The complexity of healthcare systems has long frustrated administrators, physicians, and patients. Change is happening—and as physicians, we are empowered to shape those changes to reinforce the kind of healthcare systems we want.

As medical professionals, we are uniquely qualified to identify both high-quality care and to establish standards for high value in patient care. We believe that helping design an ethical and equitable system of healthcare is both our professional responsibility and an opportunity for long-term change.  To these ends, we resolved to launch Alaska’s own Clinically Integrated Network (CIN)—and thus, Envoy was born.

As the primary provider of cardiovascular care in Alaska, Alaska Heart & Vascular Institute (AHVI) has a unique opportunity and responsibility to take charge of Alaska’s heart health. Envoy began from AHVI’s resolution to expand their reach beyond the clinic’s walls to begin chipping away at the barriers preventing patients from receiving high-value care. In addition to a sense of professional duty, AHVI’s practitioners recognized that they had a vested interest in improving Alaska’s healthcare, as they and their families are also its consumers.

AHVI found other practices with sterling reputations and ideological connection, including Orthopedic Physicians Alaska, Internal Medicine Associates, LaTouche Pediatrics, Anchorage Fracture and Orthopedic Clinic, Anchorage and Valley Radiation Therapy Centers, and Alaska Digestive and Liver Clinic. Together, these providers founded Envoy.