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Blue Shield of California's Access + HMO and
Medicare Advantage HMO have been awarded
Accreditation status of Excellent from the
National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA),
an independent, non-profit organization that
assesses and reports on the quality of the
nation's managed care plans. Blue Shield's
Accreditation status -- the highest possible
level -- is based on a voluntary review of
how a health plan ensures that its members
are receiving high-quality care.
The NCQA Accreditation survey process
includes on- and off-site evaluations of
more than 60 standards and selected HEDIS
performance measures conducted by a team of
physicians and managed care experts. A
committee of physicians analyzes the team's
finding and assigns an accreditation level
every three years based on the performance
level of the plan being evaluated to NCQA's
standards.
"Achieving an Accreditation status of
Excellent is a significant achievement for a
health plan," noted Eric Book, M.D., Blue
Shield of California's chief medical
officer. "It is only awarded to those plans
that both meet or exceed NCQA's rigorous
requirements for consumer protection and
quality improvement and have HEDIS results
in the highest range of national
performance."
"Blue Shield is committed to continuous
quality improvement, and I believe that has
been validated by NCQA," said David Joyner,
senior vice president of Network Management.
"This accreditation tells our members that
the care they receive and the physicians who
provide that care meet or exceed the
industry's highest standards of quality.
Each of our employees, providers and
management contributed to the NCQA
accreditation process in some way, so we are
extremely proud of this achievement."
The NCQA Accreditation process evaluates how
well a health plan manages quality
throughout every part of its delivery system
-- physicians, hospitals, affiliated
providers, and administrative services -- to
continuously improve health care for its
members. |
