LYNDHURST, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vitals, a leader in providing health care price transparency and consumer engagement solutions, today announced that the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has awarded the VitalsChoice transparency and engagement platform with the Health Information Products - Physician and Hospital Directories (HIP4) Certification.
The NCQA Health Information Products (HIP) Certification is a quality assessment program that health plans can use to assess vendor organizations that develop and provide health information content, tools and services. Health plans that choose certified organizations automatically receive NCQA credit for delegated HIP functions. Among other certification options, the HIP program includes defining rigorous health information standards for the design and support of online Physician and Hospital Directories.
“We have always strived to build best-in-class products. Earning the NCQA HIP4 Certification validates that our health plan solutions are of the highest caliber,” said Heyward Donigan, CEO of Vitals. “This certification is also important to our health plan clients. We’ve gone through the NCQA Certification process so they don’t have to.”
Certification for HIP4 through NCQA is voluntary. During the year-long process, VitalsChoice was rigorously evaluated by a team of health care professionals. A national oversight committee of physicians then analyzed the team’s finding to determine certification eligibility. Vitals is proud that VitalsChoice exceeded all minimum passing scores for the applicable NCQA HIP4 standards.
The VitalsChoice platform includes: a web-based provider finder that includes various metrics of quality; a cost calculator that displays actual out-of-pocket costs for members; and a patient review system that allows patients to participate in a feedback loop on providers. The platform is currently being used by 25 health plans and is available to over 90 million lives.
“Earning NCQA’s HIP Certification demonstrates that an organization has expertise in gathering and disseminating health care information for health plan members,” said Kathleen C. Mudd, Vice President, Product Delivery. “Vitals is to be commended for being one of the first organizations in the nation to be reviewed for these services.”
About Vitals
Vitals empowers everyone to shop like an expert for their health care. We bring together cost and quality transparency along with innovative consumer engagement programs to help people select high-quality, lower-cost care. Vitals leads the market with incentive and engagement programs that pay people to shop. Our solutions achieve measurable and sustainable savings for consumers, employers and health plans. Through health plans, employer clients and our award-winning consumer websites, Vitals helps more than 120 million people each year access better, more affordable care.
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About NCQA
NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA is committed to providing health care quality information for consumers, purchasers, health care providers and researchers.
