Health Plan for Local Military Families Ranks Among America’s Best

Uniformed Services Family Health Plan (US Family Health Plan) at Pacific Medical Centers today announced a member-satisfaction survey that gives it one of the highest rankings in the United States and reveals its members as among the most loyal nationwide. The recent, independent survey of members gave the Plan an 88.8 percent overall satisfaction rating, well above the national average.

US Family Health Plan (www.usfhp.com), a national health plan for military families, is offered in six regions around the country, including Washington State’s Puget Sound area. The Plan delivers care in King and Snohomish counties through Pacific Medical Centers to dependents of active-duty service men and women, activated reservists and National Guard members, and military retirees and their eligible family members. Sponsored by the Department of Defense, US Family Health Plan is celebrating 25 years of serving uniformed services personnel.

US Family Health Plan members’ 88.8 percent overall satisfaction rating is 23 percent higher than the national average for satisfaction with health plans as reported by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) in its Quality Compass 2006 Public Report. The report, designed to provide health plans with comparative information on the quality of managed care plans in the United States, includes data from 253 commercial adult plans that chose to release their results publicly. Rated on a scale of zero to 10 (with 10 as the highest rating), 88.8 percent of US Family Health Plan members at Pacific Medical Centers rated their overall satisfaction with the Plan as 8 or higher. “Additionally, the survey identified our members as among the most loyal health plan members in America, meaning that they’re satisfied with the Plan, do not intend to switch to another plan and are willing to recommend the Plan to family and friends,” says Kate Ryan, vice president, US Family Health Plan at Pacific Medical Centers. “The analysis showed that 78.2 percent of all of our respondents, and 85 percent of those age 65 or older, can be categorized as loyal. The national percentage for loyalty is 43.7 percent.”

The satisfaction of US Family Health Plan members at Pacific Medical Centers with 1) their health plan, 2) their ability to get care quickly, 3) their physicians and 4) the doctor’s office staff with whom they interact through the network all rank in the ninety-ninth percentile nationally. Members also continue to report high satisfaction with claims processing, customer service and the timeliness in which they receive resolutions to problems. Survey results show that for 12 consecutive years, US Family Health Plan members at Pacific Medical Centers have been among the most satisfied health plan beneficiaries in the United States.

The survey was conducted by The Myers Group of Snellville, Ga., an NCQA-Certified Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDISÒ) Survey Vendor, using the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPSÒ) 3.0H survey methodology. Developed jointly by the Agency for Healthcare Research and the NCQA, the CAHPS 3.0H survey is the most comprehensive tool available for assessing consumers’ experiences with their health plans.

About the US Family Health Plan

US Family Health Plan is a TRICARE Prime option available to families of active duty military, retirees and their eligible family members, including those age 65 and over, through networks of community-based hospitals and physicians in six areas of the country.

US Family Health Plan enrollment is offered through:

• JOHNS HOPKINS COMMUNITY PHYSICIANS | 1-888-400-4200
  Serving central Maryland and parts of Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia
• MARTIN’S POINT HEALTH CARE | 1-888-241-4556
  Serving Maine and New Hampshire
• BRIGHTON MARINE HEALTH CENTER | 1-800-818-8589
  Serving central and eastern MassachUSetts, including Cape Cod, and Rhode Island
• SAINT VINCENT CATHOLIC MEDICAL CENTERS | 1-800-241-4848
  Serving parts of New York, all of New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and southern
• Connecticut CHRISTUS HEALTH | 1-800-678-7347
  Serving southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana
• PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTERS | 1-888-958-7347
  Serving the Puget Sound area of Washington State

For more information, visit the US Family Health Plan Web site.