The National Committee for Quality Assurance recently added new requirements for health plans seeking accreditation to its Quality Plus program. The change becomes effective in 2007.Candidate health plans will have to demonstrate that they provide their members with information to help them navigate the care system, and that they have programs to promote wellness and the management of complex conditions. Since NCQA first launched the Quality Plus series in 2005, it has surveyed 130 health plans for voluntary compliance.

“Activating health care consumers and providing them with customized care management are critical to the future of affordable, quality health care,” says Margaret E. O’Kane, NCQA president. “Plans demonstrated their strong commitment to providing these services through their adoption of these programs when they were voluntary.”

Other changes for 2007 include the addition of a physician and hospital directories standard that assesses what information health plans provide members through Web-based directories, what search options the directories feature and how well the information is explained.

For more information, visit www.ncqa.org/communications/news/Accred_2007.htm

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