The Basics

This standard adds to the requirements of the previous standard regarding your communication and education program by establishing requirements for the materials used in that program.  At a minimum, your education materials must:

• reflect the learning needs of the target population, 
• be representative of current best practices for DTM, and 
• spell out additional resources you provide for the education of individual consumers.  

In addition, the standard requires that your program:

• provide information to consumers that describe both the benefits and limitations of receiving DTM program services, 
• include instructions on how to contact the program, and 
• spell out the "opt-in" or "opt-out of" opportunities.

Management Tips

Like the previous standard, this requires that you document how you address the diverse needs and capabilities of your consumers.  Ensure that your internal documents clearly articulate a cogent strategy for addressing those diverse needs.  Again, in order to do this, as was the case with the previous standard, you will need to document the demographics of your consumer base.  Your training, too, will need to reflect this sensitivity to the diversity within your consumer population.  Make sure that your policies and procedures call for an annual review and update of your education and counseling materials, and that your review and update itself is regularly documented.  This is true even if you delegate materials development to another organization.

URAC Accreditation Tips

The various components of this standard have a various weights, including one element that is mandatory.

Naturally, your documentation at the desktop review level will start with your policy and procedure or program description of materials development and review.  Beyond that, you will need to submit examples of these materials, including scripts.  Your record keeping also should indicate the date of disclosure from across the full array of educational and counseling materials.

The on-site reviewer will interview your staff members involved with development, review, and distribution of educational materials.  In addition, the reviewer will want to see the materials themselves.  We recommend that you keep a binder or set of binders with all of your active consumer education materials, including records of the date of disclosure, date of review, and date of revision for each piece.