Contact:
Dennis Tartaglia (212) 481-7000
Patricia Simino Boyce (516) 209-5294
psboyce@ipro.org
Lake Success, NY, April 10, 2007 — IPRO announced today that its offices in Lake Success and Albany, New York have been recertified to the ISO 9001:2000 standard by SGS International Services, Inc. (SGS ICS). IPRO was initially ISO certified in 2003.
The voluntary recertification indicates that IPRO continues to meet the requirements of ISO 9001:2000 for the provision of health care services, including the design, development and implementation of Medicare and Medicaid quality improvement and assessment activities; data collection, analysis and validation; special studies; and consulting services. IPRO’s recertification is valid through November 2009.
“Our ISO recertification indicates that IPRO’s internal quality management systems have continued to withstand the scrutiny of a rigorous external review,” says Theodore O. Will, Chief Executive Officer, IPRO. “We are proud to be among the small number health care organizations that have undergone ISO’s internationally recognized certification process.”
Although more than 16,600 companies in the U.S. and Canada are registered to the ISO 9001:2000 standard, ISO certification is relatively new to the health care field.
ISO 9001:2000 is an international quality management standard and framework for business-to-business dealings, focusing on meeting customer quality and applicable regulatory requirements, enhancing customer satisfaction and continually improving business performance from the initial contracting stage through the delivery of service. ISO certification guarantees IPRO’s customers that a quality management system is in place, facilitating better systems processes and cost-effective management of the company. The implemented management framework helps identify any system gaps, provides a strong foundation for system improvement and assists in organizational compliance with other accreditation programs.
“ISO certification validates that IPRO’s quality improvement services go beyond health care business standards,” states Tierre Jeanne-Porter, J.D., C.P.H.Q., Vice President, Planning, Quality and Compliance, IPRO. “We are constantly looking at ways to improve, and ISO recertification verifies that we have done so.”
To obtain ISO 9001:2000 certification, auditors from SGS ICS – the leading independent registrar providing ISO registration services to health care organizations – visited IPRO’s offices in Lake Success and Albany to obtain objective evidence about its quality management system. SGS conducted staff interviews, reviewed documented procedures and records and observed real-time work processes. Since IPRO’s initial certification, SGS has conducted annual audits at IPRO to ensure adherence to the quality management system.
With more than 20 years’ experience in health care quality evaluation, IPRO holds major contracts with state and federal governments to review the cost and quality of services provided to Medicaid recipients, Medicare beneficiaries, and patients enrolled in managed care organizations. Based in Lake Success, New York, IPRO also holds contracts with private-sector clients to improve the quality of privately financed services.