URAC Announces First Companies to Earn New Pharmacy Benefit and Drug Therapy Management Accr...( WASHINGTON Oct. 2 -- URAC announ...),Health

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- URAC announced today that 10 organizations have successfully earned its Pharmacy Benefit Management Accreditation, the first voluntary accreditation developed for the industry. Four organizations have also earned URAC's new accreditation for Drug Therapy Management, a range of pharmacy management services designed to optimize therapeutic outcomes for individual consumers.

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Nearly 70 percent of Americans receive their prescription medications through pharmacy benefit management companies. URAC accreditation assures for consumers and purchasers that the organization is clinically focused and meets quality standards for consumer protection and empowerment. The Pharmacy Benefit Management Standards were developed by more than 30 members of a multi-disciplinary stakeholder committee over the course of more than a year. Initial standards underwent a public review and comment period, then field testing by a dozen pharmacy benefit management organizations representing 52 percent of the current lives covered under pharmacy benefit management programs across the nation.

The standards address organizational quality, customer service, communications, disclosure of pricing policies, pharmaceutical distribution, drug utilization management, and formulary/pharmacy and therapeutics committee.

URAC's Drug Therapy Management Accreditation standards, developed concurrently with the Pharmacy Benefit Management standards, are designed to help organizations drive appropriate therapeutic outcomes for consumers with a clear focus on patient safety, outcomes measurement and quality improvement. They address a broad range of functions, such as development of clinical policies using evidence-based medicine; patient communication regarding medication use; and promoting consume
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