NCQA Launches Effort To Accredit DM Programs

MANAGED CARE January 2002. ©MediMedia USA

The National Committee for Quality Assurance's plan to bring the disease management industry under its accrediting umbrella seems to be off to a running start. The NCQA announced Dec. 4 that 18 organizations have already agreed to participate in its Disease Management Accreditation and Certification program.

Under the proposal, which was scheduled to be launched in late December, the NCQA will extend automatic credit on selected standards to HMOs working with DM vendors that have earned NCQA's DM accreditation.

"There's tremendous promise in disease management, and NCQA's new approach to accreditation and certification is well-suited to helping the best of these organizations thrive," contends Margaret E. O'Kane, NCQA's president.