Applications are no longer being accepted for the 2008 Recognizing Innovation in Multicultural Health Care award program.

NCQA, supported by The California Endowment, announces its third annual Recognizing Innovation in Multicultural Health Care award program to publicly recognize health plans that have implemented initiatives to ensure culturally and linguistically appropriate services and reduce health care disparities. 

The 3rd Annual
Recognizing Innovation in Multicultural Health Care Awards
Reception and Dinner

Thursday, September 18, 2008
5:30 – 7:00pm Reception & Poster Session
Highlighting the 2008 Award Recipients

7:00 – 9:00pm Dinner and Award Ceremony

JW Mariott San Francisco
500 Post Street
San Francisco, CA 94102

Business Attire

Please email CLASAwards@ncqa.org with any questions or to RSVP.

RSVP by September 4, 2008

NCQA will highlight and recognize health plans for their exemplary efforts and demonstrated effectiveness in promoting cultural competence and addressing the health care needs of diverse members. Through these awards, NCQA hopes to advance efforts to improve multicultural health care and eliminate health care disparities.

The awards will also help:

• Identify models for potential replication in other settings and for shared learning
• Provide a forum for dissemination and recognition of health plans’ efforts to address culturally and linguistically appropriate services and reduce disparities among their members and communities
• Inform NCQA as it develops voluntary accreditation standards to help organizations assess their efforts to address CLAS and disparities

Topic areas for applications, based on key concepts from the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care developed by the Office of Minority Health, HHS, include:

• Language access
• Cultural competence
• Reducing clinical disparities
• Community driven programs/community partnerships
• Culturally and linguistically appropriate patient education
• Cross-cultural health initiatives
• Quality and culture intersection
• Culturally tailored disease management

For more information, please contact CLASAwards@ncqa.org.