Doctor Alliance Groups PERC and IVA Create Strategic Partnership to Serve More Practices

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Professional Eyecare Resource Co-Operative (PERC) and Infinity Vision Alliance (IVA), two California-based doctor alliance groups serving most of the U.S., have formed a strategic alliance in order to create two distinct products for the market based on practice volume. The agreement took effect on Jan. 1 with the new organization providing services for more than 950 existing members.

Having distinct products based on practice size allows each group to focus on the specific needs of different practices while creating additional products to help improve services and attract new membership. The strategic alliance combines the buying strengths of both organizations with PERC's administrative infrastructure and relationship with doctor group EyeHome Network, and IVA's practice management education network.

"Now PERC members will have even more options to access resources and programs while maintaining our free membership," said Dr. David Golden, PERC co-founder. "By working together, both organizations contribute their strengths to provide additional services more efficiently, while maintaining a common mission of growing sustainable, independent eyecare professionals that are prepared to compete in our changing market. This includes a strong business strategy, better connectivity and better cost of goods."

PERC remains the best, most cost-effective doctor alliance option for practices that generate at least $1 million in annual revenue. These larger practices benefit from the discounts, business strategy and education tailored specifically to their size. IVA will focus on smaller organizations while expanding its services and offerings to its existing members. IVA members will directly benefit from the PERC administrative infrastructure, supply-chain frame distribution and the association with EyeHome Network for patient recruiting.

Professional education offerings like webinars, roundtable discussions and practice management lectures, as well as growth programs, are being adapted from current IVA curriculum to fit the PERC and IVA communities. By combining strengths and membership, both alliances become larger networks making regional contracting easier and more attractive to payors.

"We are excited to have found a partner that shares our vision, values and strategy for how doctor alliance groups will evolve to meet the needs of our members in these unknown times," said Dr. Richard Frieder, IVA co-founder.

PERC has worked diligently to create a shared-service organization that is capable of supporting other doctor alliance groups that would benefit from accessing their administrative platform management team. PERC and IVA showed significant growth in 2013 at 42 percent and 67 percent growth respectively.

"Our growth in 2014 should be even stronger as the combined PERC and IVA alliance will further distinguish our groups in the market as the absolute best value in the doctor alliance category," according to Dr. Golden. "Nobody offers the amount of services and programs to their members at a lower cost."

Under the agreement, PERC will maintain their free membership model, while IVA will continue to have a minimal fee.

PERC co-founders Dr. David Golden and Dr. Howard Stein will join IVA co-founders Dr. Richard Frieder and Dr. Aaron Sako on the Infinity Vision Alliance board.

About the Professional Eyecare Resource Co-Operative
The Professional Eyecare Resource Co-Operative (PERC) functions as a group purchasing organization (GPO) and is comprised of many of the most successful independent eyecare practices in the United States. Based in Southern California, members receive year-end distributions by working together to achieve value for the group as a whole. PERC is free to join, and members are not subject to monthly or annual fees. 

The co-operative model aligns PERC member practices with the nation's leading suppliers to secure top-tier pricing and access to greater resources that are not available to individual practices. Not only do members get group buying power and other professional services, they also get private access to a collaborative website where they can leverage the experience, knowledge and tools of their top-performing peers.

About Infinity Vision Alliance
Infinity Vision Alliance (IVA) is a doctor alliance based in Southern California. IVA negotiates maximum discounts with partner companies and passes the entire discount on to their members, regardless of the size of practice. Using their alliance of offices across the nation enables any practice to have the buying power of a multi-million dollar network of practices. Growth programs are optimal for IVA members as their practices have enjoyed sustained growth over the industry averages. Members also have access to a broad range of practice management education through webinars and roundtable discussions that have become the cornerstone of their education programs.

SOURCE The Professional Eyecare Resource Co-Operative (PERC)