TAMPA, Fla., July 22, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CIGNA HealthCare of Florida, Inc. announced the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has again awarded it an “Excellent” three-year accreditation for the plan’s HMO and POS products. CIGNA HealthCare of Florida was originally awarded “Excellent” accreditation in 2002. 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.
“An ‘Excellent’ accreditation reinforces our commitment to making sure our members have access to quality clinical programs and responsive service,” said William Alexander, MD, National Quality Medical Director for CIGNA HealthCare.
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 Florida, 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.
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 Florida underwent a single site accreditation survey with several other CIGNA HealthCare health plans in the Southeast, including CIGNA HealthCare of North Carolina, 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 HealthCare, +1-201-533-5028
Web site: http://www.cigna.com/
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