Ankr Health Expands VCX Platform to GI Specialists of Georgia, Advancing AI-Powered Patient Access

Collaboration aims to improve front office workflows, ease staff burden, and deliver faster GI care across metro Atlanta.

ATLANTA, GA, UNITED STATES, September 9, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Ankr Health, a Y Combinator and MedTech Innovator–backed company that has pioneered AI-agentic workflow solutions for medical front offices, today announced a new partnership with GI Specialists of Georgia (GSG), one of Georgia’s leading independent gastroenterology practices. The collaboration will bring Ankr’s VCX platform into nine clinics across metro Atlanta, helping to improve response times for patient issues, ease staff burden, and expand access to specialty care.

The initiative is designed to address a core challenge in our healthcare system: improving response times for patients with unscheduled needs. As Georgia’s population grows rapidly, specialty practices face rising volumes of calls, messages, and urgent follow-ups often overwhelming staff and delaying care. For patients in metro Atlanta and surrounding rural communities, this can mean hours-long trips for appointments and extended waits for answers to time-sensitive concerns.

“GI Specialists of Georgia has long been recognized for delivering high-quality care across the region,” said Dr. Michael J. Grupka, CEO of GI Specialists of Georgia. “But population growth and new regulatory requirements such as same-day release of test results have created unsustainable strain on our physicians and staff. We receive well over a hundred thousand patient calls and messages each year, a good portion of which require clinic visits. Ankr’s ability to augment the work of several full-time staff positions in our front office means we can shorten the gap between when a patient reaches out and when they get the help they need.”

Ankr’s VCX platform was created after listening to the needs of more than 3,000 doctors, administrators, and clinic personnel nationwide. It is the first and only solution that provides practices with three integrated AI staff members to augment the front office:

- Mira, the AI medical assistant that triages incoming calls & messages, and ensures that doctors and patients connect on video or phone regardless of technical barriers.

- Frank, the AI scheduler who manages the entire appointment lifecycle based on practice’s decision trees. Frank integrates deeply into EHR and autonomously finds best available time, schedules appointments and automates insurance verification.

- Sol, the AI scribe who creates detailed clinic and nursing notes in real time for phone, video and in-person visits.

Together, these AI staff help doctors perform clinic visits from anywhere—allowing them to see patients whenever they are free, without the limitations of a brick-and-mortar setup. This is especially useful for specialists like the gastroenterologists at GSG, who spend much of their week performing endoscopy procedures. Even when physicians need to treat clinical patients on a non-clinic day, space and staffing constraints often prevent it. Ankr enables them to “spin up” a virtual appointments without adding staff workload—unlocking healthcare’s most coveted trifecta of value gains: improved operational efficiency, expanded patient access, and new revenue streams.

“Doctors today spend an average of 2.5 weeks or $84,000 annually in uncompensated time on patient calls and messages,” said Dr. Ray Rao, oncologist and CEO of Ankr Health referring to a Kaiser Permanente study from 2024. “That’s simply not sustainable as reimbursements decline and labor costs rise. Many independent practices are being forced to close or sell, leaving patients with fewer options. We designed VCX to reverse this trend—deeply integrating with leading EHRs and phone systems so clinics can run half-day, full-day, or even weekend sessions with no added staffing.”

“We are delighted to partner with GI Specialists of Georgia, a group that’s well recognized as a leader in high-quality GI care across northwest metro Atlanta,” Dr. Rao added. “We are excited to bring clinically driven AI technology to their patients and help solve one of the most challenging problems in medicine—the sheer volume of patient communication that slows care.”

This collaboration underscores Ankr Health’s mission to apply AI where it makes the greatest difference: removing barriers between patients and providers and strengthening access to care in communities where it’s needed most.

About Ankr Health
Ankr Health is a venture-backed company advancing an AI-enabled platform that streamlines patient communications and clinical workflows. Its flagship VCX platform helps healthcare providers improve access, reduce delays, and alleviate operational burdens that drive care gaps across diverse health systems.

About GI Specialists of Georgia
GI Specialists of Georgia is a leading independent gastroenterology practice with nine convenient locations across northwest Atlanta. The practice’s 24 board-certified physicians combine advanced technology with cutting-edge research to diagnose, treat, and prevent a wide range of gastrointestinal diseases and disorders. With three state-of-the-art endoscopy centers and a commitment to efficient, personalized, and affordable care, GI Specialists of Georgia delivers comprehensive GI services under one trusted name.

Their expert team includes recognized leaders in the field, with several physicians honored among Atlanta’s 2025 Top Docs: Dr. Jeffrey Kim (Woodstock), Dr. Sachin Goel (Marietta), Dr. Raja Sappati (Acworth), Dr. Anish Desai (Douglasville), and Dr. Akit Patel (North Fulton). Additional practice locations include Canton, East Cobb, Paulding, and Vinings.

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Madelyn De Los Santos
Putnam Insights LLC
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