Quality of Care for Ethnic Groups Focus of NCQA Innovation Award.WASHINGTON -- The National Committee for Quality Assurance National Committee for Quality Assurance Medical practice A private, not-for-profit organization which has become the leading accreditor of managed care plans; in site visits, NCQA reviewers evaluate a managed care plan in terms of quality management, physicians' (NCQA NCQA National Committee on Quality Assurance, see there ), with support from The California Endowment, has recognized managed care plans for innovative programs that improve care for African Americans African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. , Hispanics, Asians and other ethnic groups.Five recipients of the 2008 "Recognizing Innovation in Multicultural Health Care" Awards developed solutions designed for African Americans in communities where they experience shorter life spans, higher rates of disease, higher blood pressure, lower breastfeeding rates, and less use of prevention and wellness services. "The gaps in care that persist for minorities and for non-English-speakers result in serious consequences: unnecessary disability and premature death Premature Death occurs when a living thing dies of a cause other than old age. A premature death can be the result of injury, illness, violence, suicide, poor nutrition (often stemming from low income), starvation, dehydration, or other factors. for thousands," said NCQA President Margaret E. O'Kane. "Any national health care reform effort must address these disparities." "Health care providers must be cognizant cog·ni·zant adj. Fully informed; conscious. See Synonyms at aware. [From cognizance.] Adj. 1. of their responsibility to provide care that is responsive to the needs of all Californians," said Robert K. Ross, M.D., president 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 The California Endowment. Winners were: * Aetna - A hypertension-focused Culturally Competent Disease Management Program for African Americans. * Highmark Inc. (Pennsylvania)-A partnership with SilverSneakers[R] Fitness Program to increase African Americans' participation in a fitness routine. * Keystone key·stone n. 1. Architecture The central wedge-shaped stone of an arch that locks its parts together. Also called headstone. 2. The central supporting element of a whole. Mercy Health Plan (Pennsylvania) - "The Health Ministry Program's 40-Day Journey," a community, faith-based wellness program for African American women. * Molina Healthcare of Michigan -The "Check Up or Check Out!" program to address underutilization of preventive health care services among black males. * UnitedHealthcare (New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of ) -In-language walk-in centers to help Chinese seniors apply for Medicaid and other social service health programs through Oxford Health Plan. * UnitedHealthcare Latino Health Solutions - An "Enhanced Bilingual Service and Member Access Initiative" to improve Spanish-speaking members' interactions with the plan. * Virginia Premier Health Plan, Inc. - A program to increase breastfeeding among African American women. * Wellpoint, Inc. - A means to indirectly derive race and ethnicity information that produced maps showing health disparity "hotspots," to support planning for improved services. Health plan contacts: Aetna: Wendy Morphew, morphewWS@aetna.com, 212-457-0320 Highmark: Kimberly Scanish, kimberly.scanish@highmark.com, 717-302-4244 Keystone: Tonya Moody, tonya.moody@kmhp.com, 215-863-5700 Molina: Sunny Yu, sunny.yu@MolinaHealthCare.com, 562-901-1039 United: Dan Miller, dan.miller@phs.com, 714-226-3726 Virginia: Pamela Lepley, pdlepley@vcu.edu, 804-828-6057 Wellpoint: Jill Becher, jill.becher@wellpoint.com, 262-523-4764 More information is available on these programs from NCQA, www.ncqa.org, a private, independent non-profit organization A non-profit organization (abbreviated "NPO", also "non-profit" or "not-for-profit") is a legally constituted organization whose primary objective is to support or to actively engage in activities of public or private interest without any commercial or monetary profit purposes. dedicated to improving health care quality. |
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