About one year ago, the organization was finalizing its strategic plan in preparation for the Board.  One of the recurring themes I heard during the discovery interviews with URAC staff addressed URAC’s ‘lack of agility.’  What is agility?  Webster defines agility as having a quick, resourceful and adaptable character.

The Quality, Research & Measurement Team has been working diligently on updating the measure submission portal to ensure our clients can easily submit their data to meet accreditation requirements.  We are pleased to announce that the opening of the web-based portal will occur on July 1, 2018.   Clients are required to submit measure data if the program they are accredited under contain the RPT-1 and RPT-2 standards. 

URAC held its annual Joint Advisory Group meeting in Washington, DC this past May. There were 37 volunteers in attendance on Day One, and 32 in attendance on Day Two, plus numerous URAC staff – including Reviewers. 

June 13 was an important date for us here at URAC. Typically, the 13^th day of the month is associated with superstitions about bad luck. But for us it marked a key moment in national recognition and thought leadership. Because on June 13 URAC hosted and moderated a webinar about our Clinical Integration (CI) Accreditation program.

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act, S. 974, out of committee on June 14. The main purpose of this bill is to make it easier for generic and biosimilar developers to obtain confidential information from branded drug manufacturers. The bipartisan bill was first introduced in April 2017 but stalled due to strong lobbying efforts from brand-name pharma against the measure. Some members of the GOP have also expressed concern that the bill would lead to unfounded lawsuits against drug companies.

The Monthly Review spotlights a different URACer each month in a Q&A. This month it's Greg McCray, one of URAC's newest Sales staff.