March 20, 2008

ikaSystems and MVP Health Care Announce Agreement to Implement ERP System to Streamline Portal Strategy

Southborough, Mass., and Schenectady, N.Y.,  MVP Health Care, a regional, not-for-profit health insurer, entered into an agreement with ikaSystems to implement its Web-based suite of healthcare portal products. MVP will license sales force automation and other portals to automate processes for brokers, customer service, members and employers. The result will be improved operational efficiency that should in turn lead to reduced premiums.

ikaSystems’ Sales Portal will automate all processes from prospecting through quoting, enrollment and ID card generation for MVP’s small and large commercial and employer group Medicare lines of business. Through the use of the Sales Portal, MVP will reduce its administrative burden and costs, giving employers the ability to manage enrollment, billing and payment functions electronically.

According to Ravi Ika, president of ikaSystems, clients using the Sales Portal have increased quoting activity by 40 percent and reduced the sales cycle from eight to two days. “Internal sales management is able to track the sales activity from leads to close, and a significant portion of employer groups can be automatically rated, leaving the complicated cases for the underwriters,” Ika said.

Ika continued, “For years, both payers and vendors in the industry have invested in claims systems with limited return due in part to only 20 percent of an insurer’s expenses being associated with claims processing. Investments such as MVP’s are in the high-cost areas where the returns are the greatest. These processes were never automated, integrated and pushed to external users, which is what our integrated portal platform brings and why our technology is being embraced by many health plans.”

The Employer Portal, which MVP will also use, automates enrollment, billing and roster management. Employers can set up their sub-groups in whatever fashion they require and better manage some of their traditional challenges, such as off cycle changes.

Dave Henderson, MVP’s executive vice president of marketing and chief marketing officer, said, “ikaSystems is the strategic technology partner that our portal strategy requires. Following a thorough due diligence process, we selected ikaSystems for its state-of-the-art Web technology, extensive domain expertise, strong reference accounts and true partnership business model.”

Henderson added, “I have first-hand experience with ikaSystems at two other organizations, and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to work with them again on our exciting initiative.”

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with such a successful, first-class organization as MVP,” said Ika. “The partnership we have developed between our organizations will benefit all of us as we automate these critical processes and realize the operational improvements.”

About ikaSystems
ikaSystems (www.ikasystems.com) is a leading provider of Web-based ERP solutions for the managed care industry. Based in Southborough, Mass., ikaSystems offers a broad spectrum of software solutions, outsourcing and consulting services. The ikaEnterprise system is ikaSystems’ flagship product. It is a full-service, comprehensive system that automates all the key transactions in the managed care cycle. The system consists of five stand-alone, self-service Web portals that are tightly integrated with business intelligence and transactional systems: core claims adjudication, integrated medical management that incorporates disease and utilization management, medical and business intelligence, prospective HEDIS®, utilization analytics reporting. This integrated solution provides a Web-based infrastructure for healthcare organizations, insurance carriers and third-party administrators.

MVP Health Care, Inc.
MVP Health Care, Inc., is a family of companies offering a range of health benefit plans and options combined with leading-edge wellness programs that help reduce health risks and control health care costs. MVP distinguishes itself by combining the wide range of health benefit plan options offered by large insurers with the attentive service and flexibility normally associated with a smaller company. Through MVP Health Plan, Inc., the MVP Health Insurance Company, Preferred Care and Preferred Assurance Company, MVP Health Care, Inc., serves more than 650,000 members across Upstate New York, Vermont and New Hampshire.