The Basics

The standard describes the minimum requirements for your organization's consumer counseling education program.  Those minimum requirements include education and counseling on:

• consumer self-management and use of resources related to medications;
• proper use of drugs;
• timeliness of administration or intake;
• drug side effects;
• contraindications;
• consumer safety precaution;
• dealing with multiple medications;
• drug disposal;
• drug storage; and
• using over-the-counter medication at the same time the consumer is using prescription drugs.

Your organization's education and counseling program should take into account the population you are dealing with.  So, your program will need to address differences in language fluency, education levels, living situations, access to various media formats, and cultural diversity.  In order to do this effectively, your program will need to document information about these characteristics in your consumer population.

It is almost a certainty that your organization has policies and procedures or program descriptions that address these issues.  Make sure you are familiar with how your particular organization meets the requirements of this program through its internal documents.

Management Tips

The central management requirement for the standard is that you think through how to document how your organization meets this standard's requirements both from the program description side and from the implementation side.  In other words, it will not be sufficient (but will be necessary) for you to have a clear policy and procedure or program description that outlines exactly how your organization intends to address all of these elements across your diverse consumer base.  In addition, it will be necessary that you have good records of how you do that.  These records might include committee meetings discussing education and counseling strategies, sample communications (electronic and paper) regarding your counseling and education program, and training agendas.

URAC Accreditation Tips

Nearly all of the elements of the standard are mandatory.  The two that are not are still heavily weighted, carrying a weight of a four.

The desktop review requires only that you submit your program description of policies and procedures that clearly outline how you handle your consumer education and counseling program.

The on-site review will involve not only an interview of your clinical staff about your education and counseling program, but also a review of consumer communication materials, scripts, and evidence of mechanisms for targeted communications across your diverse consumer population.