University Times

UPMC Health Plan is among the highest ranked health plans in the country, according to a national organization that ranks managed care companies on their preventive health and quality programs.

The results were published in the Oct. 10 issue of U.S. News & World Report.

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and U.S. News listed UPMC Health Plan as one of the top 50 health plans in the United States. The health plan was the highest-ranked managed care company in the nation for breast cancer screening for the second consecutive year.

NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations and manages the evolution of HEDIS, the tool NCQA uses to measure and report on the performance of the nation’s health plans.

U.S. News & World Report used a star system to rank health plans in specific categories. UPMC Health Plan earned five stars in the categories of “prevention” and “treatment.” UPMC Health Plan is the only Pennsylvania health plan on the list to do so.

The health plan’s high rankings were based primarily on NCQA’s review of preventive health data, which showed that plan members received procedures such as breast cancer screenings, diabetes preventive health tests and other similar measures at a high rate.

Nationally, UPMC Health Plan’s top ranking in breast cancer screening means health plan members were screened for breast cancer at a greater rate than were members of any other surveyed managed care company in the United States.

UPMC Health Plan also received five-star ratings in five sub-categories: child and adolescent access to care, child and adolescent immunizations, women’s reproductive health, diabetes care and behavioral health.