We are part of a globally connected industry and environment in which customers are empowered to speak out about what they expect from the companies they choose to support, recommend and trust. Our job vis-à-vis risk is to recognize our current environment, anticipate what’s ahead, uphold our reputation, and improve business performance.

Risk management has been described as the management of the differences between expectations and reality. Perhaps actuality is a more accurate term since reality will vary according to how many participants observed the event, each participant having their own version of what happened. It doesn’t matter whether we call it reality or actuality. When it comes to expectations, URAC’s goal is to meet and exceed expectations, not manage disappointment!

What is our definition of risk? What does risk look like for URAC? How do we manage the risk URAC has chosen to incur?

Identification and evaluation of risk begins with acknowledging that we accept risk at every point of our day in everything we do. URAC doesn’t just accept risk, we embrace it by being in the business of assuring the public that our clients adhere to standards of performance consistently and relentlessly across their organizations and over time. That is the meaning and the worth of accreditation to URAC clients. That is what the URAC seal stands for. URAC bases its assurance on the standards we develop and promulgate, and whose validity and value we affirm to the public – and to anyone who asks.

What lies ahead? The only safe prediction is for continuing uncertainty, ongoing consolidation in the industry, and a steady increase in scrutiny and demand for accountability from all stakeholders. URAC’s thoughtful, creative and disciplined responses to the evolving needs of our current and future clients will demonstrate, as they have in the past, the meaning and value of URAC accreditation in supporting clients and protecting consumers.