Health Partners Plans Awarded the NCQA Multicultural Health Care Distinction for Fourth Consecutive Year

Managed Care Weekly Digest

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Managed Care Weekly Digest -- Health Partners Plans (HPP) is now a four-time recipient of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Multicultural Health Care Distinction. NCQA is the nation's most trusted independent source for health care quality accreditation. Health Partners Plans' continuous receipt of this award for excellence dates back to 2011, when the company became the first plan in the country to be recognized in this way by the NCQA (see also Health Partners Plans).

The Multicultural Health Care Distinction recognizes organizations that understand and address health care disparities stemming from race, ethnicity and language. To be considered for the NCQA distinction, HPP had to meet a rigid set of five crucial standards and document how it effectively meets the needs of its more than 274,000 diverse members. These criteria require evidence-based activities that demonstrate ongoing efforts to eliminate health disparities for members. NCQA reviewed Health Partners Plans' documentation and identified the company as meeting compliance across all five standards.

"America continues to become a rich and diverse country with more opportunities for health care organizations like HPP to become experts at providing care that embraces and supports those differences," said William S. George, president and CEO of Health Partners Plans. "We look forward to leading the industry in cultural competence, compassion and understanding for all of our members."

"Cultural competency is crucial to providing high quality health care," said NCQA President Margaret E. O'Kane. "Organizations achieving Multicultural Health Care Distinction are leaders in closing the ethnic and racial disparities gap, and NCQA commends them for their dedication."

To help meet its members' needs, HPP offers bilingual staff members the opportunity to complete Bridging the Gap (BTG): Medical Interpreter Training, a nationally recognized professional development program that enables them to further build effectiveness and competency in their field. HPP also offers members access to a network of providers who speak 35 different languages and can translate reading materials into Spanish and other languages upon request. In addition, HPP tracks and analyzes comprehensive data on members' health status by race, ethnicity and language to identify disparities and implement programs to overcome them. About National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations and recognizes clinicians in key clinical areas. NCQA's HEDIS® is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA's Web site (www.ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices. About Health Partners Plans Nationally recognized for its innovations in managed care, Health Partners Plans is among the top fifteen Medicaid plans in the country, one of the highest-rated in Pennsylvania and receives strong ratings for member and provider satisfaction according to the National Committee for Quality Assurance's (NCQA) Medicaid Health Insurance Plan Ratings 2016-2017. Health Partners Plans is a not-for-profit managed health care organization serving more than 274,000 members in Southeastern Pennsylvania and the Lehigh/Capital region. It provides a broad range of health coverage options through Health Partners Medicare, Health Partners (Medicaid) and KidzPartners (Children's Health Insurance Program) plans. Founded more than 30 years ago, Health Partners Plans is one of the few hospital-owned health plans in the country. Learn more about how Health Partners Plans is doing it right at HealthPartnersPlans.com, twitter.com/HPPlans and facebook.com/healthpartnersplans. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170110006127/en/