The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has recognized UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Tennessee with two awards – Distinction in Multicultural Health Care and Distinction in Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS).
NCQA is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to assessing and reporting on the quality of managed care plans, physician organizations, disease management programs and other health-related programs. Multicultural Health Care Distinction and LTSS Distinction are nationally recognized evaluations that purchasers, regulators and consumers can use to assess which organizations have earned distinction by meeting rigorous standards for serving people in need.
“It’s an honor to receive NCQA distinction recognition, as we consider its standards key to reducing health care disparities and ensuring people of all backgrounds and cultures receive the quality care they need and deserve,” said Keith Payet, president and CEO of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Tennessee. “UnitedHealthcare is committed to achieving health equity and closing gaps in care by addressing our communities’ multicultural health care needs and being a leader in complex LTSS care.”
Multicultural health care accreditation through NCQA evaluates how well a health plan provides culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) and complies with standards for:
- providing language assistance;
- cultural responsiveness;
- quality improvement of CLAS;
- reducing health care disparities; and
- collecting race/ethnicity and language data.
“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.”
NCQA standards for LTSS Distinction provide a framework for organizations to deliver better operational efficiencies, integrated care, care planning and contracting support. Best practices focus areas include:
- person-centered care planning;
- effective care transitions;
- coordinating services among caregivers, individuals, LTSS providers and clinicians;
- providing a critical incident management system; and
- quality and assistance for LTSS providers.
“We are proud that UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Tennessee has achieved these distinguished awards,” said Patti Killingsworth, assistant commissioner and chief of Long-Term Services & Supports for the Division of TennCare. “They underscore the tremendous value that managed care health plans can bring in coordinating high-quality services and supports in a person-centered way, and UnitedHealthcare’s commitment to helping people live meaningful lives in their communities.”
For more information about NCQA’s Distinction in Multicultural Health Care and Long-Term Services and Supports, visit www.ncqa.org.
About NCQA
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 is committed to providing health care quality information for consumers, purchasers, health care providers and researchers.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and making the health system work better for everyone by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. In the United States, UnitedHealthcare offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with over 1.3 million physicians and care professionals, and more than 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. The company also provides health benefits and delivers care to people through owned and operated health care facilities in South America. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified health care company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @UHC on Twitter.
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