PayerView(R) Rankings Rate Aetna First Among
National Health Plans
May 25, 2011 (Business Wire) -- Aetna's (NYSE:AET) continued efforts to simplify business transactions and build a more connected health care system placed the company first again among national health plans in the 2011 PayerViewRankings. According to the sixth annual rankings from athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATHN), and Physicians Practice®, Aetna's business transactions and processes are among the most simple to use, most efficient and transparent compared to other health plans that were measured. The complete 2011 PayerView Rankings, evaluating 132 national, regional, and government payers in 41 states, can be found at www.athenahealth.com/PayerView.
"We continue our efforts to strengthen how we share action-oriented information with the health care community in order to help increase the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care, as well as improve efficiency for doctors' offices. The consistent year-over-year advances made in simplicity, transparency and real-time electronic capabilities suggest that our continued collaboration with the health care community can make the health care system work better for everyone," says Mark Bertolini, Aetna chairman, CEO and president.
Aetna has been in either the top one or two spot for five consecutive years of PayerView Rankings. Aetna's disciplined approach to service, to quality and to timely information resulted in consistent, leading performance as measured in this year's Rankings:
- Aetna ranked best among payers for the percent of claims that were resolved the first time they were submitted.
- Aetna's clear and accessible policies resulted in denial rates being among the lowest among national payers.
- Aetna's electronic remittance advice (ERA) offers clear explanations and next steps to providers and resulted in the highest ERA Transparency – a new metric this year – across all payers measured.
Aetna is also one of the best in helping health care professionals understand what the health plan will pay for services, and what the patient or secondary health plan will owe. Estimates of payments are available in real-time using the Provider Payment Estimator, which Aetna launched last year.
"We understand that health care professionals and facilities need reliable estimates of the health plan's and the patient's financial responsibilities. Questions and financing options can be discussed with patients, and payments can be made at the time of service, which improves satisfaction for both patients and providers," Bertolini says.