Management Tips

Subsection Core 17(b), which requires that a delegation agreement mandate that the contractor perform the delegated functions in accordance with the organization's requirements and with URAC standards, has been changed from a secondary element to a primary element.  This is a more significant change than it might appear to the uninitiated in the URAC scoring system. 

The change would be rather minor if Core 17 were not a mandatory standard.  However, because the standard is mandatory, this change is quite important.  In a nutshell, by making this change, URAC is saying that your delegation agreements must have this clause or else you cannot achieve full accreditation.  

So, go back and check all your delegation agreements (as well as your P&P governing delegation agreements, since, as I said in another blog, your P&P is as important as your behavior when it comes to complying with URAC standards). 

One other note -- reversing a long-standing interpretation of Core 17(b), URAC now requires contracts of delegation to mention URAC by name.  Neither "national accreditation standards" nor the name of another accreditation organization are acceptable.

It's time to send out those delegation agreement amendments, folks!