(NCQA: Washington) -- Organizations providing specialized health care information services can now earn certification from the National Committee for Quality Assurance for a range of services they provide. The new Health Information Products certification program assesses functions ranging from the provision of interactive consumer health tools to reporting on the performance of physicians and hospitals. Seven health-information companies, including HealthGrades, Healthways, Healthwise, OptumHealth, vielife, and WorldDoc Inc. have agreed to be evaluated under the standards of the new program.

The standards of the HIP certification program are standards on which NCQA assesses health plans through accreditation for health-maintenance organizations and preferred provider organizations and through the voluntary physician and hospital quality program for accredited HMOs and PPOs. These standards reflect the growing emphasis on improving member access to health care information, early identification and outreach to members at risk for illness, and standardized measurement of the quality and cost of care provided by network hospitals and physicians. Many health care organizations provide services to health plans that support the activities assessed by the NCQA standards.

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