NCQA’s 2005 State of Health Care Quality Report Set for Oct. 3

News Advisory:

— NCQA’s 2005 State of Health Care Quality Report Set for Oct. 3

— Event Will Feature Release of U.S. News & World Report/NCQA List of ‘America’s Best Health Plans’

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) invites media to attend a news conference on Oct. 3, to unveil The State of Health Care Quality: 2005. This year’s report answers key questions about the health care industry:

— Is the quality of care continuing to improve?

— How are changing enrollment patterns affecting accountability?

— What is the impact — in lives and dollars — of closing quality gaps in the system?

— Which health plans are the industry standouts?

The release is being coordinated with a U.S. News feature story that will include lists of the best commercial, Medicare and Medicaid health plans in the country. These lists will be especially useful for the many Americans with employer-sponsored coverage who choose their health plan during the “open enrollment period” that runs from October through December.

NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations, recognizes physicians and physician groups in key clinical areas and manages the evolution of HEDIS?, the tool the nation’s health plans use to measure and report on their performance.

PRESENTERS:

— Margaret E. O’Kane, NCQA president

— Elliott Fisher, M.D., M.P.H., professor of medicine, director, Health Care Policy Research, Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences, Dartmouth Medical School

— Glenn Hackbarth, J.D., chairman, MedPAC

— Bernadine Healy, M.D., health editor, U.S. News & World Report

— John M. Little, M.D., vice president of Health Care Services, chief medical officer, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina

WHEN: Monday, Oct. 3, 11 a.m. EDT

WHERE: Barbara Jordan Conference Center — Kaiser Family Foundation, 1330 G St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005

PLEASE RSVP — SPACE IS LIMITED. PLEASE CALL: Lauren Funk, 202- 955-1705

A conference call option will also be available for media who cannot attend in person. Please RSVP to obtain conference call information.

A Webcast of this news conference will be available at Kaisernetwork.org, a free service of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Plan-specific performance information suitable for use in developing local or regional health plan “report cards” will be available as of Sept. 26 on an embargoed basis. Call Jeff Van Ness at 202-955-3518 to request local data.

http://www.usnewswire.com