American Chiropractic Association Secures Advisory Position on NCQA Panel
April 20, 1998
ARLINGTON, Va., April 17 /PRNewswire/ via
NewsEdge Corporation -- In a significant
step that will give the American Chiropractic
Association (ACA) an important voice in the
monitoring of managed care standards and
guidelines, an ACA representative has been
appointed to a new advisory panel of the
National Committee for Quality Assurance
(NCQA).
NCQA, the national accreditation agency for
managed care organizations, recently
created the Health Care Practitioner
Advisory Council (HCPAC) at the urging of
the ACA and a coalition of health care
provider associations that were concerned
by the lack of input by non-M.D./and
non-D.O. (doctor of osteopathy) providers.
Representation on the new panel will allow
chiropractic doctors and other non-M.D/D.O.
providers early comment on products such
as performance measures, standards --
including credentialing standards -- and
NCQA's Health Plan Employer Data and
Information Set (HEDIS) before they are
introduced to the managed care industry.
The HCPAC will serve on an equal level with
the M.D.-dominated Practicing Physician
Advisory Council (PPAC) that was created
last year. Along with the PPAC, the new
panel will review and advise the NCQA on
performance measures and standards during
regularly scheduled meetings. In addition to
representatives from the chiropractic
profession, other providers on the HCPAC
panel include representatives from the
counseling, podiatric, psychological,
occupational therapy, nursing, optometric,
physical therapy, physician assistant, dental,
social worker and speech-language-hearing
professions.
"The importance of this appointment to
NCQA's HCPAC panel cannot be overstated,"
commented ACA President Michael Pedigo,
D.C. "A chiropractic representative on the
panel will give the ACA and the chiropractic
profession input into the formation of
managed care quality standards that was
impossible before. This new seat will help
open the doors of managed care plans to
doctors of chiropractic and help the
profession gain credibility with the M.D.s who
have traditionally served as gatekeepers to
managed care plans. "
Joe Johnson, D.C., of Paxton, Fla., the NCQA
chiropractic appointee, attended the first
HCPAC meeting on April 13. The agenda for
the meeting included the review of NCQA's
Accreditation '99, which when introduced will
be the new standard for accreditation of
managed care organizations.
"Because managed care organizations
seeking accreditation must follow the NCQA
standards and guidelines, and then adopt
them as rules for providers to follow, ACA's
representation on this advisory panel will
help ensure fairness for doctors of
chiropractic in managed care plans early in
the guideline development process," stated
Dr. Johnson.
The formation of the HCPAC and ACA's
representation on the panel occurred after
nearly a year of lobbying by ACA and the
coalition of non-M.D./D.O. health care
provider associations. During the summer of
1997, ACA's Vice President of Professional
Development and Research, Andrew Aho,
helped organize the coalition to change the
way NCQA develops its guidelines. The
coalition approached NCQA urging
representation in their product development
at an advisory level. After a series of
meetings with the coalition, the NCQA
agreed to the formation of the HCPAC.
SOURCE American Chiropractic Association