BALTIMORE—Versant Health announced on Thursday that it has received Utilization Management Accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). This accreditation is awarded to organizations whose Utilization Management Program has demonstrated compliance to the meticulous standards set by the NCQA for quality improvement, clinical expertise and timeliness, according to the announcement by Versant Health, a leading managed vision care company. The recognition exemplifies Versant Health's continued commitment to the care it provides to the more than 38 million members daily, the announcement added.

"We are very proud to receive NCQA accreditation,” Versant Health’s Elizabeth Klunk, RN, BSN, CCM-R, senior vice president, head of medical management strategy and development, said. “Our utilization management program ensures that we approach our members' care holistically, meaning that we look at the whole person, and how their eye health influences their overall well-being. It also ensures that our members get the right care in the right place at the right time.”
 
To attain NCQA accreditation for Utilization Management, health plans must display that their members are receiving the best quality care and the health plan's overall network is performing well and remaining healthy, according to Versant Health.
 
Through Versant Health's unique approach to utilization management, members receive quality service through the continuum of care while reducing eye health-related costs. This is done through evidence-based guidelines that ensure services such as surgeries are rendered when medically necessary, including eye-specific claims review and editing techniques that allow for early intervention while eliminating unnecessary and/or duplicative diagnostic procedures and identification of drugs that provide the greatest combination of efficacy and cost containment. These steps make certain members receive the appropriate level of care.
 
"In our mission to become the most trusted managed eye health and vision care plan, Versant Health has made a substantial investment in its clinical effectiveness programs, including the hiring of board-certified ophthalmologists, optometrists and registered nurses focused on driving high quality and high value to our members through our network eyecare providers. This accreditation is recognition that we are delivering our medical management program with quality and effectiveness,” Klunk added.
 
"Achieving NCQA Utilization Management Accreditation demonstrates that Versant Health has the systems, process and personnel in place to conduct utilization management credentialing in accordance with the strictest quality standards,” added Margaret E. O'Kane, president of NCQA.