The Tuba Health Plan recently underwent an accreditation process under a program known as Accreditation '99, which includes selected Health Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures. Under Accreditation '99, Tuba received a rating of Excellent. The following statement(s) can correctly be made about this quality assessment of Tuba's operations:

Although ambulatory payment classifications (APCs) bear some resemblance to diagnosis-related groups (DRGs), there are significant differences between APCs and DRGs. One of these differences is that APCs:

With regard to the laws and regulations on access and adequacy of provider networks, it can correctly be stated that:

The following statements are about fee-for-service (FFS) payment systems. Select the answer choice containing the correct statement:

Reimbursement for prescription drugs and services in a third-party prescription drug plan typically follows one of two approaches: a reimbursement approach or a service approach. One true statement about these approaches is that:

The following statements describe two types of HMOs:

The Elm HMO requires its members to select a PCP but allows the members to go to any other provider on its panel without a referral from the PCP.

The Treble HMO does not require its members to select a PCP. Treble allows its members to go to any doctor, healthcare professional, or facility that is on its panel without a referral from a primary care doctor. However, care outside of Treble's network is not reimbursed unless the provider obtains advance approval from the HMO.

Both HMOs use delegation to transfer certain functions to other organizations. Following the guidelines established by the NCQA, Elm delegated its credentialing activities to the Newnan Group, and the agreement between Elm and Newnan lists the responsibilities of both parties under the agreement. Treble delegated utilization management (UM) to an IPA. The IPA then transferred the authority for case management to the Quest Group, an organization that specializes in case management.

Both HMOs also offer pharmacy benefits. Elm calculates its drug costs according to a pricing system that requires establishing a purchasing profile for each pharmacy and basing reimbursement on the profile. Treble and the Manor Pharmaceutical Group have an arrangement that requires the use of a typical maximum allowable cost (MAC) pricing system to calculate generic drug costs under Treble's pharmacy program. The following statements describe generic drugs prescribed for Treble plan members who are covered by Treble's pharmacy benefits:

The MAC list for Drug A specifies a cost of 12 cents per tablet, but Manor pays 14 cents per tablet for this drug.

The MAC list for Drug B specifies a cost of 7 cents per tablet, but Manor pays 5 cents per tablet for this drug.

To calculate its drug costs, Elm uses a pricing system known as:

In the paragraph below, two statements each contain a pair of terms enclosed in parentheses. Determine which term correctly completes each statement. Then select the answer choice that contains the two terms you have chosen.

In most states, a health plan can be held responsible for a provider’s negligent malpractice. This legal concept is known as (vicarious liability / risk sharing). One step that health plans can take to reduce their exposure to malpractice lawsuits is to state in health plan-provider agreements, marketing collateral, and membership literature that the providers are (employees of the health plan / independent contractors).

For this question, if answer choices (A) through (C) are all correct, select answer choice (D). Otherwise, select the one correct answer choice. A credentials verification organization (CVO) can be certified to verify certain pertinent credentialing information, including

A provider contract describes the responsibilities of each party to the contract. These responsibilities can be divided into provider responsibilities, health plan responsibilities, and mutual obligations. Mutual obligations typically include

The provider contract that Dr. Huang Kwan has with the Poplar Health Plan includes a typical scope of services provision. The medical service that Dr. Kwan provided to Alice Meyer, a Poplar plan member, is included in the scope of services. The following statement(s) can correctly be made about this particular medical service: