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ROCKLEDGE, FL (June 25, 2009) — Health First Health Plans (HFHP) announced today it has been awarded an Accreditation status of Excellent from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. Health First Health Plans’ Accreditation status — the highest possible level — covers both group and Medicare lines of business, and is based on a voluntary review of how a health plan ensures its members are receiving high quality care.
Much of the Accreditation is based on results of the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®), a tool used by more than 90 percent of all health plans to measure performance on more than 60 important standards of care and service. Because HEDIS data are collected by such a large portion of the market, and the measures are so specifically defined, HEDIS makes it possible to compare the performance of health plans on an “apples-to-apples” basis.
“NCQA’s Excellent Accreditation status is reserved for the best health plans in the nation,” said Margaret E. O’Kane, president of NCQA. “It is only awarded to those plans that both meet or exceed NCQA’s rigorous requirements for consumer protection and quality improvement and deliver excellent clinical care.”
The NCQA Accreditation survey process includes on-site and off-site evaluations of over 60 standards and selected HEDIS® performance measures conducted by a team of physicians and managed care experts. A national oversight committee of physicians analyzes the team’s finding and assigns an accreditation level based on the plan’s performance in five areas: Access and Service, Qualified Providers, Staying Healthy, Getting Better, and Living with Illness.
“We are an organization committed to continuous quality improvement, and I believe that has been validated by NCQA,” said Peter Weiss, MD, CEO of HFHP. “Each of our employees, providers and managers has contributed to the NCQA Accreditation process in some way, so we are extremely proud of this achievement.”
“Our members are familiar with our friendly, local customer service, but we believe they deserve to know they’re also receiving national-level clinical quality. Not all health plans are willing to undergo such a comprehensive inspection,” said Joy Gilbert, vice president of health care services for HFHP.
Many of the nation’s largest companies will not offer their employees a health plan that has not earned NCQA Accreditation. And in more than 30 states, health plans that hold NCQA Accreditation are exempted from many or all elements of the annual state audit. Regulators realize that in NCQA-Accredited plans, their quality requirements have already been met or exceeded.
HFHP offers Medicare Advantage Prescription drug plans to individuals, a variety of commercial/group plans to local employers, including HMO, POS, and high-deductible options, as well as third-party administration services. HFHP currently has 62,500 members, including 22,750 Medicare Advantage members — more than one out of every nine residents in Brevard.
Serving residents of Brevard County and part of Sebastian in Indian River County since 1996, HFHP was founded as part of Health First, a not-for-profit family of healthcare services that also includes Cape Canaveral Hospital, Holmes Regional Medical Center, Palm Bay Hospital, Health First Physicians, and Pro-Health & Fitness Centers. For more information, visit www.healthfirsthealthplans.org or call 321.434.5665.
HEDIS® is a registered trademark of NCQA
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Why does quality matter?
Why is it so important to measure health plan performance and quality? The answer is simple: Quality improves when you measure.
For example, according to NCQA one of the most remarkable achievements from measurement, reporting and improvement of quality is the rise in the percentage of heart attack patients who are receiving beta-blocker drugs. Beta-blockers are given after a heart attack to prevent second, often fatal, heart attacks.
When NCQA began measuring this treatment in 1996, fewer than 2 in 3 patients were receiving the right care. Ten years later, more than 97 percent of heart attack patients received beta-blockers. This improvement has saved as many as 5,600 lives over the past six years alone. It has improved the health of tens of thousands more. These results are a dramatic illustration of the benefits that a broad commitment to quality can bring to the American health care system.
Visit www.ncqa.org to learn more.
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