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'Excellent' status reaffirmed

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

05 / 12 / 2008

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MENASHA, Wis. – The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has reaffirmed its three-year accreditation status of Excellent for Network Health Plan. 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 Plan is meeting or exceeding the industry’s highest standards of quality,” said Sheila Jenkins, president of Network Health Plan. “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 Plan.”

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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For the Editor:
Affinity Health System, a Catholic mission-oriented regional health care network, is a partnership of Ministry Health Care and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare. Affinity Health System is the Fox Valley’s third largest employer, according to the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and is nationally listed among the top 50 hospitals for quality and efficiency (Thomson Reuters, Modern Healthcare). For eight consecutive years, Affinity Health System has been named to the SDI Health (formerly Verispan) Integrated Health Network Top 100, an annual assessment of the 100 most highly integrated health care networks in the nation – Affinity ranks no. 29 in the 2009 report. Both St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton and Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh rank among the top 1 percent among hospitals nationwide in terms of quality and efficiency, as determined by the 2007 Premier | CareScience Select practice National Quality Award. Network Health Plan has achieved Excellent accreditation status from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), the highest possible level. It is ranked 31st in the nation, according to the U.S. News and World Report/NCQA Best Health Plans in America listing. Members of Affinity include Mercy Medical Center and Mercy Health Foundation, Oshkosh; St. Elizabeth Hospital and the St. Elizabeth Hospital Community Foundation, Appleton; Affinity Medical Group, a regional network of 22 family practice and specialty clinics – including two fully operational Medical Home models – in 14 communities; Calumet Medical Center, Chilton; Network Health Plan, Menasha; and Affinity Occupational Health.