URAC Releases Clinical Accreditation Standards For Public Comment

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Today URAC released its clinical accreditation standards for public comment, the penultimate step in a standardized revision process designed to promote efficiency and consistency across URAC's modular accreditation programs. The process began in early 2004 and URAC will release the next generation of standards in January 2006. Public comments are due no later than May 3, 2005.

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"URAC is pleased to present for public comment proposed standards which include a comprehensive revision of our quality management standards that will promote a more coherent and integrated quality management system focusing on continuous quality improvement, error reduction, and consumer safety," said John P. DuMoulin, MS, CAE, URAC's vice president of government relations and product development.

To allow for a more efficient process for applicants, the new standards are grouped together in a more coherent and integrated fashion. Additionally, there is more of an emphasis on patient safety and its role in quality management. Specifically, patient safety is addressed in both the Core Standards and in many of the accreditation modules such as the modules for utilization management, worker's comp utilization management, case management and health call centers.

"Patient safety has always been inherent in many of the care management processes URAC accredits," said DuMoulin. "We believe that clarifying URAC's quality management standards as they relate to patient safety highlight this critically important public policy theme."

During the public comment period, URAC is interested in feedback on any aspect of its clinical accreditation standards, which includes the Core Standards, as well as modules for utilization management, case management, health networks, and other health functions.

"Public comments on standards revisions are critical to the continual quality improvement of the URAC accreditation standards," said Douglas Metz, DC, chairman of the URAC Standards Committee. "We hope that all stakeholders will take advantage of this public comment period as an opportunity to offer their thoughts and recommendations for enhancements to the standards."

URAC has developed a preferred online Web-based mechanism to receive public comment via the link from URAC's homepage http://www.urac.org/. Alternative methods to submit comments are:

  * eMail to comments@urac.org with the subject line "Comments-Standards"

  * Mail to URAC, Atten: Public Comments-Standards, 1220 L Street NW,
    Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20005

  * Fax to: "Atten: Public Comments-Standards" at 202-216-9006

URAC, an independent, nonprofit organization, is well-known as a leader in promoting health care quality through its accreditation and certification programs. URAC offers a wide range of quality benchmarking programs and services that keep pace with the rapid changes in the health care system, and provide a symbol of excellence for organizations to validate their commitment to quality and accountability. Through its broad-based governance structure and an inclusive standards development process, URAC ensures that all stakeholders are represented in establishing meaningful quality measures for the entire health care industry. For more information, visit http://www.urac.org/.

CONTACT: Karla Hurter, +1-703-319-0957, or khurter@health2resources.com,for URAC

Web site: http://www.urac.org/