After two years, two public comment periods, and more than 2,000 comments later, the major revision to Core - version 4.0 - has arrived!

The Core standards establish the foundational quality and compliance requirements for most of URAC’s programs, and will be rolled out in these programs over the course of 2018. Click here to see the Core rollout schedule, which will be distributed to URAC’s clients via email on September 8. Along with this schedule, clients will receive this Q&A to help them understand how they are affected.  We’ve developed an internal Q&A for URAC staff to help you answer more detailed questions. You can find this on Sharepoint.

This Core revision incorporates industry best practices in several key areas, which are addressed in sections called “focus areas.” The four focus areas within the Core v4.0 module are as follows:

• Risk Management
• Consumer Protection and Empowerment
• Operations and Infrastructure
• Performance Management and Improvement

Summary of Major Revisions

Remember the “Core 4 – Regulatory Compliance” standard in version 3.0? Well, the regulatory compliance area was greatly expanded within the Risk Management focus area. The new standards represent a significant step towards the ideal of enterprise risk management (ERM). Some of our applicants will have already implemented some variation of ERM; others will begin this journey as they implement the Core 4.0 standards. It is important to note that the Risk Management focus area excludes financial and strategic risk, which are outside the scope of the Core standards and are considered an overreach for accreditation in general.

Consumer Protection and Empowerment addresses ethical healthcare practices, requiring monitoring and oversight of those practices. Business ethics – another new concept covered in this revision – is addressed within the Operations and Infrastructure focus area. Ethical behavior is considered a key component of quality healthcare – you won’t have quality services without it. Leadership accountability rounds out the new concepts addressed in this major revision; it is covered in Operations and Infrastructure as well.

What Happened to Pharm Core?

AccreditNet 2.0 allows us to “exclude” specific standards and elements of performance. We will be putting this new feature to good use with the release of Core, such that the pharmacy-specific standards will only show in the pharmacy programs. This means that we do not need a separate version of Core for the pharmacy programs!

Migration to New Format

The standards format has migrated to one that concentrates related sets of standards into focus areas. Each standard is supported by its own unique elements of performance. Furthermore, URAC has streamlined the program guide information to include the following sections:

• Interpretive Information
• Demonstration of Compliance: Desktop Review
• Demonstration of Compliance: Validation Review

Contemporized Guide Format

The program publications to be released next year will have a new, refreshed look! The fonts, layout, and graphics will align with URAC’s style guide and will make it easier for applicant organizations to follow. For instance, much of the front matter will move to the back, and the interpretive information and demonstration of compliance will refer specifically to the elements of performance that they address.

Webinars and Workshops

As you can imagine, there will be lots of questions and concerns about the new requirements. To begin closing the knowledge gap, URAC is holding the first Core v4.0 webinar on October 10, which will be available on-demand shortly afterward. On-site workshops will begin the first quarter of 2018, and of course, companies can submit their interpretation questions to URAC through the URAC website.

Finish Line…

This marathon is not over yet, but we can see the finish line in the distance! Core v4.0 is an important update for URAC accreditations, and will help move the needle on quality health services. Stay tuned for more information – including crosswalks – available in the fall, and feel free to reach out to Donna Merrick with your questions.