'Excellent' status reaffirmed

Network Health receives NCQA’s highest reaccreditation level for quality care

May 12, 2008

Menasha, Wis. – The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has reaffirmed its three-year accreditation status of Excellent for Network Health. This 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.

NCQA is an independent, non-profit organization that assesses and reports on the quality of the nation’s managed care plans. To earn Excellent status, health plans must demonstrate levels of service and clinical quality that meet or exceed NCQA’s rigorous requirements for consumer protection and quality improvement.

“This accreditation is a clear sign to our members that Network Health is meeting or exceeding the industry’s highest standards of quality,” said Sheila Jenkins, president of Network Health. “We pride ourselves on providing high-quality care. This recognition—the third time we’ve been cited by the NCQA—is rewarding for all the employees at Network Health.”

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 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,” 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 have HEDIS results in the highest range of national performance.”

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.

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Network Health has offered customized commercial and Medicare health insurance services to area employers, individuals and families since 1982, and through its strong reputation for providing quality health care coverage and excellent customer service has grown to serve thousands of people in Northeast Wisconsin and beyond. Each year since 2002, Network Health has received the highest possible "Excellent" accreditation status from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for its commercial HMO insurance plans, and annually since 2004 it has been ranked in the Top 50 Health Insurance Plans in U.S. News and World Report's NCQA Best Health Plans in America listing.