Nov. 11--DANVILLE -- U.S. News & World Report magazine has ranked Geisinger Health System's commercial health maintenance organization insurance plan fifth-best in the nation, and dubbed Geisinger's Medicare HMO third-best.

This year, the magazine ranked 287 commercial HMOs and 216 Medicare HMOs, and Geisinger, which touted its results in a Monday press conference, was tops for both among Pennsylvania insurance companies.

The magazine has teamed with the National Committee for Quality Assurance, managed care's major accrediting and standards-setting body, to review health care plans for four years. The rankings, available at www.health.usnews.com/healthplans, are based on the plans' success at preventing and treating illnesses and providing consumer services to members.

Geisinger implemented a multi-pronged strategy three years ago to excel in the rankings, said Anthony Aquilina, D.O., Geisinger Northeast's associate chief medical officer.

The company's efforts included eliminating copays for certain preventive procedures such as mammograms and ensuring drugs for chronic conditions, including diabetes and asthma, are covered have cheap copays.

Geisinger also contacts patients when they're behind on tests and provides an online tool for doctors to check whether patients received necessary screenings and drugs.

Geisinger's 226,000 subscribers, who are mostly in commercial HMO and preferred provider organization plans, include 35,000 Medicare HMO members.

"Our goal was always to be in the top 10 of all health plans," Dr. Aquilina said. "We thought it would take longer than it did, but we were very successful, and we owe that success to the willingness of our leadership to commit resources to quality improvement."

Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania's commercial HMO plan was ranked 130 of 287. The company excelled in the "consumer assessment" category, claims processing, communicating with doctors and quickly providing needed care to members.

Contact the writer: daxelrod@timesshamrock.com