Baylor Scott and White Announces Acquisition of Medical and Surgical Center of Irving

The Medical and Surgical Clinic of Irving (MSCI) is now officially a part of Baylor Scott and White Medical Center Irving.

Baylor Scott and White officially acquired MSCI as part of their medical network on July 9. MSCI has been a part of the Irving healthcare community for over 60 years, and they have been affiliated with Baylor while enjoying a strong working relationship for years, according to Cindy Schamp, President of Baylor Scott and White Medical Center-Irving.

“We’ve had a very long-standing, positive relationship with the Medical and Surgical Clinic,” Schamp said. “I’ve been in Irving for 10 years and worked closely with the leadership of the Medical and Surgical Clinic on their needs, on our mutual patient needs, and on what is necessary to serve the community.”

Schamp said the move to acquire MSCI has been discussed for several years, and this new purchase would allow for more comprehensive, streamlined, and lower-cost care for both new and current patients.

“As health care has evolved around the country, we are seeing more and more organizations come together to really integrate the care that’s being delivered, to improve communications, to bring down costs, and to improve outcomes,” Schamp said. “A platform of integration, integration of health records and other types of things, will allow for better, smoother, more and cost-effective care for our patients. And as groups like Med/Surg Clinic are looking to integrate, we wanted to be a platform that they strongly consider. Based upon our mutual, strong connection to the Irving community and a very common group of patients, I think this was an alignment that had been contemplated off and on for a long time. We’re really happy to have the process completed and to be moving forward together.”

Megan Pharis, vice-president of operations for Health Texas Provider Network, explained the biggest change coming to MSCI will be a new electronic medical records system: EPIC. EPIC is the medical records platform used by all Baylor physicians, and it comes with a new communication tool for patients: MyChart.

“We will be asking [patients] to sign up for MyChart, which is EPIC’s patient portal,” Pharis said. “It’s a way for patients to communicate with their physicians’ offices electronically or online. Once they sign up for MyChart, they will be able to send messages to and from their physician or their physician’s nurse, they’ll be able to schedule appointments, they’ll be able to view lab results and other things about their care.”

MSCI patients’ medical records, however, have already been transferred into the new system, and Pharis said those records will not be affected by the new system.

“MSCI’s physicians were on another electronic medical record, which was purchased as part of the acquisition,” Pharis said. “We have those medical charts that we have now transferred into EPIC. The sign-up part is only for MyChart. From a medical record standpoint, it will be seamless for them. The physicians had their medical records before, they have them now. It’s just in a different system.”

Pharis also added that patients’ health insurance would not be affected, and there should not be any patients who will lose their doctors under the new system due to insurance.

“With all of our acquisitions, we do a side-by-side analysis of the current contracts that MSCI participated in, and matched them up to what Baylor takes and is contracted with,” Pharis said. “For those insurance companies we did not currently have a contract with, we worked with those insurance companies to form some sort of agreement for these MSCI physicians. The short answer is there should not be patients who were able to see a MSCI doctor prior, and cannot now due to insurance constraints.”

Schamp pointed out the acquisition would not affect the ongoing construction at the hospital, since the majority of MSCI’s doctors are located in Medical Office Building 2, which remains unaffected by construction. She added the acquisition of MSCI would further help Baylor Scott and White provide quality healthcare to the people of Irving.

“This is a large group of multi-specialty physicians and surgeons who have served this community for many years, and have partnered with the hospital in an affiliated relationship for many years,” Schamp said. “I think that’s all good for the community. People want to receive high-quality, cost-effective care in their community where they live and where their work when they need that service. We continue to focus hard on doing that, and this just allows us to do that even better.”