HIP Health Plan Leads Nation's Insurers
New York, N.Y. October 8 - HIP Health Plan of New York continues to lead the nation's insurance industry in InformationWeek's annual ranking of business technology innovators. Among 500 companies ranked nationwide, HIP was placed first in the insurance industry and No. 13 among all companies.
"HIP's commitment to bring health care innovation to more than 1-million members covers every element of our enterprise," said Anthony L. Watson, Chairman and CEO. "What we have accomplished in technology is indicative of the effort we make to provide our membership with access to quality, affordable health care." Mr. Watson praised the team efforts of Daniel T. McGowan, President and COO; John H. Steber, Executive Vice President for Operations and Chief Information Officer; and, Pedro J. Villalba, Senior Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Technical Officer.
Known as the region's premier HMO and growing in its national reputation, HIP Health Plan of New York offers an expanding range of health care choices as well as a growing provider network. Now numbering close to 20,000 physicians in more than 31,000 service locations, HIP's health care options include physicians in independent practice as well as physicians practicing in health centers. The centers are managed by outstanding medical groups of multi-specialty physicians, as well as groups associated with leading hospitals, such as Beth Israel Medical Center and St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center (Continuum Health); Lenox Hill Hospital; St. Barnabas Hospital; and Montefiore Medical Center.
With the acquisition of Vytra Health Plans and its more than 200,000 members, HIP is the largest HMO and one of the largest health plans in the New York metropolitan area. It is also the largest Medicare and Medicaid HMO in New York State, according to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. HIP is the first health plan in the nation to offer a Web site (hipusa.com) in English, Spanish and Chinese and with Korean about to come online.
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), an independent monitor of the nation's HMOs, has awarded HIP a second successive Commendable Accreditation; COR Health, a health care guide to the Internet that reviews and evaluates health care and medical Web sites, gave HIP's Web site a 5-star rating for Content; the TRUSTe seal was awarded to HIP's Web site for adhering to the highest standards of established privacy principles of disclosure, choice, access and security; and, URAC, which establishes quality standards for the health care industry, has awarded HIP accreditation for its utilization management.
