Iris Healthcare and Blue KC Partner to Offer Advance Care Planning to Medicare and Commercial Members

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Iris Healthcare, the leading provider of Advance Care Planning (ACP) solutions for health plans and provider groups, and  Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC), the largest not-for-profit health insurer in Missouri and the only not-for-profit commercial health insurer in Kansas City, are announcing a new partnership to offer advance care planning to Blue KC's Medicare Advantage and commercial members. Iris will provide ACP services through the Premier program, an innovative, comprehensive ACP intervention designed to engage seriously ill members to better align their goals of care.

Iris specializes in creating high-quality advance care plans by providing individuals with a tailored, person-centered experience. Their expert healthcare facilitators provide supportive guidance for individuals and their loved ones through the full lifecycle of ACP including discussion, documentation, and distribution. Their high-touch approach helps individuals make educated, scenario-based decisions about their future care goals, to advocate for their future care and to feel empowered in their care decisions.

"The Iris Premier program will help our members and provider partners navigate serious illnesses.'' said Dr. Tracy Miles, Medical Director of Oncology at Blue KC.  "Having Iris's experts provide dedicated one-on-one time to walk through the different treatment options and paperwork will relieve the burden for providers and improve care for our members in line with their individual goals."

The Iris suite of digital ACP solutions provides the framework to support Blue KC's provider partners and their staff by easing the burden of time intensive and sensitive conversations, allowing clinical teams to focus on providing excellent care.

 "Our new partnership will empower their most vulnerable members to receive the care they want, and avoid care they don't want." said Steve Wardle, CEO of Iris. "We are honored to be working with Blue KC and serving their members with this beneficial service."

About Iris

Iris partners with at-risk healthcare organizations to scale the delivery of Advance Care Planning to their member populations by leveraging a telehealth model and risk-stratification to match our ACP solutions to a population's risk level. Our ACP solutions allow you to provide a meaningful and beneficial program to your patients while taking the burden off internal resources, driving appropriate care utilization, recognizing cost savings, and delivering quality care.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, the largest not-for-profit health insurer in Missouri and the only not-for-profit commercial health insurer in Kansas City, has been part of the Kansas City community since 1938. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City provides health coverage services to more than one million residents in the greater Kansas City area, including Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas and 30 counties in Northwest Missouri. Our mission: to provide affordable access to healthcare and to improve the health of our members. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information on the company, visit its website at BlueKC.com.

Media Contact:
Marina Popovich
[email protected]

SOURCE Iris Healthcare