In 2008, CareWorks once again earned URAC reaccreditation for workers’ compensation case management. CareWorks was awarded Full Accreditation for Case Management Standards, version 3.1.

URAC’s mission is to promote continuous improvement in the quality and efficiency of health care management through processes of accreditation and education.

“We applaud CareWorks on achieving URAC Case Management Accreditation,” said Alan P. Spielman, URAC president and CEO. “In today’s health care market, URAC accreditation provides a mark of distinction for organizations to demonstrate their commitment to quality health care.”

In 2003, CareWorks’ reaccreditation efforts were featured in URAC’s January 2004 “AccreditWatch” national newsletter. When CareWorks kicked off our 2003 URAC re-accreditation project, we knew associate involvement would be critical to our success. To accomplish our goal, we developed a URAC leadership team with representatives from each area of our Company and created a company-wide awareness campaign entitled “Blast Off to Re-Accreditation,” challenging each department to “build a URAC Rocket” and meet our accreditation goal.

URAC-compliant policies and procedures were developed, updated and disseminated company-wide through educational sessions, which continued from the beginning of the process through our accreditation. Often throughout the process, initiatives suggested by our associates subsequently resulted in improving a practice or procedure. These changes were then monitored and evaluated by our Quality Assurance department. Data they collected was then shared with all associates so improvements could be made and processes enhanced. In many cases, changes were made several times to continually improve a process to ensure best practice.

URAC, an independent, nonprofit organization, is well-known as a leader in promoting health care quality through its accreditation and certification programs. URAC offers a wide range of quality benchmarking programs and services that keep pace with the rapid changes in the health care system, and provide a symbol of excellence for organizations to validate their commitment to quality and accountability. Through its broad-based governance structure and an inclusive standards development process, URAC strives to ensure that all stakeholders are represented in establishing meaningful quality measures for the entire health care industry. For more information, visit www.urac.org.

URAC has a modular approach to accreditation which allows for a diverse range of health care organizations to apply for URAC accreditation with the flexibility to achieve accreditation for a wide spectrum of managed care services. This approach adapts to the continuing evolution of the health care system. Each module is a set of standards established for a particular health care function.

The URAC Process

The URAC accreditation process demonstrates a commitment to quality services and serves as a framework to improve business processes through benchmarking organizations against nationally recognized standards.

URAC takes a collaborative, educational approach to accreditation. During the application process, customer service and support is available to provide assistance to applicants. New applicants are encouraged to attend a standards workshop where they can learn more about the standards and the process first hand. URAC accreditation requires applicants to submit policies, procedures and other organizational information to URAC followed by an onsite review. Once an application is received at URAC, a primary reviewer is assigned and coordinates all aspects of the review until completion.

CareWorks is proud of our accreditation by URAC and its indication that we have the necessary structure and processes to promote high quality care and preserve patient rights.

Technical Article

URAC Accreditation Steps