URAC Announces Approval of New Disease Management Standards

Washington, DC - URAC announced today that its Board of Directors has approved its new Disease Management Standards. The standards, developed by an Advisory Committee made up of representatives of health care organizations, health care providers, purchasers, and other experts, are designed to promote best practices in care management strategy for individuals with chronic diseases.

The approval of the Disease Management Standards marks the next step in URACs mission to develop an accreditation system for todays health care marketplace," stated Garry Carneal, URAC President and CEO. He continued, As the leader in the accreditation of medical management programs, URAC is ideally suited to evaluate the evolving practices of disease management programs."

URACs Disease Management Standards emphasize evidence-based practice, collaborative relationships with providers, and consumer education and shared-decision making. Specific standards address key areas of accountability such as:
·   The scope and interventions offered by the disease management program
·   The types of performance measures and methods for measurement used by the disease management program
·   Rights and responsibilities of participants
·   Methods for population management, including stratification and engagement
·   Disease management program design, including assessment and education of participants

The new standards are available to accredit the full spectrum of organizations providing disease management. These organizations include stand-alone disease management organizations, disease management programs offered by integrated medical management organizations, and programs offered by health plans.

The first group of disease management accreditation applicants is composed of 11 organizations operating in 14 different sites. They include health plans, medical management companies, and disease management companies on both the national and regional level.

The diversity of the first group of applicants to URAC's Disease Management Accreditation program is quite impressive. These companies are not only leaders in disease management -- they have also emerged as leaders in the health care community through their commitment to quality via URAC accreditation," says Robert L. Crocker, MD, Senior Vice President and Corporate Medical Director for WellPoint Health Networks, Inc. and Chairperson of the URAC Disease Management Advisory Committee. "Disease management holds tremendous promise as a strategy that can be used by HMOs, PPOs or any other type of health care organization to promote improvements in the quality of care management and ensure the credibility and accountability of the services they provide."

URAC expects to grant accreditation to these applicants over the next few months, with all 11 companies receiving accreditation by October. There will be a special recognition ceremony for the newly accredited sites at the URAC Third Annual Quality Summit, Oct. 7-8 in Washington, DC.

Disease management accreditation will benefit companies in many ways. First, it will assure purchasers that the accredited company has gone through a rigorous outside review and oversight process to ensure its functionality in essential aspects of disease management. Second, the Disease Management Standards will provide a common basis for disease management programs while allowing the diversity in approaches that characterizes this industry. This will foster a more consistent understanding of disease management among all stakeholders. Finally, URAC's educational approach to accreditation will promote efficiency of business operations and integration of continuous quality improvement strategies in disease management organizations.

For more information on the standards, please contact Vice President Liza Greenberg at 202-216-9010 or lgreenberg@urac.org. To apply for Disease Management Accreditation, contact the Business Development department at (202) 216-9010 or businessdevelopment@urac.org.

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URAC is a leader in the accreditation of health and managed care organizations. Founded in 1990, URAC currently offers 13 accreditation programs that span a broad spectrum of health care services. URAC has issued over 2,000 accreditation certificates to more than 500 health care programs. URAC-accredited organizations do business in all 50 states and provide services to more than 120 million Americans.

For more information about URAC, call (202) 216-9010 or visit www.urac.org.