ATLANTA, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AMERIGROUP Community Care of Georgia announced today that it has been awarded New Health Plan Accreditation by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), certifying that it offers high-quality services to its 218,000 members.
NCQA is an independent, nonprofit organization that assesses and reports on the quality of the nation's managed healthcare plans. AMERIGROUP Community Care of Georgia began operations on June 1, 2006, when the State of Georgia restructured its healthcare program for low-income residents around the state, called Georgia Families.
AMERIGROUP Community Care is the only one of three care management organizations that participates in the Georgia Families program to obtain New Health Plan Accreditation from NCQA to date.
"Health plans that step forward to participate in NCQA's New Health Plan Accreditation program early on in their history are to be especially commended,' said Margaret E. O'Kane, President of NCQA. "Our standards are rigorous, and by meeting them, AMERIGROUP Community Care of Georgia has shown that it is well designed and serious about the quality of care it provides."
"We are pleased that a highly respected, independent organization like NCQA has recognized our commitment to Georgia and to the health of its citizens," said Melvin Lindsey, Interim Chief Executive Officer, AMERIGROUP Community Care of Georgia. "Since day one, we have worked to bring quality, preventive healthcare services to our members. NCQA evaluated our efforts and found that we are succeeding."
The NCQA accreditation process includes a detailed series of on-site and off-site evaluations by a team of physicians and healthcare specialists. They evaluate how well a care management organization works with physicians, hospitals and other healthcare providers to meet the needs of its members. NCQA's New Health Plan Accreditation Program applies to health plans that are fewer than 36 months old and is distinct from the organization's MCO Accreditation Program.
AMERIGROUP Community Care of Georgia is a wholly owned subsidiary of AMERIGROUP Corporation . NCQA has also accredited AMERIGROUP Community Care of the District of Columbia, another subsidiary of AMERIGROUP Corporation, and awarded Full Patient and Practitioner Disease Management Accreditation to eight national disease management programs offered by AMERIGROUP Corporation.
About AMERIGROUP Corporation
AMERIGROUP Corporation, headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, improves healthcare access and quality for low-income Americans by developing innovative managed health services for the public sector. Through its subsidiaries, AMERIGROUP Corporation serves more than 1.7 million people in the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. For more information, visit www. amerigroupcorp.com.
CONTACTS: Investors: Julie Loftus Trudell AMERIGROUP Corporation Senior Vice President, Investor Relations (757) 321-3597 News Media: Kent Jenkins, Jr. AMERIGROUP Corporation Senior Vice President, Media Relations (202) 218-4925
