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WellPoint's East Region Plans Receive 'Excellent' Rating From National Committee for Quality Assurance

Posted on: Monday, 10 April 2006, 15:01 CDT

NEW YORK, April 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WellPoint's East region plans, which include the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Virginia (affiliated health maintenance organizations, Health Keepers, Inc., Peninsula Health Care, Inc. and Priority Health Care, Inc.), Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia and Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New York, have all been awarded "Excellent" accreditation status by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

The "Excellent" rating, the highest available rating by NCQA, is a three- year accreditation reserved for managed care plans that deliver the highest levels of care and service, and whose clinical and administrative systems far exceed NCQA's rigorous requirements for consumer protection and quality improvement.

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. The accreditation entails a four-month process that includes an on-site review of materials and documentation.

The company's health plans in Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, New Hampshire, and Virginia recently received the highest available four-star rating in each of the following critical review categories: Provider Access and Service, Qualified Providers, Getting Better, and Staying Healthy. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia recently received the Member Connections Distinction status, an honor that reflects BCBSGa's commitment to making services electronically available to its members.

"Our 'Excellent' ratings reflect the East region's commitment to the company's overall corporate mission: to improve the lives of the people we serve and the health of our communities," said Michael Stocker, M.D., president and chief executive officer of WellPoint's East region. "We're most pleased by what our NCQA rating means to our members -- access to high quality medical care that strives to control and prevent disease and disease complications. Our health plans work rigorously to improve our disease and care management programs through continuous innovation focused on our customers' needs."

NCQA accreditation assesses a wide range of performance criteria and plan attributes, including:

* Ensuring that members have access to the care and services they need

* Assessing doctor's qualifications to help guarantee that members are receiving care from highly qualified professionals

* Working to keep members healthy by encouraging use of preventative services

* Ensuring that members have access to safe and effective care when they are sick

* Ensuring that members living with chronic illnesses such as asthma or diabetes are offered assistance to manage their condition and improve their quality of life

"Earning 'Excellent' accreditation reflects a health plan's ability to work with their members and their physicians to improve the quality of clinical care. It shows they are building the kinds of partnerships that are critical to delivering great care and great service," said Dr. Randy Axelrod, vice president of Healthcare Management for WellPoint's East region.

More than three-quarters of Americans enrolled in HMOs are in plans that have been reviewed by NCQA and many employers are now mandating accreditation of the plans they offer their employees. No comparable evaluation exists for fee-for-service health care.

About NCQA:

The National Committee for Quality Assurance is a private, 501(c) (3) not- for-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. The organization is frequently referred to as a watchdog for the managed care industry, but NCQA also recognizes individual doctors and medical groups. Employers and consumers use information provided by NCQA to make more informed health care choices. NCQA's mission is to improve the quality of health care. It does so by generating useful, understandable information about health care quality to help inform consumer and employer choice. The organization also works to generate information and feedback that help physicians, health plans and others to identify opportunities for improvement and make changes that enhance the quality of patient care. For more information, visit http://www.ncqa.org/ /.

About WellPoint, Inc.

WellPoint, Inc. is the largest publicly traded commercial health benefits company in terms of membership in the United States. WellPoint, Inc. is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and serves its members as the Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (as Blue Cross Blue Shield in 10 New York City metropolitan counties and as Blue Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield in selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), Wisconsin; and through UniCare. Additional information about WellPoint is available at http://www.wellpoint.com/ .

WellPoint, Inc.

CONTACT: Karin A. Nobile of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield inConnecticut, +1-203-985-7187; Mark Ishkanian of Anthem Blue Cross and BlueShield in Maine, +1-207-822-8454; Chris Dugan of Anthem Blue Cross and BlueShield in New Hampshire, +1-603-695-7202; Cindy Sanders of Blue Cross BlueShield of Georgia, +1-404-842-8406; Scott Golden of Anthem Blue Cross and BlueShield in Virginia, +1-804-354-5252, or Lisa Greiner of Empire Blue Cross BlueShield of New York, +1-212-476-7011

Web site: http://www.wellpoint.com/http://www.ncqa.org/

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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