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Data Sources

Performance information found in this Guide is from two primary sources:

• New York State Insurance Department (NYSID):
  • provides information on Complaints, Internal Appeals, External Appeals and Grievances.
  • collects data as part of its regulatory responsibilities.
  • data are from calendar year 2008.


• New York State Department of Health (DOH):
  • provides information on HMO complaints, Access to Care and Service, Staying Healthy and Living with Illness and Quality of Providers.
  • collects the data through the New York State Department of Health's Quality Assurance Reporting Requirements (QARR) and the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®).
  • data are from calendar year 2007, except where noted.

Details About the Data

• The Guide does not include HMOs with less than $25 million in premiums or fewer than 5,000 members.
• The Guide does not include data for Medicare, Medicaid or self-insured plans.
• HMOs are listed alphabetically in the data tables.
• QARR data are not available for Atlantis Health Plan.
• In 2007 the set of questions contained in the CAHPS survey changed from the 3.0H to the 4.0H version. Therefore, data in prior reports cannot be compared to the data in this report.