URAC Core 21 and 22 -- v. 2.1 revision

In version 2.1 of the Core standards, URAC has merged both of its communication practices standards (Core 21 and 22) into one standard (Core 21).  The previous standards read:

CORE - 21 - Communication Practices
The organization follows marketing and communication practices that include:
(Secondary)
    (a) Mechanisms to clearly and accurately communicate information about services to consumer and clients; (Primary)
    (b) Safeguards against misrepresentations about the organization's services; (Primary)
    (c) A formal process of inter-departmental review of marketing materials before dissemination; and (Secondary)
    (d) Monitoring of existing materials for accuracy. (Primary)
    (e) A mechanism for informing consumers and clients of their rights and responsibilities.  (Primary)

CORE - 22 - Consumer Communication Plan
The organization documents and has a mechanism for informing consumers and clients of their rights and responsibilities, including:
(Primary)
    (a) How to obtain services; and (Primary)
    (b) How to submit a complaint or appeal. (Primary)

The new, v. 2.1 version reads:

The organization follows marketing and communication practices that include: (Secondary)
    (a) Mechanisms to clearly and accurately communicate information about services inclusive of delegated activities to consumer and clients; (Primary)
    (b) Safeguards against misrepresentations about the organization's services; (Primary)
    (c) A formal process of inter-departmental review of marketing materials before dissemination;(Secondary)
    (d) Monitoring of existing materials for accuracy; and (Primary)
    (e) A mechanism for informing consumers and clients of their rights and responsibilities. (Primary)

Much is the same, but there are a few differences, notably in terms of language and scoring, particularly the consequence of combining two standards into one.

Language

Subsection (a) of the new, combined standard makes sure to note that "delegated activities" are included in the services about which an organization communicates to its consumers and clients.  In addition, URAC eliminated what once were the subsections (a) and (b) of Core 22, which describe two examples of the sorts of things URAC would expect to be included in consumer and client rights and responsibilities.  The net effect of the elimination of these subsections is to give the applicant more leeway in defining what should be included in communications about rights and responsibilities.

Scoring

URAC changed the scoring, from two standards weighted 3 to one standard weighted 4.  This has the effect of lowering the impact of consumer communications as a percentage of the total number of points available in the Core module by  33%, from 24 possible points (two standards with a maximum score of 12 each) to 16 points (one standard with a maximum score of 16).  (See my earlier blog here for a complete discussion of URAC scoring).  Raising the weight to 4 also increases the consequence of missing one of the primary elements by 33 percent.  Missing a primary element in a standard lowers your rating from 4 out of a possible 4 points to 1 out of 4, a drop of 3 points in the rating, which is then multipled by the weight.  So, the cost of missing a primary element in a 3-weighted standard is 9 points (3 X 3), while the cost of missing a primary element in a 4-weighted standard is 12 points (4 X 3).  So, the net effect of the scoring change, when combined with blending the two standards into one, is to lower the overall impact of your communications program on your Core module score, and at the same to to raise the relative impact of a failure in any component of that program.