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Ohio Association of Health Plans Names 'Pinnacle' Awards to Programs That Improve Health Care for Ohioans

Posted on: Tuesday, 27 May 2008, 15:00 CDT

COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ohio Association of Health Plans (OAHP) is pleased to announce the 2008 winners of its annual Pinnacle Awards, which recognize the efforts of Ohio's health plans to improve the quality of health care for Ohioans.

"Health plans are a vital partner in Ohio's health care system," said Kelly McGivern, OAHP President and CEO. "Not only are these companies the source of a more than 51,000 insurance-related jobs for Ohioans and more than $2 billion in wages, they also create and implement innovative initiatives to improve the health of Ohioans and the efficiency of providing health care benefits. Unfortunately, these important contributions continue to go unrecognized by those outside of the health plan industry, so the Pinnacle Awards are one way we help highlight the important contributions these plans are making."

This year's winning programs included initiatives that optimized vaccinations to help reduce the severity infections in high risk infants, promoted better coordination of care for Medicaid consumers, established primary care medical services for consumers with behavioral health issues, and increased specific preventative care measures for high-risk pregnant mothers. The winners of the awards were as follows:

Category: Improvements in Business/Operational Performance Winner: CareSource, RSV Management: Process Improvements & Health Outcomes Category: Community Outreach and Partnerships Winners: AMERIGROUP Community Care, Medical and Behavioral Health Coordination for Medicaid Consumers and Buckeye Community Health Plan, Community Care: A Partnership in Nurturing Category: Health Care Programs Winner: Buckeye Community Health Plan, 17-P

OAHP invited all member plans to participate in the competition, which provided an opportunity for health plans to demonstrate what they are doing to provide exemplary care and service for their members and community. A panel of experts representing hospitals, doctors, businesses, consumer advocates, and regulators judged the submissions and selected the winners.

"The award-winning programs underscore the valuable role health plans play in providing quality health care for Ohioans, while helping to stimulating Ohio's economy through innovations and jobs," McGivern said. "Through programs that utilize medically-proven best practices to identify cost-saving measures, increase preventative care in high-risk populations and create opportunities for partnerships with providers, Ohio's health plans not only improve access to care for Ohioans, but also ensure that the care they receive is of the highest quality possible."

OAHP is a statewide trade association of companies providing health care benefits to more than 7 million Ohioans. The mission of the OAHP is to promote and advocate quality health care and access to a variety of affordable health care benefits for all Ohioans.

Ohio Association of Health Plans

CONTACT: Kelly McGivern, President and CEO of Ohio Association of HealthPlans, +1-614-228-4662, kmcgivern@oahp.org

Web site: http://www.oahp.org/

Source: PRNewswire

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