AvMed Receives Highest Quality Rating for Both Commercial and Medicare Products From Nation's Top Health Care Quality Evaluator

MIAMI, Jan. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Once again, AvMed Health Plans has received an Excellent Accreditation status from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for both its commercial and Medicare products, a distinction shared only by a select group of health plans in the country.  The Excellent rating is the NCQA's highest accreditation status for service and clinical quality that meet or exceed NCQA's rigorous requirements for consumer protection and quality improvement.

The Excellent ratings distinguish AvMed among accredited health plans based on an evaluation of how well the health plan manages all parts of its delivery system – physicians, hospitals, other providers and administrative services – in order to continuously improve the health care for its members.

In order for AvMed to receive the Excellent Accreditation, its annual HEDIS® evaluation also had to achieve results in the highest range of performance.

AvMed has also achieved NCQA Distinction in the following Quality Plus modules: Member Connections and Care Management and Health Improvement.

"AvMed is honored to once again receive the NCQA's distinguished Excellent rating for our ongoing commitment to provide our customers with high quality services and care," said Ed Hannum, President and COO of AvMed.  "To receive this designation several years in a row is truly a testament to AvMed's great team which works tirelessly to ensure every customer's health-care needs are met. We look forward to continuing our legacy of providing great products and services to every member, while also identifying opportunities to improve along the way."

"NCQA's Excellent Accreditation status is reserved for the best health plans in the nation. It is only awarded to those plans that meet or exceed NCQA's rigorous requirements for consumer protection and quality improvement and deliver excellent clinical care," said Margaret O'Kane, President of the NCQA.

To achieve the Excellent Accreditation status, AvMed participated in NCQA surveys including rigorous on and off-site evaluations of more than 60 different standards and selected HEDIS performance measures that fell into the following categories:  access and service, qualified providers, staying healthy, getting better and living with illness.  

NCQA sends a team of trained health care experts, including physicians, to conduct a rigorous on-site survey of the health plan. NCQA uses information from health plan records, consumer surveys, interviews with plan staff and performance on selected HEDIS measures.

The NCQA Accreditation status is used by employers and consumers as an evaluation tool when selecting a health plan for the coming year.  

NCQA is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to measuring the quality of America's health plans.

*  HEDIS is a registered trademark of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

About AvMed Health Plans

For more than 40 years, Floridians have joined AvMed for its superior network of doctors, specialists and hospitals, health and wellness programs, and personalized round-the-clock service. AvMed is one of Florida's oldest and largest not-for-profit health plans, and is solely focused on providing health coverage to Florida citizens and businesses. AvMed is one of only a few health plans in the United States that enjoys dual "excellent" accreditation status for both its Commercial and Medicare health plans from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), the nation's top health care quality evaluator. AvMed offers health coverage options to large and small employers in most major markets around the state, and Individual coverage and Medicare Advantage products in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. For more information about AvMed, visit www.avmed.org.

About the National Committee for Quality Assurance

Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2010, NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA's Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA is committed to providing health care quality information through the Web, media and data licensing agreements in order to help consumers, employers and others make informed health care choices.

SOURCE AvMed Health Plans