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CareSource wins two health care awards
DAYTON, Ohio, May 25, 2004 – CareSource, Ohio’s largest Medicaid managed health care plan, has won two Meritorious Awards for 2004 from the Ohio Association of Health Plans. The awards were announced at the OAHP Annual Convention and Trade Show on May 18-19.
“We are thrilled to receive not one, but two Meritorious Awards from the Ohio Association of Health Plans,” CareSource President and CEO Pamela Morris said. “These are just two examples of how CareSource exemplifies Best Practices among managed-care plans in the state, and we are pleased that the OAHP has recognized us for that.”
In the category of Health Care Programs, CareSource won for Partners with Hospitals, a pilot project in which CareSource worked with Miami Valley Hospital of Dayton to identify members who used the emergency department repeatedly and inappropriately. Whenever one of these members visited, MVH called CareSource, which then contacted the member. In this way, CareSource could share information about local urgent-care centers, help the member get an appointment with a primary care physician, and resolve any issues such as lack of transportation.
By contacting these members directly, CareSource and MVH cut the number of times they visited the emergency department in half. The project was so successful that MVH expanded it to its sister facility, Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton. CareSource is also working to start a similar project with MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland.
In the category of Improvements in Business and Operational Performance, CareSource won for Skill-Based Customer Relationship Management, which the company implemented to streamline calls to its Service Center. Representatives were split into two categories: Tier 1, to handle routine requests, and Tier 2, to handle grievances.
Improvements to customer service were immediate:
· Average-speed-to-answer time fell to 11 seconds for Tier 1 and 18 seconds for Tier 2. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services’ goal is 60 seconds.
· The call-abandonment rate fell to zero for Tier 1 and 0.68 percent for Tier 2. The ODJFS goal is 5 percent.
· Total call time fell from an average of 10 minutes, 42 seconds, to 3 minutes, 42 seconds, for Tier 1 and 5 minutes, 14 seconds, for Tier 2.
About CareSource
Established in 1989, CareSource serves Medicaid consumers in 13 Ohio counties -- Butler, Clark, Clermont, Cuyahoga, Franklin, Greene, Hamilton, Lorain, Montgomery, Pickaway, Stark, Summit and Warren. CareSource covers all Medicaid services required by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and offers extra benefits such as a 24-hour nurse hotline, a gift certificate program for pregnant members and transportation to doctors’ appointments.
CareSource is affiliated with CareSource Management Group, which offers a full spectrum of services for companies that operate a managed health-care plan. Among CSMG’s services are administration, including claims processing and payment, case and medical management, provider relations, quality improvement, and regulatory compliance; 24-hour services, including a nurse hotline; and financial consultation and turnaround. CSMG administers Community Choice Michigan, a Medicaid managed-care plan serving 56,000 members in 29 counties in Michigan.
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