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Priority Health becomes Michigan's only health plan to earn Wellness Accreditation
[February 04, 2014]

Priority Health becomes Michigan's only health plan to earn Wellness Accreditation


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. --(Business Wire)--

Priority Health has become the only health plan in Michigan to receive wellness accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). The accreditation from the NCQA, an organization focused on improving the quality of health care, certifies Priority Health as a leader in implementing wellness programs in the workplace. This recognition comes as Priority Health renews its commitment to improve the health and lives of the people it works with by enhancing its employer-based wellness programs.

"At Priority Health, we understand that by identifying and addressing specific health risks, we are able to help employers lead their organizations and their employees to the rewards of fewer health risks, improved well-being and a measurable return on their health care investment," said Kandi Lannen, director of wellness for Priority Health.

Priority Health is offering customized wellness plans and solutions to improve employee health and performance and effectively reduce overall health care costs for employers. Priority Health's wellness services, such as health assessments and biometric screenings, classes and fitness challenges, health coaching and in-depth reporting, help engage employees in a healthier lifestyle and improve their overall well-being.

"We have long promoted workplace wellness and helped prove that changes can be made," added Lannen. "Michigan employers who participated in the Priority Health HealthbyChoiceSM incentive-based health plans have saved more than $2.7 million in medical claims andproductivity-related costs over the last three years."



"NCQA's wellness accreditation, entitled Wellness and Health Promotion Accreditation, requires organizations to demonstrate their ability to achieve and exceed well-defined standards and quality measures," said Margaret E. O'Kane, NCQA President. "The NCQA seal will provide employers and consumers with the information they need to choose the best programs in their market."

NCQA measured the number of wellness performance guidelines that Priority Health submitted against a minimum scoring threshold. Priority Health is proud to be one of eight health plans nationwide to earn this accreditation.


This is not the first time that NCQA has recognized the health plan. Priority Health has earned "excellent" accreditation from the NCQA, the highest level a health plan can achieve, for its Commercial HMO/POS, Medicaid, Medicare PPO and Medicare HMO/POS plans. This also marks the second consecutive year that Priority Health has earned Michigan's only accreditation for wellness by the NCQA.

"We are tremendously proud of the recognition we've received over the years from the National Committee for Quality Assurance," Lannen said. "It symbolizes our commitment to ensure that all of our members and their families receive the highest quality care."

About Priority Health:

Priority Health is an award-winning, Michigan-based non-profit health plan nationally recognized for improving the health and lives its members. It continues to lead the industry in engaging members in their health, delivering effective health and disease management programs, and working with physicians to improve health care outcomes and performance. Priority Health is one of only 20 health plans nationwide with wellness programs accredited by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, an organization that also rated our plans among the best health plans in the nation. Priority Health was also named the benchmark plan, by the State of Michigan, for all individual and group plans to model.

Priority Health offers a broad portfolio of health benefit options for employer groups and individuals, including Medicare and Medicaid plans. Its network of health care providers features 95 percent of practicing physicians available in Michigan and more than 900,000 nationwide. For more information visit priorityhealth.com.

About NCQA's Wellness and Health Promotion Accreditation:

NCQA's Wellness & Health Promotion Accreditation comprehensively assesses key areas of health promotion, including how wellness programs are implemented in the workplace, how services such as coaching are provided to help participants develop skills to make healthy choices and how individual health information is properly safeguarded.


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