Aetna Recognized for Ease of Interactions with Physicians.-- PayerView(SM) Rankings rate Aetna first among national health plans; Faster payments, fewer denials and transparent information underscore The underscore character (_) is often used to make file, field and variable names more readable when blank spaces are not allowed. For example, NOVEL_1A.DOC, FIRST_NAME and Start_Routine. (character) underscore - _, ASCII 95. company's commitment to strengthened physician relations -- HARTFORD, Conn. -- Aetna's (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :AET AET Aetna, Inc. AET After Extra Time AET Actual Evapotranspiration AET Alliance for Environmental Technology AET Alpha-Ethyltryptamine AET Applied Extrusion Technologies, Inc. ) continued efforts to simplify business transactions for physicians helped place the company first among national health plans in the 2008 PayerView Rankings. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the third annual rankings from athenahealth, Inc., an unaffiliated provider of practice management and electronic medical record services to medical groups, Aetna pays physicians faster and denies claims less often than other health plans that were measured. Aetna also earned high scores for the percent of claims that were resolved the first time they were submitted. When a claim is denied for insufficient information, Aetna is one of the best at clearly communicating with physicians to ensure the claim will close with only one resubmission, according to PayerView. "While we are pleased with this recognition of our progress, we are committed to continually improving the experience physicians have when they do business with Aetna," said Allen Karp, head of Aetna's Health Care Delivery. "Ongoing communication with doctors and working with companies like athenahealth have been critical to understanding how we can streamline and simplify our business practices for the medical community. Ultimately, we hope that more efficient interactions will enable doctors to spend more time doing what is most important -- providing the best care to our members." Aetna yesterday announced its Guiding Principles for Physician Relations, which identify specific behaviors and business actions that govern Aetna in its interactions with health care professionals. The Principles represent the company's continued commitment to building and maintaining strong relationships with the medical community. The PayerView Rankings are based on athenahealth's claims data from more than 12,000 medical providers representing more than 30 million medical procedure charges for 2007. The data are used to rank health insurers on measures of financial and administrative performance, and medical policy complexity, such as how many days it takes a health plan to pay the physician from the date the charge is entered in athenahealth's system. The rankings also include the percentage of claims that require additional work from the physician. "Aetna is a great example of a leading national payer that understands the need to address their business dealings with providers in order to improve the quality of care while eliminating unnecessary costs found in administrating health care today," said Jonathan Bush Jonathan James Bush (born May 6,1931), an American banker, a brother of President George H. W. Bush, and an uncle of President George W. Bush. Education Bush graduated from the Hotchkiss School and Yale University. , chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of athenahealth. The essentials: Simplicity, quality service and information, transparency (1) The quality of being able to see through a material. The terms transparency and translucency are often used synonymously; however, transparent would technically mean "seeing through clear glass," while translucent would mean "seeing through frosted glass." See alpha blending. Aetna has simplified business transactions by optimizing electronic transactions to reduce claim denials and streamline administrative tasks. Continued enhancements to service and to the quality and timeliness of information provided to physicians have been priorities as well. The company's Provider Service Centers are staffed with service professionals dedicated to addressing the unique business needs of physicians and their staffs. Most recently, Aetna began delivering Care Considerations electronically, and later this summer Aetna members will be able to share a summary of their Aetna Personal Health Records electronically with their physicians. Aetna's secure provider website, via NaviNet([R]), gives physicians and their staffs more information online than ever before. Physicians can check eligibility and benefits in real time, submit or inquire in·quire also en·quire v. in·quired, in·quir·ing, in·quires v.intr. 1. To seek information by asking a question: inquired about prices. 2. about claims, review claim payment policies, view and print explanation of payments online within 24 hours of claims processing, obtain electronic remittance advices An Electronic Remittance Advice is an electronic version of a payment explanation which provides details about providers' claims payment, and if the claims are denied, it would then contain the required explanations. ERA are provided by plans to Providers. , and access Aetna's education website. The complete 2008 PayerView Rankings, evaluating 137 national, regional and government payers, can be found at www.athenaPayerView.com. About Aetna Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified diversified (di·verˑ·s health care benefits companies, serving approximately 37.3 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health Behavioral health was first used in the 1980's to name the combination of the fields mental health and substance abuse. As an example, an organization serving both mental health and substance abuse clients might refer to its practice as behavioral health or , group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities and health care management services for Medicaid plans. Our customers include employer groups employer group Association of employers Managed care An entity with a current group benefits agreement in effect with a health plan to provide covered health care services to its employee-subscribers and eligible dependents. , individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. www.aetna.com |
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