[August 21, 2018]

Massachusetts General Physicians Organization and IKS Health Tackle the Critical Challenges Facing Physicians in Innovative Collaboration

Recognizing the national epidemic of physician burnout and the burden of technology, legislation, and reimbursement changes affecting the crucial relationship between patients and providers, the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization (MGPO) and IKS Health are announcing a new collaboration to improve healthcare delivery throughout the United States.

Together the organizations will focus on building innovative solutions that address the needs of clinicians today. Key clinical leaders from MGPO will identify common challenges negatively affecting ambulatory care, and this team will collaborate with the leading physicians at IKS who have clinical expertise and resources to develop and execute physician enablement solutions.

The organizations' shared history has set the strong foundation for this collaboration. In late 2015, MGPO was preparing to transfer to a new electronic health record (EHR) system from their legacy platform. Concerned about migrating patient data in an accurate and timely manner, and the impact that a poor data transfer could have on patient safety and physician satisfaction, MGPO approached IKS for assistance in migrating data from the legacy EHR to the new system. This effort saved MGPO more than 30,000 physician hours by having IKS review more than 300,000 patient records with an error rate of less than 0.5 percent The MGPO experienced no downtime during the migration. By contrast, another organization in the region using its own physicians and nurses to transfer patient data had decreased patient access for more than seven months after the switch, affecting patients and physicians alike.

After the success of the medication transfer project, MGPO worked with IKS for additional services to further reduce the administrative burden on MGPO physicians and enhance patient care. Scribble, an asynchronous virtual scribing service, uses virtual clinical talent to create accurate, complete, and structured clinical notes enabling physicians to focus on the patient during the exam and reducing the time required for clinical documentation. MGPO and IKS have also collaborated to develop a centralized prescription renewal service, under which all prescription refills are handled by a remote team that follows safe and secure clinical protocols developed by MGPO. In addition, MGPO and IKS work together on coding and revenue cycle services.

Dr. Timothy Ferris, CEO of MGPO notes: "Addressing physician administrative burden is one of the chief objectives of our organization. Our goal has been to find ways to use technology to bring tangible relief to our doctors. Our relationship with IKS aims to help us achieve that goal."

"We consider ourselves honored and very fortunate to be in collaboration with such an esteemed healthcare institution," says Sachin Gupta, Founder and CEO of IKS Health. "IKS and the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization are bonded by a common desire to innovate in a focused, thoughtful way. This shared commitment creates a ripple effect. When we provide better and safer care, address physician burnout, and reduce burden, we exponentially change the lives of physicians and by extension, healthcare in America for the better."

As the organizations continue to successfully change the way care is delivered and received, the tools, practices, and insights will be shared and available for health systems nationwide.

About IKS Health

IKS Health enables the enhanced delivery of exceptional health care for today's practicing physician, medical groups and health systems. Supporting health care providers through every function of the patient visit, IKS is a go-to resource for organizations looking to effectively scale, improve quality and achieve cost savings through integrated technology and forward-thinking solutions. Founded in 2007, the 4,500-member strong workforce at IKS includes approximately 800 physicians, and manages more than $10 billion in revenue for more than 14,000 client physicians throughout the United States. IKS is headquartered in New York and has offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, Montgomery, Mumbai and Hyderabad, India.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180821005374/en/

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