OVERLAND PARK, Kan., April 27, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The CIGNA HealthCare plan covering Kansas and Missouri(1) today announced it has earned “Excellent” Accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for its HMO and POS products. This is the top accreditation designation possible and demonstrates CIGNA HealthCare’s 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.
“Being accredited with an `Excellent’ rating is the highest honor a health plan can receive from NCQA,” said Elizabeth Kraft, MD, Vice President and Medical Executive for CIGNA HealthCare plans in Kansas and Missouri. “Our quality programs aim to help our members lead healthier lives and this recognition from NCQA validates our efforts.”
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 review.
In Kansas and Missouri, CIGNA HealthCare 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.
“Earning ‘Excellent’ Accreditation reflects a health plan’s ability to work with their members and contracted physicians to improve the quality of clinical care. It shows that they are building the kinds of partnerships that are critical to delivering great care and great service,” said Margaret E. O’Kane, President, NCQA.
One example is the member and physician outreach program conducted by the health plan for members who had been diagnosed with diabetes. 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’s records, obtained the appropriate diabetes health screenings for the year. The initiative had a notable impact. In one year, cholesterol screening for members with diabetes increased 8 percentage points.
CIGNA HealthCare of Kansas and Missouri underwent a single site accreditation survey with four other CIGNA HealthCare health plans in the Midwest - CIGNA HealthCare of Indiana, Inc., CIGNA HealthCare of St. Louis, Inc., CIGNA HealthCare of Illinois, Inc. and CIGNA HealthCare of Ohio, 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 CIGNA HealthCare’s three health plans in New England - CIGNA HealthCare of Massachusetts, Inc., CIGNA HealthCare of New Hampshire, Inc. and CIGNA HealthCare of Maine, Inc. Earlier this 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.
(1) CIGNA HealthCare of Ohio dba CIGNA HealthCare of Kansas/Missouri, Inc.
CIGNA HealthCare
Contact: Patricia Caballero, CIGNA HealthCare, +1-201-533-5028
Web site: http://www.cigna.com/
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/165050.html
