Priority Health receives Pinnacle Awards

Priority Health receives three Pinnacle Awards from the Michigan Association of Health Plans (MAHP)

(GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – October 2, 2009)  Priority Health has been awarded three 2009 Pinnacle Awards from the Michigan Association of Health Plans (MAHP). The annual awards were established in 2001 to recognize Michigan companies for their outstanding contributions to increasing efficiency and patient care, helping lower costs and increase service to Michigan residents.

Priority Health Spine Centers of Excellence won in the Clinical Service Improvement – Commercial category. The program was developed help patients with back pain understand their surgical and non-surgical options. The program has improved health by giving patients more information when deciding on a treatment other than surgery.

The Patient-Centered Medical Home initiative received an honorable mention, also in the Clinical Service Improvement – Commercial category. It was the only honorable mention awarded in 2009. The program supports physician offices in providing comprehensive primary care for children, youth and adults.  The Patient-Centered Medical Home initiative facilitates partnerships between individual patients and their personal physicians and, when appropriate, the patient's family.

The Children’s Healthcare Access Program (CHAPS) won in the Collaborative Community Health category. CHAPS helps children in low-income families get the care they need to stay healthy, resulting in fewer emergency room visits and hospitalizations. Priority Health partnered with local community organizations to develop and support the program, including the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital and First Steps of Kent County.

"We are proud to be part of a community-wide effort that has been proven to increase children’s access to medical care, improve health and prevent unnecessary emergency room admissions," said Leon Lamoreaux, vice president of government programs. "We are especially honored to have received a second award for this program, as the CHAPS Program received a Healthy Kent 2010 — Douglas A. Mack Award for Community Collaboration in September."

About Priority Health
Priority Health is a nationally recognized health benefits company based in Michigan. It serves 500,000 members with a broad portfolio of products including commercial and government health plans. A nonprofit dedicated to providing all people access to affordable health care, Priority Health continues to be recognized as one of America’s Best Health Plans by U.S. News & World Report and NCQA. Priority Health employs 900 people throughout Michigan’s Lower Peninsula with offices in Grand Rapids, Farmington Hills, Holland, Jackson, Kalamazoo and Traverse City.