NCQA Issues Awards for Efforts to Reduce Racial Disparities
Aenta, health insurance giant, received an award from the National Commission for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for its efforts to reduce the disparities in healthcare with respect to race. News of the award and the other recipients was published on the NCQA website.
The program noted by NCQA at Aetna was an initiative to encourage Aetna members of African American or Latina descent to participate in mammography screening for breast cancer, “The Breast Health Ethnic Disparity Initiative”. Components of the effort included patients with culturally appropriate materials, as well as tools and support.
The Health Alliance Plan program took place in cooperation with the Henry Ford Medical Group. This was another effort to improve the rate of breast cancer screening and eliminate disparities in participation by race. The team implemented an outreach effort to encourage completion of breast screening as well as creating a mammography walk-in clinic.
The award, “Recognizing Innovation in Multicultural Health Care Award” was granted to other organizations as well, including the Chinese Community Health Plan in San Francisco, CIGNA, Excellus Health Plan in New York, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Health Alliance Plan in Michigan, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Incorporated, UnitedHealthcare, and the UPMC Health Plan of Pennsylvania.
NCQA noted that efforts to create multicultural healthcare systems improve the treatment for patients from minority groups, as well as non-native English speakers. Information about the other programs is detailed in the press release, which includes an array of initiatives in different arenas of healthcare.
November 28, 2007 Related topics: Trends, Partnerships & Consortia, Contract Awards, Quality, Safety, Errors