MINNETONKA, MN, July 30, 2007 — Medica today announced that it has achieved Quality Plus Distinction for Physician and Hospital Quality from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Quality Plus Distinction, NCQA’s next generation of measurement and accreditation standards, recognizes innovative organizations that lead the market in areas such as leveraging the Web to promote members’ self-management of chronic conditions, allowing members to track claims online, adopting innovative disease management programs, managing members with chronic conditions and complex illnesses, using standardized physician measures to improve quality and affordability of care and using all payor data on hospitals to provide members with information.
Medica initiatives representative of the Quality Plus standards include its transparency tools and its involvement in Minnesota Community Measurement, a nonprofit organization that annually reports quality results in collaboration with Minnesota’s health plans and the Minnesota Medical Association.
Medica’s Hospital Cost and Quality Toolbox, available at www.mymedica.com, is one of the cost and quality comparison tools available to its members. The resource can be used to identify potential providers for a needed service and to plan financially for it using actual costs provided through the tool. For example, a person who needs arthroscopic shoulder surgery can compare the actual cost ranges for the procedure at a number of outpatient facilities and obtain additional information on arthroscopy. For inpatient procedures, a patient can compare actual cost ranges at selected hospitals and review quality information about that procedure at each facility.
“Medica is delighted to earn NCQA’s Quality Plus Distinction,” said Charles Fazio, MD, Medica’s chief medical officer. “It shows that the investment we are making in our decision-support tools and our commitment to collaboration are adding value for our customers as they make important decisions about their health care.”
“Medica is to be commended for meeting our new Physician and Hospital Quality standards,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “By adopting these standards Medica is providing members with important information about physicians and hospitals within their network, allowing them to make better health care decisions for themselves and their families.”
About Medica
Serving more than 1.3 million members, Medica is a health insurance company headquartered in Minneapolis and active in the Upper Midwest. The non-profit company provides health care coverage in the employer, individual, Medicaid, Medicare and Medicare Part D markets in Minnesota and a growing number of counties in North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Medica also offers national network coverage to employers who also have employees outside the Medica regional network.
In addition to its Quality Plus Distinction, Medica has the highest Accreditation status, Excellent, from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for its Minnesota Medicaid HMO plans and commercial health plans in Minnesota and North Dakota. Medica’s vision is to become the community’s health plan of choice, trusted for its integrity, respected for its service, and admired for its commitment to innovation and efficiency.
About NCQA
NCQA is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to assessing and reporting on the quality of managed care plans, managed behavioral healthcare organizations, preferred provider organizations, new health plans, physician organizations, credentials verification organizations, disease management programs and other health-related programs.
For more information, contact:
Greg Bury, Medica
952-992-8437
Cellular: 612-810-4556
E-mail: greg.bury@medica.com
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