URAC's eLearning Programs and Webinars Enhance Health Care Education and Reduce Costs

URAC's eLearning Programs and Webinars Enhance Health Care Education and
Reduce Costs

Expanded Topics Include Health Plans, Disease Management and Provider
Credentialing

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In today's rapidly changing
health care industry, it can be difficult for professionals to keep up-to-date
with important changes in the standards of accreditation. Training becomes
even more challenging when budgets and resources are stretched thin. URAC, the
nation's leading health care accreditation and education organization, has
expanded its online courses to help health care professionals receive the
training they need. The flexible courses cover a wide range of health care
topics and are available in a variety of formats, including webinars and
eLearning modules.

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"By adhering to high quality standards and always looking for ways to improve,
health care organizations show their commitment to consumers and the
dedication to their profession," said President and CEO Alan P. Spielman.
"URAC's eLearning programs and webinars allow managers to provide employees
with effective educational tools, without going over budget or sacrificing
valuable time to travel to and from a training course."

URAC's eLearning modules offer a self-paced approach to learning about
accreditation standards. The 24/7 accessibility for the eLearning sessions
makes scheduling easy and allows a greater number of people to attend the
classes, and organizations to have access to the content for 30 days.

Both the webinars and eLearning courses are also designed to meet the training
requirements that are part of URAC's Core Standards of staff training
requirements. In addition to the valuable information that employees learn,
the organizations also move closer to accreditation.

With such high demand, URAC has already expanded the curriculum to include
nine eLearning courses, including Disease Management v.3.0, Scoring
Methodology, Core v.3.0, Understanding the Quality Improvement Projects
Process, Health Utilization Management v.6.0, Health Call Center v.5.0,
Workers' Compensation Utilization Management v.5.0, Health Plan v.6.0, and
Health Network v.6.0.

Specialty topics such as Interoperability and Business Continuity, Health
Literacy, Mastering the Quality Improvement Projects (QIP) Process, Claims and
Fraud Abuse, and Performance Measurement and Reporting are available as
webinars. URAC can also create custom webinars for organizations with specific
needs.

"Since launching our online training options this past spring, we have already
seen a remarkable growth in their popularity. We plan to expand the courses as
the industry's standards evolve," said Mr. Spielman. "At a time when the
entire country is focused on health care quality and improving health care
efficiency and effectiveness without raising costs, our eLearning products and
webinars are a great solution for health care organizations."

The eLearning modules and webinars have an extensive development and review
process, led by Accreditation Reviewers with first-hand knowledge of and
experience with accreditation standards. Both the webinars and eLearning
programs are approved for Registered Nurse and Case Management Continuing
Education hours, providing yet another benefit for organizations and another
way to leverage tight budgets.

To explore how URAC can help with education needs or to sign up for eLearning
opportunities, contact URAC by phone at 202-216-9010, by email at
education@urac.org, or online at www.urac.org/accreditationEducation/.
Information on all of URAC's current training opportunities is also available
at the URAC Learning Center.

About URAC
URAC, an independent, nonprofit organization, is well-known as a leader in
promoting health care quality through its accreditation, education and
measurement programs. URAC offers a wide range of quality benchmarking
programs and services that keep pace with the rapid changes in the health care
system, and provide a symbol of excellence for organizations to validate their
commitment to quality and accountability. Through its broad-based governance
structure and an inclusive standards development process, URAC ensures that
all stakeholders are represented in establishing meaningful quality measures
for the entire health care industry. For more information, visit www.urac.org.

SOURCE URAC

Amy Cantu of Levick Strategic Communications, +1-202-973-1325, or
acantu@levick.com, for URAC