About this Self-paced Training

NCQA Accreditation Readiness: Sustaining Performance between Surveys—2025 Updates (Self-paced)

Sustaining and improving performance between NCQA surveys helps health care organizations by reducing rework, preventing timeline bottlenecks and controlling staff burnout. This live course was designed in response to requests by health plans for strategies and best practices for managing teams, processes and changes between surveys. Course faculty will equip participants with actionable tools and frameworks to streamline Accreditation management and will facilitate brief activities to simulate strategies and best practices. This course is appropriate for any health plan staff member, delegate or contractor with a stake in NCQA Accreditation.

What You Will Learn

Self-Assessment Techniques

1.     Explore tools, techniques and methods for conducting effective self-assessments.

2.     Recognize indicators for evaluating applicable staff, vendors, contractors and delegates.

Enterprise Alignment

1.     Discuss strategies for aligning organizational practices with standards.

2.     Design plans for allocating enterprise resources to operationalize activities.

Continuous Improvement and Change Management

1.     Discuss tactics for engaging staff in quality initiatives.

2.     Apply stakeholder engagement tactics to foster innovation.

Performance Tracking and Ongoing Monitoring

1.     Define measures that yield target results.

2.     Define key performance indicators for monitoring performance.

Effective Communication and Reporting

1.     Communicate Accreditation priorities across the organization.

2.     Prepare comprehensive reports for stakeholders and surveyors.

Evidence and Documentation Management

1.     Recognize best practices for maintaining accurate, organized records.

2.     Create an evidence repository that supports compliance efforts.

Learning Outcomes

• Define essential roles between Accreditation cycles.
• Design structures and processes for reducing staff Accreditation fatigue. 
• Establish criteria for prioritizing continuous maintenance activities. 
• Devise strategies to establish a culture of continuous quality improvement.

Learning Materials and Resources

• Presentation slides.
• Recording of live session.
• Live Q&A.
•    Scenarios for applied learning.

Who Should Attend

•    Clinicians, directors, managers, specialists, coordinators.
• Consultants, contractors, delegates, vendors.
• Health plans and managed care organizations.
• Professionals in compliance, public policy, risk management.
•    Professionals in quality assurance/improvement or performance measurement.

Faculty

Dayna Jones, MBA, MS

Dayna Jones is Executive Director, Quality & Accreditation Governance at Aetna. She provides leadership and develops strategy to drive improvements to meet CMS, federal and state regulations, as well as accreditation requirements for all Aetna health plans.

Prior to joining Aetna, Dayna was a principal consultant for Bell Business Solutions, where she worked with organizations preparing for NCQA Accreditation. Previous to that, she was Senior Director, Enterprise Quality & Accreditation at HCSC. Before HCSC, Dayna was Assistant Vice President of Accreditation at NCQA.

Dayna has been an NCQA surveyor since 1999. She holds an MBA and an MSM with a concentration in Health Care Administration, both from the University of Maryland.

Continuing Education

This live course grants 4.0 Continuing Education Unit (CEU) points for PCMH Certified Content Experts.

This is a non AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM, ANA CNE, ACPE activity.

* Please note – You must attend the entire program to be eligible for total number of contact hours.

Disclosure of Relevant Financial Relationships

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) endorses the Standards of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education which specify that sponsors of continuing medical education activities and presenters at and planners for these activities disclose any relevant financial relationships either party might have with commercial companies whose products or services are discussed in educational presentations.

For sponsors, relevant financial relationships include large research grants, institutional agreements for joint initiatives, substantial gifts, or other relationships that benefit the institution.  For presenters or planning committee members, relevant financial relationships include the receipt of research grants from a commercial company, consultancies, honoraria, travel, or other benefits, or having a self-managed equity interest in a company; or having an immediate family member or partner with such a relationship.

Disclosure of a relationship is not intended to suggest or condone bias in any presentation but is made to provide participants with information that might be of potential importance to their evaluation of a presentation.

Relevant financial relationships exist with the following companies/organizations:

Faculty:
Dayna Jones, MBA: None

Additional Planning Committee Members:
Vincent Pereira: None

This program was developed in part by NCQA staff.