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URAC Approves Revised Accreditation Standards for Health Plans and Health Networks

Posted on: Thursday, 18 December 2008, 16:40 CST

Revisions support consumers with new standards around sharing information

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- URAC announced today that its Board of Directors has approved revisions to the Health Plan and Health Network accreditation standards. The revisions include standards that guide organizations as they protect and empower consumers by sharing more information about the cost and quality of their health care benefits.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030501/URACLOGO)

URAC, the independent, non-profit health care accreditation organization, regularly assesses practices in the health care management marketplace and updates accreditation standards to align with leading trends. The standards now require organizations to provide consumers with more information concerning financial responsibilities and resources, how benefit programs work, and support for special needs. The standards also encourage health plans to share information with consumers about the cost of covered benefits and to provide them with evidence-based health information.

"URAC's Health Plan and Health Network revisions provide new standards that support the consumer's need for information to take a more collaborative role in their own health care," said Douglas Metz, DC, chairman of URAC's Health Standards Committee and chief health services officer for American Specialty Health. "These revisions also provide timely clarifications to behind-the-scenes processes that are a key component of patient safety."

For further reading, see URAC's issue brief, "Delegated Credentialing and Physician Performance Reporting: URAC's proposed revisions for health plan, health network standards answer market outsourcing trend and demands for measurement," at http://www.urac.org/savedfiles/JuneNewswebHealthNetworks.pdf

About URAC

URAC, an independent, nonprofit organization, is well-known as a leader in promoting health care quality through its accreditation and education 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 www.urac.org.

SOURCE URAC

Source: PR Newswire

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