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Healthways Again Awarded Health Information Product NCQA Certification

Posted on: Thursday, 17 July 2008, 12:01 CDT

Healthways, Inc. (NASDAQ: HWAY) has again been awarded distinctions from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), this time for three categories of products and services: health risk appraisals, interactive consumer health tools and encouraging wellness and prevention. These distinctions reflect Healthways' continued excellence managing data collection and systems operation, and the processes it utilizes to assure continuous improvement. Certification is the result of rigorous evaluations conducted by a team of healthcare professionals and a national oversight committee of physicians analyzing the team's findings and determining certification based on compliance with NCQA standards.

"We believe a big part of what makes Healthways' products and services exemplary - across the spectrum from disease management, to wellness and prevention - is our proven track record of utilizing medical best practices, cutting edge process improvement and seeking accreditation from major, important third-party certification programs like NCQA," said Pam Hara, Healthways Senior Vice President Quality and Outcomes. "We are pleased to again be honored with these important certifications."

"Earning NCQA's HIP Certification demonstrates that an organization has expertise in gathering and disseminating health care information for health plan members," said Kathleen C. Mudd, Vice President, Product Delivery NCQA. "Healthways is to be commended for being one of the first organizations in the nation to be reviewed for these services."

Healthways NCQA distinctions for health risk appraisals, interactive consumer health tools and encouraging wellness and prevention were awarded for components embedded in Healthways Health Support(SM) and health coaching programs; like myhealthIQ and lifestyle management. The company has also been accredited for its disease management programs since 2002.

About NCQA

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to assessing and reporting on the quality of managed care plans. We are governed by a Board of Directors that includes employers, consumer and labor representatives, health plans, quality experts, policy makers, and representatives from organized medicine.

NCQA's mission is to improve the quality of health care. NCQA provides information that enables purchasers and consumers of managed health care to distinguish among plans based on quality, thereby allowing them to make more informed health care purchasing decisions. This encourages plans to compete based on quality and value, rather than on price and provider network. Our efforts are organized around two activities, accreditation and performance measurement, which are complementary strategies for producing information to guide choice. These activities have been integrated under NCQA's Accreditation '99 program, which includes selected performance measures in such key areas as member satisfaction, quality of care, access, and service.

About Healthways

Healthways is the leading provider of specialized, comprehensive Health and Care Support(SM) solutions to help millions of people maintain or improve their health and, as a result, reduce overall healthcare costs. Healthways' solutions are designed to help healthy individuals stay healthy, mitigate and slow the progression of disease associated with family or lifestyle risk factors and promote the best possible health for those already affected by disease. Our proven, evidence-based programs provide highly specific and personalized interventions for each individual in a population, irrespective of age or health status, and are delivered to consumers by phone, mail, internet and face-to-face interactions, both domestically and internationally. Healthways also provides a national, fully accredited complementary and alternative Health Provider Network, offering convenient access to individuals who seek health services outside of, and in conjunction with, the traditional healthcare system. For more information, please visit www.healthways.com.

Source: Business Wire

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