Home | Provider Resources | About Us | Contact Us | Search

En Español

News

Community Care Earns Full Accreditation from National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)

PITTSBURGH (July 30, 2007) – Community Care has been awarded three-year Full Accreditation – the highest possible level – from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

Community Care, a behavioral health managed care organization based in Pittsburgh, earned full accreditation based on a voluntary review by NCQA that determines how a health plan ensures that its members are receiving high-quality care.

“Community Care’s Accreditation is proof that it is an organization which works hard to coordinate care, ensure access and provide good customer support for members,” said Margaret E. O’Kane, NCQA president. “It’s a sign that Community Care is focused on improving the behavioral health of its members.”

The NCQA Accreditation survey process includes on- and off-site evaluations of over 60 standards conducted by a team of physicians and managed care experts. A committee of physicians analyzes the team’s finding and assigns an accreditation level based on the performance level of the plan being evaluated to NCQA’s standards.

NCQA is an independent, non-profit organization that assesses and reports on the quality of the nation’s managed care plans. NCQA Accreditation is nationally recognized as a seal of approval.

“We are an organization that is committed to continuous quality improvement and I believe that has been validated by the NCQA accreditation,” said James Gavin, president and CEO of Community Care Behavioral Health.

“The fact that each of our employees, and providers, as well as our management team, contributed to the accreditation process in some way, makes us even more proud of this achievement,” Gavin said.

The NCQA Accreditation process evaluates how well a health plan manages quality throughout every part of its delivery system – physicians, hospitals, affiliated providers, and administrative services – to continuously improve health care for its members.

More than three-quarters of Americans enrolled in HMOs are in plans that have been reviewed by NCQA and many employers now mandate accreditation of the plans they offer their employees.

About Community Care:

Community Care, a provider-owned, federally tax-exempt, nonprofit behavioral health managed care organization headquartered in Pittsburgh, manages behavioral health benefits for members throughout rural and urban Pennsylvania whose health insurance is sponsored through Medicaid and UPMC Health Plan’s Medicare, Children’s Health Insurance Program and commercial plans. Community Care is part of the Insurance Services Division of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, a $6 billion integrated health system. In total, Community Care manages behavioral health services for nearly one million enrollees.

Community Care was founded in 1996 with a mission to provide accessible, high-quality, cost-effective, culturally sensitive behavioral health care. Community Care has been awarded “full” accreditation for its commercial and Medicare product lines, receiving the highest rating given in all applicable standards.

##

Community Care Contact: Marianne Baugher   Phone: 412-454-2636   Fax: 412-454-2177

< Back to News