HARTFORD, CT – The National Committee for Quality Assurance has created the first set of surveys for its new Quality Plus standards program called Member Connections. The program highlights information that health plans offer their members for their healthcare management.

"The impetus for the Quality Plus program, broadly speaking, is the quickening pace of innovation in healthcare," said Jeff Van Ness, spokesman for NCQA. "The Quality Plus program seeks to encourage health plans across the system to adopt those innovations that have made real differences in the quality of care of healthcare delivery."

NCQA named Aetna as one of its early adopters of Member Connections because of the health plan's multiple technology tools for members.

Members have access to Aetna Navigator, a self-service Web site; Estimate the Cost of Care, a suite of tools for estimating costs for prescription drugs, medical procedures, dental procedures, office visits, medical tests and diseases and conditions; DocFind, an online directory; Aetna InteliHealth, a consumer health information Web site, and Aetna Voice Advantage, an automated telephone self-service system.

Chuck Cutler, MD, Aetna's national medical director for quality management, said, "NCQA measures what our customers – consumers and employers – want from health plans: health plan management and care."

Cutler said Aetna's participation in the voluntary program allows the health plan to determine which services are valuable, demonstrate its leadership role to members and give customers confidence in its ability to meet their needs and provide new services.

Quality Plus will address new plan types, such as consumer-directed health plans, and evaluate plans to help consumers make decisions based on "apples-to-apples" comparisons.

The next two areas that NCQA will tackle in its Quality Plus Program are physician and hospital quality and health improvement.

Jocelyn Young, research director for healthcare technology for New York-based Datamonitor, said NCQA made a great first step in developing this program for customer satisfaction.Young noted that it constituted an important piece of the equation in equipping consumers with information in this consumer-directed healthcare movement.

"The next step is how NCQA will promote this program to inform consumers," said Young. "The key is getting the word out to consumers."