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Keystone Health Plan East, Personal Choice Awarded Highest Ratings By NCQA

Posted on: Monday, 5 December 2005, 09:01 CST

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has awarded Independence Blue Cross the highest possible rating for its commercial and Medicare HMO and PPO health insurance plans.

In addition, NCQA bestowed an NCQA Quality Plus Distinction on IBC for meeting or exceeding rigorous quality requirements for its interactions with members. IBC is one of the first plans in the country to receive the Quality Plus Distinction, which was awarded for its innovative practices that help members obtain important information about their health status, health plan resources and benefits, care options and treatment costs.

NCQA is a nationally recognized, independent organization dedicated to improving health care quality. The organization accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations.

With this year's rating of "Excellent," Keystone Health Plan East has now received NCQA's top accreditation for its commercial plan for the last 10 years, and its Medicare plan since 1999. With this year's "Full" accreditation - the highest possible rating for PPOs - Personal Choice has been awarded top rating for both its commercial and Medicare plans for the last five years. Personal Choice is the only PPO plan in the state and one of the first in the nation to earn NCQA accreditation.

"Keystone Health Plan East and Personal Choice are to be commended for meeting our new Member Connections standards," said NCQA President Margaret O'Kane. "Meeting these standards is an indication that Keystone Health Plan East and Personal Choice use technology effectively to connect with their members and keep them involved in their care. There's real value in doing so - engaged patients have better outcomes."

Both accreditations and the NCQA Quality Plus Distinction are effective November 10, 2005 and last for three years.

"These top ratings from NCQA validate the excellent quality of medical and administrative services we provide our members," said Joseph A. Frick, IBC President and CEO. "We're pleased that both Personal Choice and Keystone have again received the highest level of accreditation available from the industry's leader in assessing the quality of health plans."

"NCQA's 'Excellent' Accreditation status is reserved for the best health plans in the nation," said NCQA President O'Kane. "It is a sign that the Keystone Health Plan East is delivering great service and great care - it's met the toughest test in managed care."

"A PPO has to provide its members with great service and ready access to care in order to earn NCQA's Full Accreditation. It is a significant achievement that shows that Personal Choice is committed to quality," she added.

NCQA awards its highest accreditation status of "Excellent" to HMO plans for service and clinical quality that meets or exceeds its requirements for consumer protection and quality improvement. NCQA's standards are set high and are intended to help HMO organizations achieve the highest level of performance possible in the areas of Access and Service; Qualified Providers; Staying Healthy; Getting Better; and Living With Illness. Its surveys involve rigorous on-site and off-site evaluations of over 60 standards and selected

performance measures by a team of physicians and managed care experts, followed by analysis by a national oversight committee of physicians.

NCQA awards PPOs its highest accreditation status of "Full" for service and clinical quality that meets or exceeds its requirements for consumer protection and quality improvement. Its surveys involve rigorous on-site and off-site evaluations of 43 standards and selected performance measures by a team of physicians and managed care experts followed by analysis by a national oversight committee of physicians.

Quality Plus is a voluntary, multi-year program that will allow NCQA to transition to a new, more flexible generation of measurement and accreditation programs. The Member Connections standards assess how effectively an organization interacts with its members via the Web and telephone to make sure they understand and know how to use their benefits, have access to self-management tools for certain conditions and can check on the status of their claims.

Independence Blue Cross is the leading health insurer in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Nationwide, IBC and its affiliates provide coverage to nearly 3.4 million people. For more than 65 years, Independence Blue Cross has offered quality health care products and services tailored to meet the changing needs of members, employers, groups and providers.

In addition to achieving NCQA's highest rankings, Independence Blue Cross's Personal Choice was rated earlier this year the No. 1 PPO in the nation and its Keystone HMO was ranked the No. 1 HMO in the region by health care consumers in a leading independent consumer magazine.

For more information on Independence Blue Cross, visit our website at http://www.ibx.com/.

Independence Blue Cross

CONTACT: Liz Williams of Independence Blue Cross, +1-215-241-2220

Web site: http://www.ibx.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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