Ralph Muller Joins NCQA Board of Directors; University of Pennsylvania Health System CEO Brings New Perspective

6/9/2004

From: Brian Schilling or Barry Scholl, 202-955-5104 or 202-955-5197, both of the National Committee for Quality Assurance

WASHINGTON, June 9 -- The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) announced today that Ralph W. Muller, Chief Executive Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS), has joined its Board of Directors. NCQA's Board of Directors is comprised of 17 health care opinion leaders, representing employers, consumer and labor interests, health plans, quality experts, regulators, and organized medicine.

"Ralph's experience in the hospital sector will bring a new and valuable perspective to our efforts to promote quality and value," said NCQA President Margaret E. O'Kane. "He is an influential policy leader at the national level, and we're delighted to welcome him to the Board."

Muller has been Chief Executive Officer of UPHS since May 2003. He is responsible for the operational effectiveness and financial health of UPHS, a $2 billion enterprise that includes four hospitals, a faculty practice plan, a primary-care provider network, three multispecialty satellite facilities, home health care, hospice and long-term care. Muller is also responsible for further strengthening the integrated organization, and working with other health care, research and industry groups, as well as government leaders and business coalitions.

"NCQA has done an admirable job of introducing measurement and a quality focus at the health plan level of the system," said Muller. "I am looking forward to working with NCQA to figure out how to expand the organization's focus to driving improvement at every level of the system."

Muller is a Commissioner on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Prior to leading UPHS, Muller served for over 16 years as President and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Chicago Hospitals and Health System. He has also served as Chairman of the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems, and the Board of the National Opinion Research Center.

NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations, recognizes physicians and physician groups in key clinical areas and manages the evolution of HEDIS(r), the tool the nation's health plans use to measure and report on their performance. NCQA is committed to providing health care quality information through the Web, media and data licensing agreements in order to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.