Telligen Honored with the Richard L. Doyle Award for Innovative 'Blue-Ribbon' Prior Authorization Program

Experienced population health management company achieves national recognition for its provider incentive initiative

SEATTLE, March 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- MCG Health, part of the Hearst Health network and the industry's source of truth for trusted clinical guidance, announces Telligen, a population health management company headquartered in Iowa, as a recipient of its 2025 Richard L. Doyle Award for Innovation and Leadership in Healthcare. The Doyle Award recognizes exceptional use of evidence-based guidance and transformative care models that advance quality, improve outcomes, and reduce unnecessary costs.

Telligen was recognized for its "Blue-Ribbon Program," which helps align provider decisions with nationally recognized clinical standards, including the evidence-based MCG care guidelines. The initiative breaks from using specific code-based algorithms to incentivize providers, favoring a more holistic, trend-based approach, and was designed to support care decisions that are consistent, medically appropriate, and timely. In addition, Telligen embedded clinical intelligence directly into its authorization process by using MCG automation technology to minimize delays in treatment and increase transparency between the organization and its providers. The result is a data-driven framework that supports both utilization management and quality improvement efforts, while giving providers actionable insights that help optimize patient outcomes.

The Blue-Ribbon Program launched as a targeted pilot with a small group of providers with a history of submitting complete and accurate requests for medically necessary services, limited need for additional information, and a track record of approval. Since its inception, provider participation has expanded by 500-percent. At the same time, auto-authorization volume through the new workflow increased by 180-percent. The outcomes demonstrate both the program's successful scalability and its real-world impact.

"We are truly honored to receive the 2025 Doyle Award for the Blue-Ribbon Program, a testament to the power of innovation when clinical intelligence, automation, and collaboration come together," said Jeff Chungath, CEO of Telligen. "The real impact is reflected in the measurable outcomes we've achieved and the stronger partnerships we've built with providers to improve care delivery for patients across the country."

"Congratulations to Telligen on earning the 2025 Doyle Award for its Blue-Ribbon Program," said Jon Shreve, CEO and President of MCG. "This recognition reflects what's possible when evidence-based care guidelines, intelligent automation, and provider collaboration come together at scale. At MCG, we lead the healthcare community to deliver patient-focused care, and Telligen's innovative approach exemplifies that mission by advancing timely, clinically appropriate decisions that improve outcomes for patients while strengthening trust across the care continuum."

Doyle Award recipients are selected annually by an independent panel of healthcare experts who are not affiliated with MCG. Members of the Telligen team will be honored at MCG Client Forum, June 1-3, 2026, in Aventura, Florida, where they will share insights from the award-winning initiative.

About Telligen

Telligen is a 100-percent employee-owned population health organization dedicated to transforming lives and economies by improving health outcomes nationwide. For more than 50 years, Telligen has partnered with federal and state agencies, health plans, employers, and other stakeholders to deliver innovative, data-driven health management solutions that improve quality, lower costs, and promote equitable care. Combining deep clinical, analytical, and technical expertise, Telligen turns data into actionable insights and scalable solutions that help millions live their healthiest lives. As a CMS-designated Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO), Telligen is committed to ingenuity, integrity, community, and ownership in advancing population health.

To learn more about the Blue Ribbon Program, please visit: https://www.telligen.com/how-telligens-blue-ribbon-program-transforms-prior-authorization/

About the Richard L. Doyle Award for Innovation and Leadership in Healthcare

The Doyle Award was developed to recognize organizations that make innovative use of MCG solutions to help deliver effective healthcare. Dr. Doyle, founding editor of the MCG care guidelines, was a hospital chief-of-staff when he began creating clinical guidance in the 1980s to help improve healthcare efficiency and quality at Mercy Hospital in San Diego. He later joined Milliman & Robertson and published the first set of what was to become the MCG care guidelines in 1988.

Judges for this award are independent healthcare quality experts, not currently employed by MCG. Applicants were judged on how well their projects supported the MCG mission to "lead the healthcare community to deliver patient-focused care." Judges looked for evidence of improvements in healthcare quality and patient safety, patient/member satisfaction, staff efficiency, productivity and satisfaction, internal/external communication, and effective use of resources.

About MCG Health

MCG, part of the Hearst Health network, is the trusted source of truth for clinical guidance in the healthcare industry. MCG combines evidence-based guidelines and analytics with artificial intelligence to guide efficient and accurate clinical decisions. MCG solutions are licensed by a vast majority of health plans, thousands of hospitals, and many state and federal government agencies to drive quality health outcomes while controlling costs. For more information, visit www.mcg.com.

About Hearst Health

The mission of Hearst Health is to guide healthcare organizations by delivering essential intelligence and software that improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of care. Hearst Health has been innovating with care for more than 40 years, with a commitment to making a lasting positive impact on health. The Hearst Health companies — FDB, Homecare Homebase, MCG, MHK, QGenda, and Zynx Health — elevate care by informing and empowering participants across the health journey. To learn more, visit www.hearst.com/hearst-health and follow Hearst Health on LinkedIn.

SOURCE MCG Health