State’s largest not-for-profit managed care organization earns national accreditation for Hoosier Healthwise health care program

11/17/2009

INDIANAPOLIS – MDwise, the state’s largest not-for-profit managed care organization, recently earned New Health Plan (NHP) Accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). The NHP Accreditation is a nationally recognized distinction that is awarded upon evaluating how well a health plan manages its clinical and administrative systems to deliver value to purchasers and improve health care for its members.

The NHP Accreditation applies to MDwise’s Hoosier Healthwise product line, which serves more than 255,000 low-income families and pregnant women. Hoosier Healthwise is a health insurance program covering a wide range of medical services at little or no cost to the family.

The NHP Accreditation evaluates how well a new health plan manages all parts of its delivery system – physicians, hospitals, other providers and administrative services – to continuously improve health care for its members. A team of physicians and managed care experts conducted on- and off-site reviews of MDwise.

Comparisons between NCQA-Accredited plans and non-accredited plans demonstrate that accredited plans deliver greater value through improved quality. “Our standards are rigorous and, by meeting them, MDwise has shown that it is well designed and serious about the quality of care it provides." said Margaret E. O’Kane, president of NCQA.

“MDwise works hard every day to deliver high-quality health care services to our members, and I believe this has been confirmed by NCQA,” said Charlotte MacBeth, MDwise President and CEO. “This achievement reaffirms our mission to provide first-rate, coordinated health care programs tailored to meet the needs of our Hoosier Healthwise members.”

NCQA's New Health Plan Accreditation Program applies to health plans that are less than 36 months old. The program is distinct from NCQA's Health Plan Accreditation Program. MDwise has been serving Indiana Hoosier Healthwise members since 1994 and qualifies for the NHP program because it became a licensed Health Maintenance Organization in 2007.

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About MDwise

MDwise is an Indiana-licensed nonprofit health maintenance organization offering health care benefits to 300,000 Medicaid members. Since 1994 MDwise has provided access to compassionate, high-quality, coordinated health care and education to Medicaid members in communities throughout Indiana.

MDwise is a provider-owned health plan with a large network of doctors, specialists and hospitals located throughout the state. By meeting the basic requirements of the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s (NCQA’s) rigorous standards for consumer protection and quality improvement, MDwise was awarded NCQA’s accreditation status of Accredited for service and clinical quality. Ninety-seven percent of MDwise members surveyed would recommend MDwise to their family and friends. For more information, visit MDwise.org.