• Health Equity Accreditation is awarded to organizations committed to reducing disparities and improving health outcomes

Aug 14, 2024 / Business Wire / UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of North Carolina announced it has been awarded Health Equity Accreditation by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). NCQA is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health care quality.

Health Equity Accreditation focuses on the foundation of health equity work, which includes: building an internal culture that supports the organization’s external health equity work; collecting data that help the organization create and offer language services and provider networks mindful of individuals’ cultural and linguistic needs; and identifying opportunities to reduce health inequities and improve care.

“We know to drive better outcomes for the people we have the privilege of serving, we must understand and consciously address the inequities that exist in the health care system,” said Anita Bachmann, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of North Carolina. “This accreditation is a testament to our team’s commitment to ensuring every individual in the state has access to high-quality equitable care to help them live healthier lives.”

NCQA’s Health Equity Accreditation evaluates how well an organization complies with standards in the following areas: organizational readiness; race/ethnicity, language, gender identity and sexual orientation; access and availability of language services; practitioner network cultural responsiveness; culturally and linguistically appropriate services programs; and reducing health care disparities.

“Earning Health Equity Accreditation shows that an organization is making a breakthrough in providing excellent health care to diverse populations. I congratulate any organization that achieves this level of distinction,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “Eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care is essential to improving the quality of care overall.”

In addition to being awarded NCQA Health Equity Accreditation, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of North Carolina also became the first Medicaid managed care organization in the state to earn the NCQA Health Plan Accreditation.

UnitedHealthcare serves more than 1.8 million people in North Carolina enrolled in employer-sponsored, individual, Medicare and Medicaid plans, with a network of 153 hospitals and more than 67,500 physicians and care providers statewide.

To learn more about UnitedHealthcare’s commitment to delivering high-quality equitable care in North Carolina visit uhccs.com/NC. For more information about NCQA, visit www.ncqa.org.

About NCQA

NCQA is a private, nonprofit 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’s Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA’s website (ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more-informed health care choices. NCQA can be found online at ncqa.org, on X @ncqa, on Facebook at facebook.com/NCQA.org/ and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/ncqa.

About UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and making the health system work better for everyone by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. In the United States, UnitedHealthcare offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 1.7 million physicians and care professionals, and 7,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. The company also provides health benefits and delivers care to people through owned and operated health care facilities in South America. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group, a diversified health care company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @UHC on LinkedIn.