URAC to add DSM accreditation
By HME News Staff
Updated Sun March 31, 2002
WASHINGTON - A non-profit organization that accredits the utilization management programs of managed care companies now has plans to foray into accrediting DSM programs, too.
This month, the board of directors of URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission, is slated to approve a set of standards that will be used to accredit the DSM programs of healthcare providers, according to Liza Greenberg, v.p. of research and quality.
"Our strategy is to keep pace with how health care is evolving," she said. "For a while, HMOs were the most effective healthcare technique, but now, it's more flexible care. Disease management represents that more customer-driven approach or patient-focused strategy."
Greenberg said URAC's DSM standards, currently in draft form, focus on three things: medicine-based evidence, patient education and provider interaction. She said URAC hopes to begin accrediting providers by the end of the summer, and so far, the organization has received more than 20 inquiries. HME
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