ED: stomach and abdominal pain.15
- #1
Your network rules out disease. Nerva helps members manage persistent symptoms.
Many members still experience abdominal pain, bloating, constipation or diarrhea after serious disease is ruled out. They return for visits, tests and medications because evidence-based brain-gut care is difficult to access. These conditions are known as functional GI.3,17
Why claims repeat
- 1Persistent symptoms
- 2Repeat visits, tests and ED
- 3Clear structural work-up
Where Nerva intervenesGut-brain behavioral care at population scale.
The solution
More digestive care without more appointments.
Nerva is a personalized digital digestive care program combining clinical screening, brain-gut behavioral care, dietary guidance, symptom tracking and escalation when needed. It includes a six-week core program and continued maintenance access.
- Multimodal gut-brain care
Expand access beyond specialist capacity
Daily guided sessions combine gut-brain care, diet and GI education, breathing and symptom tracking, without appointments or waitlists.
- AI-guided accountability
Keep more members engaged through completion
AI adapts coaching, reminders and education to each member’s symptoms, preferences and goals, helping them stay on track.
- Outcomes and reporting
Measure the outcomes behind your spend
Validated symptom measures give plans clear reporting on completion and clinical response.
- Clinical governance
Scale care safely across the population
Automated delivery scales access, with screening, warning signs and escalation governed by Nerva’s medical director.
Clinical network
A provider network that brings members into care and supports the cases that need more.
Referring providers bring members into Nerva. Our clinical team screens and escalates when medical follow-up is needed, while existing clinicians continue to manage diagnosis and complex care.
- 8K+
- active US providers
- 50
- states
- 300K+
- people supported
Nerva platform data, August 2026.
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.
Research and clinical collaborations
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 20262
$1,889
Estimated annual net savings per commercial user2
Average annual net savings per user by category
- Functional GI$1,889
- MSK$1,300
- Depression / Anxiety$600
- Opioid Use / SUD$400
Member story
“My gut and my brain were stuck in a panic loop. A few weeks into Nerva, that signal shifted. I’m eating normally again, cooking with my family, going out without the dread.”
Outcome-aligned pricing
Pay for outcomes. Measure the result in claims.
Fees are tied to agreed symptom outcomes. Use a claims analysis to identify the persistent-symptom cohort, establish the baseline and define how medical-cost impact will be measured before launch.
250,000 members
$1.1M–$2.2MExpected annual net savings8
$1,276net savings per enrolled member
One program across every line of business
The care stays the same. The economics follow who holds the risk.Questions from health plans
Where does Nerva fit alongside our GI network?
Nerva works alongside the existing network. Medical providers continue to diagnose disease and manage complex cases. Nerva gives members with persistent symptoms access to personalized brain-gut care without creating another appointment bottleneck.
Which members are eligible?
Nerva is designed for members with persistent digestive symptoms, including common conditions such as IBS. Clinical screening checks suitability, and warning signs are escalated for medical review.
How are members brought into care?
Plans can use targeted outreach, eligibility files and provider referrals. Nerva also has an active nationwide provider network that already connects members to the program.
What does implementation require?
An eligibility file or member link, an agreed outreach plan and a reporting cadence. No EHR or clinical-system integration is required to launch.
How are outcomes and cost impact measured?
Nerva reports validated symptom outcomes and program engagement. Claims impact is evaluated against a baseline and measurement method agreed before launch.
Find the GI savings opportunity in your population.
We'll size the cohort, current spend, expected enrollment and break-even case, then define a measurable pilot.
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
- 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.
- Lacy, B. E. et al. ACG Clinical Guideline: Management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2021.
- Keefer, L.; Bedell, A.; Norton, C.; Hart, A. L. How Should Pain, Fatigue, and Emotional Wellness Be Incorporated Into Treatment Goals for Optimal Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease? AGA Clinical Practice Update. Gastroenterology, 2022;162:1439–1451.
- British Society of Gastroenterology guidelines on the management of functional dyspepsia. Gut, 2022.
- AGA Clinical Practice Update on functional heartburn and reflux hypersensitivity. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
- Combined membership of the health plans and employers Nerva holds contracts with, in the US and Australia. A measure of partner reach rather than the number of members enrolled in or covered for Nerva.
- Nerva actuarial model developed with Accorded, August 2026: expected economics net of the model's expected per-enrollee fee. The range uses 6.75% to 13.5% enrollment across a 10% addressable, 50% eligible and reachable population.
- 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.
- Stanghellini, V. Functional Dyspepsia and Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Beyond Rome IV. Digestive Diseases, 2018;35(Suppl 1):14–17: functional GI disorders represent 40% of diagnoses in gastroenterological settings. The structural/complex split either side is illustrative.
- Peery, A. F. et al. Burden and Cost of Gastrointestinal, Liver, and Pancreatic Diseases in the United States: Update 2024. Gastroenterology, 2025;168(5):1000–1024. The latest peer-reviewed national estimate found $111.8B in GI healthcare expenditures in 2021.
- 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: over 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. Retrospective completer analysis, not a controlled trial.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: stomach and abdominal pain is the most common principal reason for adult emergency department visits. See also Wu et al., Academic Emergency Medicine, 2025, on ED abdominal-pain presentations 2007–2019.
- HIF and Mindset Health member health program partnership, current as at August 2026. Program details and outcome figures are available to funds and plans under discussion.
- Keefer, L.; Palsson, O. S.; Pandolfino, J. E. Best Practice Update: Incorporating Psychogastroenterology Into Management of Digestive Disorders. Gastroenterology, 2018;154(5):1249–1257. DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2018.01.045.
- WTW. Digestive Health Benefits Consulting, 2026: digestive health is consistently a top-five and can be a top-three cost category for employers.