The URAC Report

WASHINGTON, DC – June 23, 2017 – How will the role of case managers change as the aging population brings greater demand for post-acute care? How will case management help drive transformative change in healthcare delivery? What progress has been made in identifying quality standards and strategies to support the transformation of case management?

WASHINGTON, DC – Independent healthcare accreditor URAC today announced a two-day workshop on the Pharmacy Core v3.1, Specialty Pharmacy v3.0 and Mail Service Pharmacy v3.0 accreditation standards, being held at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park on September 21-22, 2017. The workshop will be conducted immediately following the 2017 National Association of Specialty Pharmacy (NASP) Annual Meeting, September 18-20.

URAC tells its story in the “2016 Year in Review” – a visual report that gives a snapshot of accomplishments in 2016, describes our non-profit mission and values, articulates what we do and why we do it, and provides employee stats.

Accountable care may still be a relatively new model in some areas, but the numbers of ACOs are steadily increasing. There were approximately 660 ACOs in the U.S. in 2015. The number increased to 838 last year. Success, however, can be elusive.

When Phoenix Children’s Care Network (PCCN) became the first clinically integrated pediatric network to achieve URAC accreditation in April, it blazed a trail that other children’s hospitals are starting to follow.

WASHINGTON, DC – May 30, 2017 – Independent healthcare accreditor URAC opens the revised Case Management Accreditation Standards for public comment beginning on May 30, 2017, and ending June 23, 2017, at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. Click here to access the proposed Case Management standards and the tool for providing public comment: https://accreditnetadmin.urac.org:443/UracPortal/Comment/Preamble?pcId=9495.

Innovative utilization review strategies are putting a big dent in soaring workers’ compensation drug costs, particularly when it comes to opioids.

Healthcare organizations increasingly view telehealth technology as a strategic tool in expanding the reach of their services. According to a survey released on April 19 by the tax, audit and advisory firm KPMG, one-third of providers now use video-based virtual care and remote patient monitoring services, while about three-quarters of healthcare organizations currently have virtual care incentives in place.