About IHS

Last updated: October 2026

Integral Healthcare Solutions (IHS) is a healthcare consulting firm based in Hillsborough, North Carolina, that provides accreditation consulting, compliance services and program development to health plans, PBMs, specialty pharmacies and healthcare facilities.

IHS is a specialized healthcare consulting firm founded in 2002 by Thomas G. Goddard, JD, PhD, former Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of URAC. IHS serves health plans, PBMs, specialty pharmacies, and healthcare facilities through three parallel practice lines: accreditation consulting, compliance services, and program development. Its work covers URAC, NCQA, NABP, ACHC, CARF, FACT, DNV, NCCHC, AAHRPP, 340B, Joint Commission Home Care pharmacy accreditation and Health Care Staffing Services certification, and more.

NCQA accreditation and recognition engagements are led by Maureen Plumstead.

What does IHS do? Three parallel practice lines

IHS provides accreditation consulting, compliance services and program development. IHS is not an accreditation-only firm. It organizes its work across three parallel practice lines, and an organization can engage IHS across more than one line at once.

1. Accreditation Consulting

IHS guides organizations through a third-party accrediting body's process: initial accreditation, re-accreditation, or multi-body coordinated engagements. We cover URAC, NCQA, NABP, ACHC, CARF, FACT, DNV, NCCHC, AAHRPP, and more. Joint Commission readiness is limited to Home Care pharmacy accreditation and Health Care Staffing Services certification. Typical accreditation engagements include gap analysis against current standards, documentation development and remediation, Standard-by-Standard Review, mock surveys, on-site survey support, and post-survey corrective action planning. The services catalog lists each program.

2. Compliance Services

IHS provides standalone regulatory compliance work that is not tied to an accreditation cycle. This includes state health plan mandate response, CMS updates, 340B program compliance, NYSDOH CLEP and laboratory-developed test compliance, telehealth and remote patient monitoring regulatory work, HIPAA and healthcare cybersecurity, AI governance in healthcare, and ongoing compliance program monitoring. Compliance engagements are typically structured as retainers or event-response projects. For organizations pursuing HITRUST certification, IHS offers security compliance program foundations, project management of the client's own HITRUST effort, and coordination with the client's licensed HITRUST firm. IHS is not a HITRUST licensee.

3. Program Development

IHS helps clients build programs and standards from the ground up, as well as meet existing standards. Program development engagements produce the operational infrastructure an organization needs before it can pursue accreditation or operate a new line of business. Typical program development work includes designing credentialing programs and certified verification organizations (CVOs) from scratch, building compliance programs for organizations that do not have one yet, writing policy and procedure architectures, standing up quality management systems, Certificate of Need (CON) application support, pre-accreditation readiness programs, and program build for organizations entering new lines of business, such as a health plan adding a PBM or a pharmacy adding specialty capabilities.

Why does IHS offer three practice lines?

IHS spans all three practice lines (accreditation, compliance, and program development) because healthcare organizations often need more than one line of work at once, and IHS coordinates that work as one firm so documentation and strategy stay consistent. IHS also offers Leadership & Organizational Development (I/O Psychology), industrial-organizational psychology consulting for healthcare workforces and leadership teams.

A health plan entering the pharmacy benefit management market, for example, needs several lines at once: program architecture for the new PBM line, ongoing compliance for the state mandate environment, accreditation where a payer or regulator calls for it, and embedded workforce-and-leadership infrastructure so the new line is operable by humans under load. IHS, founded and led by Thomas G. Goddard, handles all three practice lines.

Who runs IHS?

Thomas G. Goddard, JD, PhD, founded Integral Healthcare Solutions in February 2002 and has been its founder and CEO since. Dr. Goddard served as Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of URAC, where he wrote URAC accreditation standards, managed its surveyor programs and adjudicated appeals, before founding IHS. With over 25 years of URAC expertise, he holds both a JD and a PhD. He personally leads IHS's URAC and program-development engagements. Maureen Plumstead leads NCQA accreditation work.

Led by its founder. URAC and program-development clients work directly with Dr. Goddard, a former URAC Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel.

Dr. Goddard also provides expert witness services in matters involving healthcare accreditation, compliance, and regulatory standards, drawing on his dual credentials as both an attorney and a former accrediting body executive.

Who is on the IHS team?

Thomas G. Goddard, JD, PhD, founded IHS in February 2002 and is its founder and CEO. He is the former Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of URAC.

Maureen Plumstead leads IHS's NCQA accreditation work.

Jezebel James is a member of the IHS team.

Who does IHS serve?

IHS's process applies to health plans, pharmacy benefit managers, specialty pharmacies, mail service pharmacies, compounding pharmacies, DMEPOS suppliers, dialysis centers, behavioral health organizations, cellular therapy centers, correctional healthcare systems, IRBs and human research protection programs, home health and hospice agencies, federally qualified health centers, telehealth platforms, remote patient monitoring vendors, healthcare cybersecurity teams, 340B-covered entities, and clinical laboratories.

Organizations that engage IHS typically fit one of three buyer profiles, and some fit more than one at once:

• Accreditation seekers. Organizations pursuing initial or re-accreditation because a payer, state rule or customer calls for it, or to prepare for a survey cycle. Entry point: accreditation consulting.
• Compliance operators. Organizations already running their programs who need ongoing regulatory compliance support, state mandate tracking, or help responding to a specific regulatory event. Entry point: compliance services.
• Program builders. Organizations entering a new line of business, launching a new service, or building a function from zero. They need the program architecture before they need accreditation. Entry point: program development.

How does an IHS engagement work?

IHS engagements begin with a complimentary discovery call with Dr. Goddard. During the call, we discuss your organization's current documentation maturity, timeline, regulatory constraints, and strategic goals. At the conclusion of the call, you receive a fixed-fee proposal tailored to your specific situation.

Engagement fees are customized to each client's organizational size, documentation maturity, regulatory complexity, and timeline. IHS does not publish fee schedules or retainer rates, and every engagement is scoped individually. Accreditation engagements typically follow a gap analysis, remediation, mock survey and survey support arc. Compliance engagements typically run as ongoing retainers. Program development engagements produce operational infrastructure on a milestone-based schedule.

Why does the three-practice-line model matter?

Healthcare regulation does not respect the boundaries between accreditation, compliance, and program architecture. A PBM launching a new specialty pharmacy line may need to address state board of pharmacy rules, PBM contract requirements, accreditation standards such as URAC or NABP, and internal policy architecture that did not exist six months earlier.

IHS spans all three lines because the problems clients face span all three. Dr. Goddard served as URAC's COO and General Counsel, has a JD and a PhD, and at URAC wrote accreditation standards, managed its surveyor programs and adjudicated appeals. IHS applies that background across all three lines.

What does working with IHS cost?

The total cost has three parts: the accrediting body's or agency's own fees, consulting fees, and your own staff time. The body or agency sets its own fees, so ask it for current fee information before you budget. IHS sets a fixed fee for each engagement after a free discovery session, because scope, number of sites and gap severity change the work.

What this is not

• IHS is not an accrediting body and does not grant or influence an accreditation decision.
• IHS is a consulting firm, not a law firm. Nothing on this site is legal advice.
• IHS drafts the program, policies and clinical content for your clinicians to review and approve. Your organization's named contact submits to any regulator or accreditor.
• No engagement comes with a guaranteed accreditation outcome.

Frequently asked questions

What is Integral Healthcare Solutions?

IHS is a healthcare consulting firm based in Hillsborough, North Carolina. It was founded in 2002 by Thomas G. Goddard, JD, PhD, former Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of URAC, and it provides accreditation consulting, compliance services and program development.

Who founded and runs IHS?

Dr. Goddard founded IHS in February 2002 and has been its founder and CEO since. He personally leads IHS's URAC and program-development engagements.

Who leads NCQA work at IHS?

Maureen Plumstead leads IHS's NCQA accreditation work. Dr. Goddard leads program development to NCQA standards.

What are the three IHS practice lines?

The practice lines are Accreditation Consulting, Compliance Services and Program Development. IHS also offers Leadership & Organizational Development (I/O Psychology) for healthcare workforces and leadership teams.

How does an IHS engagement start?

IHS engagements begin with a complimentary discovery call with Dr. Goddard. You discuss documentation maturity, timeline, regulatory constraints and goals, and then receive a fixed-fee proposal for your situation.

Who submits the application to the accreditor?

Your organization's named contact submits it under your organization's name. IHS drafts the documents.

Does IHS publish its fees?

No. IHS does not publish fee schedules or retainer rates. It sets a fixed fee for each engagement after a free discovery session.

Who is IHS not for?

IHS is not for organizations looking for legal advice or a guaranteed accreditation outcome. It is a consulting firm that prepares your organization for the review.

Ready to talk?

Schedule a complimentary discovery call with Dr. Goddard. No obligation, no fees, no generic pitch deck: just a real conversation about your accreditation, compliance, or program development goals and a scoped proposal tailored to your situation.

Or browse the Services catalog, return to the IHS home page, meet the IHS team, contact IHS, or learn why organizations hire healthcare consultants.