URAC Announces Revised Case Management Accreditation Standards an...( WASHINGTON Dec. 17 -- URAC announced...),Health

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- URAC announced today that its Board of Directors has approved revised Case Management accreditation standards. The 4.0 Case Management Accreditation standards include major revisions and new measurement requirements.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030501/URACLOGO )

URAC, one of the nation's leading independent accrediting organizations, sought input from a 40-member Case Management Focus group and called for public comment on two separate occasions for these significant standards revisions. The focus group met a total of nine times to help structure and refine the standards and measures.

The revisions align with the principles put forward by the National Transitions of Care Coalition (NTOCC), an organization dedicated to improving the quality of care coordination and communication when patients are transferred from one level of care to another. URAC serves on the NTOCC's Advisory Task Force. Although URAC's case management standards already addressed care coordination, the revised standards elaborate significantly on the assessment process and tools available to case managers that are specific to transitions in care.

"We know that transitions of care are a critical juncture in the patient's treatment process that require coordination and good communication between providers, patients and their family caregivers to ensure patient safety and optimal care," said Cheri Lattimer, executive director of the Case Management Society of America and NTOCC project director. "URAC's revised accreditation standards and measures reflect issues currently affecting the field of case management and support the ongoing efforts of case managers to make transitions safer and to improve quality in the case management process."

The revisions
'/>"/>