SEATTLE, Oct. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Accolade (NASDAQ: ACCD), a personalized health and benefits solution for employers, health plans and their members, announces a partnership with the Global Appropriateness Measures group (GAM) to incorporate their patented appropriateness measures into Accolade's newest service, Intelligent Provider Matching (IPM). 

Inspired by the work of renowned surgeon and public health expert Dr. Martin Makary, M.D., M.P.H., and developed with a consensus of expert physicians nationally, the appropriate care measures identify practice patterns across medical specialties to improve health outcomes and reduce costs.

The partnership will bring Accolade customers and their employee populations new insights into physicians' relevant experience and surgical outcomes. By analyzing the patterns of care of 1.9 million physicians for common conditions and procedures such as knee and hip surgeries, Accolade's Intelligent Provider Matching service connects employee populations to the provider with the most reliable track record for their need.

The 2020 Change Healthcare – Harris Poll Consumer Experience Index found that half of consumers surveyed have avoided seeking medical care due to the barriers of finding, accessing and paying for healthcare. Accolade's IPM service offers patient-centric insights directly to employees and matches them with the right physicians at the right time. The service also includes help with appointment scheduling, removing one of the major barriers to seeking medical care.

Intelligent Provider Matching is rooted in the pillars of:

1. Member engagement and influence – Accolade proactively works with employers to identify hotspots where cost of care for common treatments and surgeries are not aligned with industry best practices, reaching out to support and guide members to the best care options available to them.
2. Provider insights – Accolade incorporates the GAM measures, analysis of 14 billion claims and billing data, and proprietary insights into member populations to provide a data-driven, thoughtful recommendation on the best matched providers for the health need.
3. Cost Transparency – Accolade includes cost insights, displaying estimated costs for common procedures and tests, relative to other providers in the surrounding area, to identify providers offering the right care at the right cost.
4. Appointment scheduling – Accolade offers concierge services to help manage the scheduling of the care appointment on behalf of the member, including pre- and post-appointment support.
5. Enhanced provider matching and insights reporting to employers – Accolade reports outcomes and cost savings to employers, creating quantifiable results that inform population health and benefits management. On average, Accolade has found employers save up to 10% on employee healthcare costs when members go to the physicians suggested by Accolade's insights.

"Most of the healthcare industry measures quality of care after a medical intervention by tabulating complication rates and lengths of stay," said Martin Makary, M.D., M.P.H. "Appropriateness measures finally enable us to measure medical-decision making itself, a critical component to advancing the mission of high-quality, high-value care. Accolade's work is a giant step forward in achieving this mission."

"GAM is very excited to partner with Accolade to help achieve their mission of helping their members receive the highest value care possible," said Will Bruhn, Chief Operating Officer of GAM.

"Choosing a physician is one of the most complex – and important – parts of the healthcare journey. As a physician, I have unique strengths in managing certain kinds of patients over others but up until now there hasn't been an objective way to assess a physician's practice patterns to help determine which physicians are best matched to which patients," said Accolade Chief Medical Officer Shantanu Nundy, M.D. "Our partnership with GAM finally puts these data-driven insights – combined with compassionate and expert guidance from our frontline care teams – in the hands of working Americans and their families to reduce the complexity of choosing a doctor while lowering unwarranted variation and costs for employers."

About Accolade
Accolade provides personalized health and benefits solutions designed to empower every person to live their healthiest life. Using a blend of cloud-based technologies, specialized support from Accolade Health Assistants® and Clinicians, and integrated data and programs across mobile, online and phone, Accolade navigates people through the healthcare system with trust, empathy and ease. Employers offer Accolade to employees and their families as the single place to turn for all health, healthcare, and benefits questions or concerns, increasing their engagement in benefits and connecting them to high-quality providers and care. By empowering members to make better decisions about their health, Accolade can support members in lowering the cost and complexity of healthcare while achieving consumer satisfaction ratings over 90 percent and an NPS of 60. For more information, visit Accolade on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and at www.accolade.com.

About the Global Appropriateness Measures Group
The Global Appropriateness Measures Group (GAM) is a collaboration of healthcare experts committed to the goal of measuring high-value care and reducing waste. Using the principles of practice pattern measurement, clinical wisdom, and medical evidence GAM seeks to promote a safer, higher quality and more efficient healthcare system. For more information, visit www.gameasures.com/.

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1} Research from Dr. Nika Kabiri, Founder of Kabiri Consulting and Decision Science instructor at the University of Washington

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SOURCE Accolade

Christine Grieve, Christine.Grieve@accolade.com, 206-235-7174