The Value of Network Accreditation
Insurance agents can play an important role in helping employers evaluate provider networks available in the market.
Q: How do you view the value of accreditation?
A: More so than in the past, employers are looking to offer networks that have been accredited to their employees. Accredited networks provide employers with a level of confidence and a sense of stability that give them preference over other non-accredited networks.Q: In your experience, why does accreditation status factor into an organization’s decision?
A: There are a lot of networks to choose from and some networks are better than others. Choosing a network can be a confusing process for Human Resource Managers so they tend to look for what sets one apart from the others. Price remains an important factor, but a network’s quality improvement program has become equally important in the decision making process. Accreditation is credible because it serves as a validation that critical processes are in place and are followed.“It’s nice to have confidence in the product you are selling. When up against other networks, you know that Health Partner’s NCQA Credentialing Accreditation will continue to place us in a position of strength to compete in the market.” Steven McNeilly, Vice President of Managed Care and Integration Strategies for Northeast Georgia Health System.
Health Partners has Credentialing Accreditation from NCQA. NCQA has reviewed and certified Health Partners’ Credentialing functions only. For complete details on the scope of this review, visit www.ncqa.org.
NCQA accreditation standards are recognized nationally as providing the benchmarks for quality in managed care organizations.
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (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. NCQA is governed by a Board of Directors that includes employers, consumer and labor representatives, health plans, quality experts, policy makers, and representatives from organized medicine.
NCQA’s mission is to provide information that enables purchasers and consumers of managed health care to distinguish among plans based on quality, thereby allowing them to make more informed health care purchasing decisions. NCQA’s efforts are organized around two activities, accreditation and performance measurement, which are complementary strategies for producing information to guide choice.