New Findings Presented at 10th Annual Quality Summit
URAC, the nation's leading health care accreditation and education organization, today announced that the value of its Comprehensive Wellness Accreditation standards is referenced in "Framework for Assessing the Financial Benefit of Wellness Program", an article by Thomas Wilson, PhD, DrPH, a wellness expert and an epidemiologist for Trajectory Healthcare, LLC. The article will appear in an edition of The Journal of Health & Productivity to be published this fall.
In the peer-reviewed article, Dr. Wilson recognizes URAC as the first major accreditation organization to advocate transparency, a level of evidence assessment, and third-party validation. He says that these are the key components necessary to evaluate the financial benefit of wellness programs.
"While there has been a lot of general support for wellness programs, there was not a lot of information on how to compare the financial impact of one wellness program to another. The framework that was developed through extensive research and interviews with consumers and wellness program providers provides guiding principles for fair comparisons," said Dr. Wilson. "The benchmarks and measurement tools URAC has established are aligned with the framework and provide wellness vendors and consumers with the details they need to evaluate programs based on the same criteria."
Dr. Wilson presented his findings and discussed the policy and economic framework in evaluating the financial impact of wellness programs during a general session on October 8, 2009 at URAC's 10th Annual Quality Summit and Exhibition in Tucson, Ariz.
"Wellness programs are a critical component of any comprehensive health benefit plan," said Alan P. Spielman, president and CEO of URAC. "However, many organizations want a way to measure success before they adopt new programs. The framework that Dr. Wilson highlights combined with the clear, comprehensive URAC standards, enable purchasers to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs and determine which are best suited for the consumers they serve."