HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- In its 2004 State of Health Care Quality report, the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has recognized Capital BlueCross’ health maintenance organization, Keystone Health Plan Central, as a top-five best-performing commercial health plan in “effectiveness of care,” in the Middle Atlantic region. The Middle Atlantic region encompasses all the health plans in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey.
Based in Washington, D.C., the NCQA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to measuring the quality of America’s health care.
Keystone Health Plan Central’s top-five performance listing is based on its Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS(R)) measures, a standardized methodology designed to ensure that purchasers and consumers have the information they need to reliably compare the performance of managed health care organizations. “Effectiveness of care” is one of eight HEDIS categories, but is considered in the industry to be a key indicator of how well a health plan performs in making sure its members are receiving necessary care for conditions that relate to significant public health issues such as cancer, heart disease, smoking, asthma and diabetes.
“It is no surprise that our Keystone Health Plan Central product is rated very high in a category that deals with patient care,” said Anita M. Smith, president & CEO of Capital BlueCross. “This is a health maintenance organization that has a strong reputation for being there for its members, which is a big reason why it’s also the No. 1 HMO in our service area.”
In addition to its top-five ranking, Keystone Health Plan Central also recently received high marks for “customer satisfaction” in the Consumer Assessment of Health Plan Study (CAHPS), scoring higher than 90 percent of all other health plans in four key areas: overall health plan, claims processing, overall health care received and rating of specialist. The CAHPS is an annual survey of health plan members performed by an outside vendor.
“High customer satisfaction has been a consistently strong attribute of our Keystone Health Plan Central product,” noted Smith. “It’s pleasing to see yet another validation of the excellence of our insurance, and the great service that comes with it.”
Capital BlueCross is a full-service health insurer committed to making health insurance simple, offering easy-to-use health care and personal service at competitive prices. The company has been serving its customers for more than 65 years and employs about 2,400 people.
More information about Capital BlueCross can be found at http://www.capbluecross.com/. You can find more information about the company’s Keystone Health Plan Central product at http://www.khpc.com/.
Capital BlueCross and Keystone Health Plan Central are independent licensees
of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
Capital BlueCross
CONTACT: Joseph Butera, Capital BlueCross, +1-717-541-6139,Joe.Butera@capbluecross.com
