News

As part of our commitment to be “Easy to Do Business With” we have changed our product names to make them easier to understand. Read more

Sentara Port Warwick Expands Emergency Care to 24 Hours per Day

Emergency care at Sentara Port Warwick is now offered around the clock-24 hours per day. Read more

Optima Health Appoints Steve D. Keogh As Small Employer Sales Manager

Optima Health has appointed Steve Keogh as the Small Employer Sales Manager for the Southside, Peninsula, and Eastern Shore. Read more

Optima Health Appoints Michelle M. Brandt As Director of Sales Operations

Optima Health has appointed Michelle M. Brandt as the executive director of sales operations. Read more

HealthEquity®, Inc., and Optima Health To Offer Service-Oriented Health Savings Accounts

Optima Health customers will now have access to an enhanced consumer driven product including a health savings account (HSA) and high deductible health plan (HDHP). Read more

Sentara Unveils New Cardiovascular Institute

Sentara Healthcare announces the formation of a new research institute dedicated to halting the number one killer of men and women, cardiovascular disease. Read more

Optima Health No Longer Requires Referrals

Effective January 1, 2008, referrals to see a participating specialist are no longer required for most plans! Read more

Health Savings Account (HSA) Eligible Plans

The U.S. Treasury Department reviews individual deductibles on an annual basis and makes recommendations in the fall for the upcoming year. Read more

Optima Health Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) Available by Secure Email

It’s here—the ability to view, print, file and save your Explanation of Benefits without ever having to open a paper envelope again! Read more

Optima ‘Life Coach’ Diabetes Program Wins National Award

Disease Management Association cites improved patient compliance, health Read more

Optima Health Named Virginia's Top Health Plan for Customer Service

Optima Health has recently been named the 2006/2007 Customer Care Award winner for the state of Virginia. Read more

Prescription Mail Order Change

Beginning October 1, 2007, prescription mail order services will handled by Caremark. Read more

Optima Health Now Serving the Fredericksburg Area

Optima Health is now providing group health coverage in Fredericksburg and surrounding King George, Stafford and Spotsylvania counties. Read more

Sentara Healthcare 5th Most Integrated Network

Verispan recently ranked Sentara Healthcare for the tenth consecutive year in a row as a Top 100 Integrated Healthcare Network (IHN). Read more

Optima Health Ranked Among Top 50 Health Plans By U.S. News & World Report

Optima Health is ranked 50th among the nation’s health plans in the second annual survey by U.S. News & World Report and NCQA, the National Committee for Quality Assurance. Read more

Optima Health Web Site Receives URAC Accreditation

Optima Health announced today that it has been awarded URAC Health Web Site accreditation from the American Accreditation Healthcare Commission, a Washington, DC-based healthcare accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the healthcare industry. Read more

Sentara Princess Anne, Comprehensive Health Campus

In response to staggering growth and demand for health care services in southern Virginia Beach, Sentara is opening a comprehensive health campus with the Southside’s first free-standing emergency center. Read more

Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center Opens Thursday, August 17

The new regional medical center offers increased privacy and patient-centered care with larger all private rooms, expanded Emergency, Surgery and Maternity Departments; and advanced diagnostic imaging capabilities. Read more

Sentara Bayside Hospital Kicks Off Program Aimed at “Building a Better Environment for Safety”

Virginia Beach Vice Mayor Louis R. Jones joined Sentara Bayside Hospital Administrator Larry DePriest and the Bayside leadership team for the kickoff of a new internal program aimed at keeping employees engaged in patient safety efforts at the hospital. Read more

Expansion at Sentara Port Warwick Now Open

Sentara Port Warwick II—the 2nd phase of Sentara’s outpatient campus off Jefferson Avenue—opened Monday, June 26 with a brand new ambulatory surgery center. Read more

Optima Plans Rank Well in First U.S. News & World Report Survey

In its first national ranking of health plans, U.S. News & 30 Medicaid managed care programs. Optima Health plans rank in top 100. Read more

Sentara Health Campus Opens Summer 2006

Private and Sentara physicians are among the dozens of doctors committing to office space at Sentara Princess Anne, the 72-acre comprehensive health campus at the intersection of Princess Anne and Dam Neck Roads. Read more

Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS) Becomes Out-of-Area Provider Network

Beginning January 1, 2006, the out-of-area provider network will change from the CCN Network to the Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS) Network. Read more

Sentara CarePlex Hospital Opens Second Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory

Two fully operational labs offer lifesaving heart treatment to area residents. Read more

Sentara Heart Hospital

Construction is complete and the doors opened on the region’s only dedicated heart hospital, Sentara Heart Hospital on Saturday, February 25, 2006. Read more

Obici Hospital Merger With Sentara Healthcare Receives Regulatory Clearance

Obici Health System in Suffolk and Norfolk-based Sentara Healthcare have received clearance from federal and state regulatory bodies and anticipate that their planned merger will become effective April 1, 2006. Read more

Three Sentara Hospitals Win Awards For Heart Attack Treatment, Surgical Site Infection Prevention

Three Sentara hospitals have received Leadership Awards for Clinical Excellence from VHA. Read more

Sentara's Healthy Edge Program Wins 2006 ‘Wellness in the Workplace’ Award

The Virginia Business Coalition on Health has awarded one of two 2006 Wellness in the Workplace awards to Sentara Healthcare for its Healthy Edge program. Read more

Signing In to Optimahealth.com? Check Your Password.

Passwords for optimahealth.com are now case sensitive. Read more

Optima Health Plans Wins A+ from Weiss Ratings Agency

Optima Health Plan joins an elite group of 12 health plans in the nation to earn an A+ rating from the prestigious Weiss ratings agency. Data from the 4th quarter of 2004 resulted in the only A+ rating among health plans in Virginia. Read more

Obici Health System and Sentara Healthcare

Obici Health System of Suffolk and Norfolk-based Sentara Healthcare have agreed to a merger. The boards of directors of both organizations have signed a letter of intent. Read more

Sentara Named One of the Most Wired Health Care Systems Across the Nation

For the sixth consecutive year, Sentara Healthcare has been named one of the 100 Most Wired Health Systems in the nation. Read more

Optima Premier And Health Savings Accounts.

Start with an Optima Premier PPO high-deductible health plan. Combine it with the tax advantages of a government-approved Health Savings Account (HSA). And you’ve got a truly revolutionary option to rising healthcare coverage costs. Read more

Sentara Receives State Approval for Outpatient Surgery Center

Today Sentara Healthcare received approval from the state health commissioner to build a state-of-the-art, outpatient surgery center at Sentara Princess Anne Health Campus. Read more

Princess Anne Health Campus

Construction begins on one of the area’s most comprehensive and futuristic health complexes—Sentara Princess Anne Health Campus-scheduled to open in mid-2006. Read more

NCQA Accreditation for 2005

For the seventh year in a row, health plans administered by Sentara Health Plans, Inc. have received an “Excellent” accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Read more

Sentara and CHKD Assemble Katrina Relief Team

At the request of the Department of Health and Human Services, Sentara Healthcare and Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters have assembled a 110-person medical team for Katrina Hurricane Relief. Read more

Optima Family Care Wins Health Award

Virginia’s largest Medicaid HMO, Optima Family Care, has won a community service award from the Urban League of Hampton Roads for a girls basketball program that goes far beyond sports. Read more

Optima Health Wins First U.S. EPA Award For Asthma Management

Optima Health has received a first-ever award for asthma management from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Read more

Optima ‘Partners in Pregnancy’ Program Wins National Award

Optima Health’s three-year-old program to improve prenatal care for women on Medicaid has won a national award from the Disease Management Association of America (DMAA). Read more

Vioxx Removed From Market

Merck & Co., Inc. announced its voluntary withdrawal of the prescription pain drug Vioxx® from the market. Read more

National 'Quest for Quality' Prize Awarded to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital

There are few peer awards more prestigious for a hospital to win than the Quest for Quality prize by the American Hospital Association. This year, that national recognition goes to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. Read more

New Prescription Mail Order Service

PharmaCare Direct will serve as Optima Health's new prescription drug mail order service. Read more

Asthma Program Chosen by EPA

Sentara's Asthma Life Coach, a component of Sentara’s Asthma Disease Management Program, has been chosen out of multiple candidates across the country to be highlighted in a special video news release sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency. Read more