News Releases - May 26, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:
Deb Wiethop
314.923.4767
deborah.wiethop@wellpoint.com
HIGHEST ACCREDITATION – EXCELLENT – FROM NCQA
CHICAGO, ILL. –UniCare Health Plans of the Midwest, Inc., a health maintenance organization, has again received the highest accreditation of excellent from The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). UniCare Health Plans of the Midwest, Inc. does business in the Chicago area, including counties in Illinois and Indiana.
“Receiving the NCQA excellent accreditation reflects our continued focus on customer service and our commitment to working with physicians to help them improve the clinical health care that our members receive,” said Neal Fischer, M.D., medical director of UniCare Health Plans of the Midwest, Inc.
NCQA first awarded the excellent status to the HMO in July 2002. The excellent status for the commercial HMO program means that UniCare’s operational processes for quality improvement of health care, utilization management, credentialing of physicians, member rights and responsibilities, preventive health care, medical records, measurements of care and member surveys are in the highest range of national performance. UniCare Health Plans of the Midwest, Inc. has been accredited since 1999.
NCQA is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to assessing and reporting on the quality of managed care plans, managed behavioral healthcare organizations, physician organizations, and credentials verification organizations. It is a nationally recognized evaluation that purchasers, regulators and consumers can use to assess the quality of managed care plans.
“This accreditation truly demonstrates our commitment to providing our customers with health care plans that are among the best in the country,” Dr. Fischer said.
UniCare is a national operating subsidiary of WellPoint, Inc., the nation’s largest publicly traded commercial health benefits company. WellPoint serves the health care needs of approximately 28.5 million medical members. UniCare can be found on the web at www.unicare.com
Not all UNICARE products are available in all states where UNICARE is marketed. Insurance or health maintenance organization coverage is provided by any of the following: UNICARE Life & Health Insurance Company, UNICARE Health Insurance Company of the Midwest (IN and IL only) or UNICARE Health Plans of the Midwest, Inc. (HMO in IN and IL only), UNICARE Health Plans of Texas, Inc. (HMO in TX only), UNICARE Health Insurance Company of Texas (TX only), UNICARE Health Plan of Virginia, Inc. (HMO in VA only), UNICARE Health Plan of West Virginia, Inc. (HMO in WVA only).
