This will be my first summer in DC. I can’t say that I am looking forward to the heat, humidity, or tourists, but I spent almost a decade in Houston, so it can’t be MUCH worse. June will also mark the high school graduation of my youngest, Jonathan. After that graduation, my wife and two of our boys will move up from Charlotte and I will get to have us all together again for the summer. My family has always been incredibly important to me and I’m told that my face lights up when I talk about them. It has been hard to be away from my wife and sons for these four months, but I really believe the work we are doing at URAC is worth it.

I hope you are seeing some changes in how we work, communicate, and try new things to improve healthcare. I believe that we are gaining a louder voice in our advocacy with our educational outreach to government and by working with other groups to inform them of the power of standards and accreditation.  We continue to build new products while updating and simplifying some of our existing programs to reflect changes in the marketplace.

I just returned from a trip to North Carolina to introduce our organization to some legislators and agency personnel and help them understand how and what we do. I believe that the ability to explain to people that our work as an independent third-party accrediting organization without the conflicts of interest associated with selling consulting services highlights why our standards are patient-centered and not self-serving.

I had someone ask me what types of programs we consider for standards and programs. I told them that our mission is “to improve the quality of healthcare through leadership, accreditation, measurement, and innovation.” (If you don’t know where I got that, check your desktop background.) If we see an unmet need or believe that our expertise can raise the level of care, we will explore it.

We will check our ideas against the marketplace and build those with “traction.” If you think of something we should be doing, let me know. It there’s something we could do better, let me know that, too. I’m still trying to take better care of more people and I thank you for your help.