INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WellPoint, Inc. , announced today that it has received certification from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for nine verification services for physician credentialing.
WellPoint is certified under NCQA’s Credentials Verification Organization (CVO) program for the following verification services: application processing, education and training, DEA certification, license to practice, malpractice claims history, Medicare and Medicaid sanctions, ongoing monitoring of sanctions, medical board sanctions, and work history.
“Certification by NCQA for these nine credentialing services underscores WellPoint’s commitment to improve the quality and affordability of health care through more efficient programs, including credentialing verification,” said Samuel R. Nussbaum, M.D., executive vice president and chief medical officer of WellPoint, Inc.
The NCQA CVO certification process is a quality assessment program that reviews organizations that verify physicians’ credentials. The voluntary review process evaluates an organization’s management of such functions as data collection, verification operations, and the process used to continuously improve services.
The certification process includes rigorous onsite evaluations conducted by a team of health care professionals and certified credential specialists. A national oversight committee of physicians analyzes the team’s findings and determines certification based on the CVO’s compliance with NCQA standards.
“Achieving CVO certification from NCQA demonstrates that WellPoint has the systems, process and personnel in place to thoroughly and accurately verify providers’ credentials and to help health plans meet their accreditation goals,” said Margaret E. O’Kane, president of NCQA.
About NCQA:
The National Committee for Quality Assurance is a private, 501(c)(3) non- profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. The organization is frequently referred to as a watchdog for the managed care industry, but NCQA also recognizes individual doctors and medical groups. Employers and consumers use information provided by NCQA to make more informed health care choices. NCQA’s mission is to improve the quality of health care. It does so by generating useful, understandable information about health care quality to help inform consumer and employer choice. The organization also work to generate information and feedback that help physicians, health plans and others to identify opportunities for improvement and make changes that enhance the quality of patient care. For more information, visit http://www.ncqa.org/ .
About WellPoint, Inc.
WellPoint, Inc. is the largest publicly traded commercial health benefits company in terms of membership in the United States. WellPoint, Inc. is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and serves its members as the Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (as Blue Cross Blue Shield in 10 New York City metropolitan counties and as Blue Cross, Blue Shield or Blue Cross Blue Shield in selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), Wisconsin; and through UniCare. Additional information about WellPoint is available at http://www.wellpoint.com .
WellPoint, Inc.
CONTACT: Media: Laura Stallman, +1-317-488-6417, or Investor Relations:Wayne S. DeVeydt, +1-317-488-6390, both of WellPoint, Inc.
