Merge Healthcare Inc. has established a new business unit named iConnect Network Services, which reduces operational overhead costs through the delivery of electronic orders, prior-authorization automation, and imaging results.
Delivering interoperability services, the unit also seeks to improve physician engagement among provider communities, in addition to boosting referral success.
“Physicians and administrative staff dedicate between 10 and 20 hours a week solely to manual authorization tasks,” said Steve Tolle, chief strategy officer and president of iConnect Network Services at Merge Healthcare. “We believe that thoughtful and seamless automation of the prior-authorization process can quickly provide necessary information for physicians to deliver appropriate care.”
According to Tolle, approximately half of referrals never turn into a patient appointment due to lost faxes and lack of patient follow-up.
“These gaps represent a clear opportunity to improve care delivery and ensure the appropriateness of all imaging referrals,” Tolle said. “iConnect Network Services is designed to solve these key challenges within the healthcare enterprise, while leveraging our clients’ existing IT infrastructure.”
The business unit arrives after a few years’ worth of development and strategic refinement, according to Justin Dearborn, Merge chief executive officer. “Today’s announcement means that the entire suite of iConnect offerings are fully available to both our installed base of clients and those hospitals and health systems new to the scalable, intuitive, and efficient advantages iConnect Network Services accrues for their businesses,” he continued.
Creating a closed loop to manage orders for imaging, automate the prior-authorization process, and simplify the delivery of imaging results to the ordering physician, iConnect Network Services consists of iCNS Orders, iCNS Authorize, and iCNS Results. These core offerings enable physicians to place electronic orders easily, document order appropriateness, automate manual prior-authorization processes, and receive imaging results within the existing EHR.
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