URAC Core 4 -- v. 2.1 Proposed Revision

URAC proposes to revise Core 4 to read as follows:

The organization has current, written job descriptions for staff that address requirements pertinent to the scope of the positions’ role and responsibilities: (Wt=2)

(a) Required education, training, and/or professional experience; (Wt = 2)

(b) Expected professional competencies; (Wt = 2)

(c) Appropriate licensure/certification requirements; and (Wt = 2)

(d) Current scope of role and responsibilities. (Wt = 2)

In addition to the scoring changes, there are a couple of substantive changes, both seemingly intended to accomplish the same task, that is, to make sure that the organization is keeping its job descriptions up-to-date:

The stem now contains the new language “current” and “requirements pertinent to the scope of the positions’ role and responsibilities.”  In addition, subsection (d) also has the new word “current”. 

This is a terrific change, in my view.  Too often, both in my years as a URAC reviewer and as a consultant to URAC applicants, I’ve seen job descriptions that have not been changed to keep up with an evolving position.  An old job description that doesn’t describe the position in its current form is a useless job description.  By putting relevant teeth in Core 4, this revision is an acknowledgement that current and previous versions of this job description standard awarded points for job descriptions in name only. 

Thus, while this raises the bar a bit, it does so in an intelligent way.  Well done, URAC!