| Receives Full Accreditation for Disease Management and Behavioral Health Programs from NCQA, the National Committee for Quality Assurance
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn., (March 31, 2008) – OptumHealth, one of the nation’s largest consumer health services companies, announced today that it received Full Accreditation by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for its diabetes and coronary artery disease management programs, and three-year renewal accreditation for its United Behavioral Health (UBH) Care Advocacy Centers in St. Louis and Atlanta. These centers also received the highest possible rating awarded by NCQA in its managed behavioral health organization program.
“NCQA’s Disease Management accreditation program is thorough and rigorous and is designed to highlight only those programs that truly improve chronic care,” said NCQA president Margaret E. O’Kane. “Accreditation of UBH as a managed behavioral health organization reflects the company’s commitment to coordinate care, ensure access and provide good customer support for members.”
“NCQA accreditation is an industry benchmark for quality and safety. We are proud of our accreditation and understand that our customers rely on these measures to make informed decisions regarding their health care choices. We will continue to work to meet the NCQA's high standards in all our programs,” said Dawn Owens, chief executive officer of OptumHealth.
Accreditation is a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation process through which NCQA assesses the quality of the key systems and processes that define health care organizations. Employers, consumers, regulators and health plans rely on NCQA Accreditation for evaluating health care quality. NCQA reviews include an on-site and off-site evaluation conducted by a team of physicians and managed care experts who evaluate services based on NCQA standards.
With these recent accreditations, UBH Care Advocacy Centers in Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Houston, San Francisco and San Diego have all received Full Managed Behavioral Health Organization Accreditation from NCQA. The accredited programs meet the highest possible external quality and performance standards for OptumHealth’s customers. See www.ncqa.orgfor all of the current United Behavioral Health MBHO accreditations.
About OptumHealth
As one of the nation’s largest consumer health services companies, OptumHealth makes health care easier and better for employers, health plans, public sector entities and the 61 million people with access to its services. The Company’s goal is to optimize health, well-being and financial security, while lowering benefit costs and helping consumers make informed decisions about their health through standalone or integrated services. OptumHealth is a company of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH). More information about OptumHealth can be found at www.OptumHealth.com.
About NCQA
NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations and recognizes physicians in key clinical areas. NCQA’s Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA is committed to providing health care quality information through the Web, media and data licensing agreements in order to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices. For more information, visit http://www.ncqa.org/
HEDIS is a registered trademark of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).
Contact:
Ann Fleischauer
OptumHealth Care Solutions
(763) 797-2652
Brad Lotterman
OptumHealth Behavioral Solutions
(714) 445-0453
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