CHICAGO, April 27, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CIGNA HealthCare of Illinois, Inc. announced the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has awarded it an “Excellent” accreditation for the plan’s HMO and POS products. This is the top accreditation designation 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.
“We are proud of our NCQA `Excellent’ Accreditation,” said Aslam Khan, MD, Vice President and Senior Medical Executive for CIGNA HealthCare of Illinois, Inc. “It reflects our commitment to helping ensure members have access to quality programs and responsive service.”
NCQA accreditation is an evaluation of how a health plan helps ensure its 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 NCQA review.
CIGNA HealthCare of Illinois, Inc. received high marks in categories such as access to care and qualified 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.
CIGNA HealthCare has a strong commitment to quality programs that bring better care to members. One such program, which was designed to help members with diabetes better manage their condition, was so successful that the NCQA recognized it as a best practice in the industry.
In this program, members with diabetes who had not had appropriate health screenings, such as cholesterol screenings, retinal eye exams and kidney function tests, were contacted and reminded they should be screened annually. Outreach was also conducted to the members’ physicians to alert them that their patient had not, according to CIGNA HealthCare records, obtained the appropriate diabetes health screenings for the year.
“Research shows that people with diabetes should have continuous education about their condition and reminders of the steps they need to take to ensure they live a healthy lifestyle. Our initiative put that support mechanism in place,” said Dr. Khan.
The program significantly improved rates for all six comprehensive diabetes care measures. Rates for two of those measures - kidney function testing and hemoglobin screening - increased from year to the next by 15 and 11 percentage points, respectively.
CIGNA HealthCare of Illinois underwent a single site accreditation survey with four other CIGNA HealthCare health plans in the Midwest - CIGNA HealthCare of Indiana, Inc., CIGNA HealthCare of Kansas/Missouri, Inc., CIGNA HealthCare of Ohio, Inc. and CIGNA HealthCare of St. Louis, Inc. This was the largest accreditation survey undertaken by CIGNA HealthCare and only the second time that NCQA has conducted a survey of this size and scope. All five health plans received “Excellent” Accreditation, and the accreditation is valid until 2007.
This strong outcome follows other recent CIGNA HealthCare honors for quality. In March, NCQA awarded “Excellent” accreditation to three CIGNA HealthCare health plans in New England - CIGNA HealthCare of Massachusetts, Inc., CIGNA HealthCare of New Hampshire, Inc. and CIGNA HealthCare of Maine, Inc. Earlier in the year, CIGNA Behavioral Health, the behavioral benefits unit of CIGNA, announced Full Accreditation as a managed behavioral health organization and a perfect 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 to approximately 11.5 million people, dental coverage to approximately 12.1 million, behavioral health coverage to approximately 14.2 million, and pharmacy benefits to approximately 8.9 million. “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 of CIGNA HealthCare, +1-201-533-5028
Web site: http://www.cigna.com/
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