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CIGNA HealthCare Of North Carolina, Inc. Receives "Excellent" Accreditation From NCQA

Published: Jul 22, 2004

RALEIGH, N.C., July 22, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CIGNA HealthCare of North Carolina, Inc. announced the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has awarded an "Excellent" three-year Accreditation for CIGNA HealthCare HMO and POS products in North Carolina. This is the top NCQA accreditation possible and demonstrates the CIGNA HealthCare commitment to provide access to quality health care. The NCQA is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to measuring the quality of America's health care.

"Our members expect their health insurance plan to provide quality health programs. It is an important part of helping members lead healthier lives," said Scott Josephs, MD, Vice President and Senior Medical Executive for CIGNA HealthCare of North Carolina, Inc. "We are pleased our efforts to do so have been validated with an Excellent accreditation from NCQA."

NCQA accreditation is an evaluation of how a health plan helps ensure that members are receiving quality care. It includes a review of the success of health plan programs that help members get effective health care. Program results that measure clinical quality, such as the number of enrollees who receive certain disease prevention screenings, are considered in the review. CIGNA HealthCare of North Carolina, Inc. received high marks in categories measuring access to care and qualified medical providers, quality of service, how well the plan helps members stay healthy or get better if they are ill, and how well the plan helps members with a chronic condition live with that illness.

"NCQA's `Excellent' accreditation status is reserved for the best health plans in the nation. 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," said Margaret E. O'Kane, President, NCQA.

One example of such a program is the CIGNA Well Aware Program for Better Health(SM), a disease management program for eligible members with diabetes, heart disease, asthma, low back pain and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The program offers education and support to help empower members to gain greater control over their health. It promotes improved use of medication regimes and diagnostic testing, provides guidance and information on diet, exercise and other lifestyle factors and reinforces standards of care recommended by the member's physician. The Well Aware program is one of the largest disease management programs in the country, with over 550,000 members currently enrolled.

CIGNA HealthCare of North Carolina underwent a single site accreditation survey with several other CIGNA HealthCare health plans in the Southeast, including CIGNA HealthCare of Florida, Inc., CIGNA HealthCare of South Carolina, Inc. and CIGNA HealthCare of Tennessee, Inc. These plans all received Excellent Accreditation.

This strong outcome follows other recent CIGNA HealthCare honors for quality. Last spring, NCQA awarded Excellent accreditation to five CIGNA HealthCare plans covering members in the Midwest markets of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kansas and Missouri and three CIGNA HealthCare health plans covering New England members in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. Earlier in the year, CIGNA Behavioral Health, the behavioral benefits unit of CIGNA, announced Full Accreditation as a managed behavioral health organization and an excellent score for its Chesapeake Regional Care Center in Maryland.

CIGNA HealthCare, headquartered in Bloomfield, Connecticut, provides medical benefits through managed care and indemnity health care plans, dental coverage, behavioral health coverage, and pharmacy benefits. "CIGNA HealthCare" refers to various operating subsidiaries of CIGNA Corporation . Products and services are provided by these operating subsidiaries and not by CIGNA Corporation.

CIGNA HealthCare

Contact: Patricia Caballero, CIGNA, +1-201-533-5028

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