BLOOMFIELD, Conn., June 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CIGNA HealthCare
has recently earned "Excellent" accreditation - the highest accreditation
rating possible -- from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)
for its commercial HMO and point-of-service (POS) health care plans in
Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas/Missouri, Texas and St.
Louis.
"NCQA's 'Excellent' Accreditation status is reserved for the best
health plans in the nation," said NCQA President Margaret E. O'Kane. "It is
only awarded to those plans that meet or exceed NCQA's rigorous
requirements for consumer protection and quality improvement and deliver
excellent clinical care."
"We are committed to providing our members with high quality programs
to help them continue down a healthy path for the future," said Jeffrey
Kang, MD, chief medical officer for CIGNA HealthCare. "We couldn't be more
pleased that NCQA has recognized us for our continuing commitment to
offering our members quality programs and resources that focus on
prevention, wellness and risk reduction, disease and case management, and
consumer decision-support."
The NCQA Accreditation survey process includes onsite and off-site
evaluations of over 60 standards and selected HEDIS(R) performance
measures, conducted by a team of physicians and industry experts. The
"Excellent" status is effective for three years. The review process
evaluates how well a health plan manages all aspects of its operations and
the extent to which it continuously works to improve health care for its
members, in addition to its relationships with medical providers.
CIGNA HealthCare has a long history and record of success in seeking
external validation of its quality improvement programs. All 23 of CIGNA
HealthCare's NCQA-accredited HMO and point-of-service health plans
currently hold Excellent Accreditation status and have earned Distinction
for NCQA's Quality Plus Member Connections and Physician and Hospital
Quality standards. The Member Connections standards assess a plan's
Web-based and telephonic consumer decision support tools. The Physician and
Hospital Quality standards assess how well a plan provides members with
information about physicians and hospitals in its network to help consumers
make informed health care decisions. CIGNA HealthCare was also the first
national health care plan to voluntarily commit to reporting HEDIS
Effectiveness of Care measures for its PPO plans to NCQA, and did so for 41
markets in 2006. The company will do so again in 2007 as it pursues NCQA
Accreditation review for its PPO plans, scheduled for later this year.
About NCQA
NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving
health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health
care organizations and recognizes physicians in key clinical areas. NCQA's
Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) is the most widely
used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA is committed to
providing health care quality information through the Web, media and data
licensing agreements in order to help consumers, employers and others make
more informed health care choices.
About CIGNA HealthCare
CIGNA HealthCare, based in Bloomfield, CT, provides medical benefits
plans, dental coverage, behavioral health coverage, pharmacy benefits and
products and services that integrate and analyze information to support
consumerism and health advocacy. "CIGNA HealthCare" refers to certain
operations of Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, which is an
operating subsidiary of CIGNA Corporation (NYSE: CI). Products and services
are provided by such operating subsidiaries, and not by CIGNA Corporation.
For more information, visit http://www.cigna.com.
HEDIS(R) is a registered trademark of the National Committee for
Quality Assurance (NCQA). All rights reserved.
SOURCE CIGNA Healthcare
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Related links:
http://www.cigna.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/165050.html/
CONTACT:
Ann Marie C. Raymond of CIGNA Healthcare,
+1-860-226-5063, annmarie.raymond@cigna.com
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