UnitedHealthcare Individual & Family Plans and Small Business Plans in Maryland Awarded NCQA Health Equity Accreditation

In Maryland, UnitedHealthcare – under the umbrella of its Individual and Family ACA Marketplace Plans (IFP) as well as Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) plans – was awarded Health Equity Accreditation by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

NCQA is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to assessing and reporting on the quality of managed care plans, managed behavioral health care organizations, preferred provider organizations, new health plans, physician organizations, credentials verification organizations, disease management programs and other health-related programs.

The accreditation demonstrates the quality and rigor of the IFP and SHOP plans to best serve their members. This is done through reducing health care disparities by providing culturally appropriate and quality improvement interventions which serve diverse populations.

Health Equity Accreditation is awarded based on an organization’s focus on improving health equity work through:

• Building an internal culture that supports the organization’s external health equity work,
• Collecting data that help the organization create and offer language services and provider networks mindful of individuals’ cultural and linguistic needs,
• Identifying opportunities to reduce health inequities and improve care,

NCQA Health Equity Accreditation is a nationally recognized accreditation for purchasers, regulators and consumers to use to distinguish themselves after meeting rigorous standards in serving a diverse population.

For the UnitedHealthcare IFP and SHOP plans in Maryland, a large part of achieving this accreditation was through analyzing the race, ethnicity, and language profile of the membership; identifying any disparities in health outcomes; and implementing interventions to improve any identified disparities.

These interventions have included:

• Providing at home hemoglobin A1c testing kits for Spanish speaking members with diabetes
• Providing at home fecal immunochemical tests (FIT) for Black members who had not been screened for colorectal cancer

“Cultural competency is crucial to providing high quality health care,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “Organizations achieving Health Equity Accreditation are leaders in closing the ethnic and racial disparities gap, and NCQA commends them for their dedication.”

By implementing these strategies, health care organizations like UnitedHealthcare can continue the work to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to lead a healthy life.