ST. LOUIS, April 27, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CIGNA HealthCare of St. Louis, Inc. announced the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has awarded an “Excellent” accreditation for its 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.
“Being accredited with an `Excellent’ rating is the highest honor we can receive from NCQA,” said Elizabeth Kraft, MD, Vice President and Medical Executive for CIGNA HealthCare of St. Louis, Inc. “It validates our efforts to provide quality programs to our members and help them lead healthier lives.”
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. CIGNA HealthCare of St. Louis, Inc. 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.
“It is partly a health plan’s members who determine whether it earns NCQA’s “Excellent” accreditation status. Any plan that does so should be proud of their accomplishment. It is a sign that they are delivering great service and access to great care - they’ve met the toughest test in managed care,” said Greg Pawlson, M.D., Executive Vice President, NCQA.
One example of that is the Well Aware Program for Better Health(R), CIGNA’s disease management program for 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. In St. Louis, the patient and physician outreach efforts have made a notable impact. In one year, cholesterol screening, a key screening for patients with heart disease, increased 8 percentage points.
CIGNA HealthCare of St. Louis, Inc. 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 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 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 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.
CIGNA HealthCare
Contact: Patricia Caballero, CIGNA HealthCare, +1-201-533-5028
Web site: http://www.cigna.com/
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