Healthways Receives NCQA Full Accreditation for Depression and Oncology Programs, Renews Accreditation for Seven Others
Healthways, Inc. (NASDAQ: HWAY), the nation’s leading provider of Health and Care SupportSM services, today announced it has received full, three-year renewal of accreditation status by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for its diabetes, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, renal and impact conditions programs. Additionally, NCQA has granted full, three-year accreditation to Healthways depression and oncology programs. In 2002, Healthways became the nation’s first organization to earn NCQA disease management accreditation for its industry-leading Care Support programs.
“NCQA DM Accreditation demonstrates that an organization is well suited to deliver programs to manage care for the seriously or chronically ill,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “It’s a difficult test, and it says a lot that an organization is willing to step forward to be reviewed.”
NCQA is an independent, not for profit organization dedicated to measuring the quality of America’s healthcare. NCQA’s mission is to improve the quality of health care, and it is governed by a Board of Directors that includes employers, consumer and labor representatives, health plans, quality experts, regulators and representatives from organized medicine.
“Healthways is proud that its care support services made it the first organization to live up to NCQA’s high standards for excellence and quality in disease management,” said Dr. Dexter Shurney, chief medical officer of Healthways. “Healthways’ continued accreditation and growing number of accredited programs is a reflection of our commitment to delivering innovative solutions that build value for customers by improving the health of members.”
NCQA Accreditation standards are developed with input from researchers in the field, the Disease Management Advisory Council (DMAC) and standing committees, employers, both purchasers and operators of disease management programs, state and federal regulators and other experts. NCQA’s DM Accreditation program is designed to help purchasers to evaluate DM programs and to improve patient care and service.
About Healthways
Healthways is the leading provider of specialized, comprehensive Health and Care SupportSM solutions to help millions of people maintain or improve their health and, as a result, reduce overall healthcare costs. Healthways’ programs 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.