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URAC accreditation is a third-party accreditation awarded by URAC, an independent nonprofit founded in 1990, to health care organizations whose operations meet URAC’s published standards after a documented review. This guide is for compliance, quality and procurement staff who need to know what the credential covers, how the review works, how to confirm an organization holds it, and how it differs from other health care accreditors. Facts about URAC come from URAC’s own pages, read on 2026-11-07.
What does it mean to be URAC accredited?
It means the organization completed URAC’s review for a specific program and was approved by URAC’s Accreditation Committee. Accreditation is program-specific: an organization is accredited (or certified) for the program it applied under, such as a health plan or a specialty pharmacy program, not for everything it does. URAC describes its programs as flexible rather than prescriptive, and says its standards use evidence-based measures developed in collaboration with stakeholders such as health plans, providers and associations. Reviewers are URAC employees with clinical expertise who are regularly trained.
What are accreditation standards in health care?
Accreditation standards are the written, auditable requirements an accrediting body uses to judge an organization’s processes, for example how it manages clinical decisions, records, complaints or oversight. At URAC, each program has its own standards, and the desktop review scores each requirement as met or not met. The full standards are distributed through URAC’s store rather than published in the program pages.
Who runs URAC and what does it cover?
URAC was founded in 1990 as an independent, nonprofit accreditation entity. Its accreditation and certification programs page groups its offerings as follows:
- Pharmacy: specialty pharmacy, mail service pharmacy, infusion pharmacy and pharmacy benefit management.
- Patient care management: health utilization management, case management, telehealth and disease management.
- Administrative management: health network, dental network, credentials verification and independent medical examination.
- Digital health and telehealth: AI in health care, telehealth and health websites.
- Health plan: health plan, Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, marketplace and dental plan.
- Mental health and substance use disorder parity: ParityManager and parity accreditation.
- Program designations: opioid stewardship, transitions of care and independent dispute resolution.
URAC announced in October 2025 that it was updating its Specialty Pharmacy, Mail Service Pharmacy, Specialty Pharmacy Services and PBM programs, so check which version of a program an organization was reviewed under.
How to check whether an organization is URAC accredited
URAC states that fully accredited organizations appear in its online directory, which is linked from the navigation of urac.org. To use it as evidence:
- Go to urac.org and open the Directory link in the site navigation.
- Look for the organization under the Accreditations section (the directory also has a Certifications section).
- Match the legal entity name, not just the brand name, to the entity you are contracting with.
- Note which program the listing is for and confirm it matches the service you are buying or relying on.
- Record the date you checked, because accreditation runs on a three-year cycle and can change.
Accreditation, certification and designation
URAC’s program pages separate accreditation, certification and program designations (for example opioid stewardship or transitions of care). They are listed as different program types, so a listing under one heading should not be described as another.
The URAC accreditation process and timeline
URAC publishes a five-stage process on its accreditation process page:
| Stage | What happens | Duration stated by URAC |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Application | Organization submits its application | About 2 months |
| 2. Desktop review | Standards scored met or not met; up to two Requests for Information rounds | 30 to 45 days |
| 3. Validation review | Interviews, facility tours and file reviews | 1 to 3 days |
| 4. Accreditation Committee | Committee meets twice a month; applicant notified of the decision | Within 10 business days |
| 5. Ongoing monitoring | Random virtual compliance reviews during the three-year accreditation cycle | Throughout the cycle |
URAC’s pages read for this guide do not state fees, so cost is not covered here.
What is the advantage of being accredited?
For the accredited organization, the credential is an independent attestation that its processes were reviewed against external standards, and it is listed in a public directory. For a buyer or partner, it is one piece of due-diligence evidence that can be checked at the source. It is not a guarantee of outcomes, and it covers only the program named in the listing. URAC’s ongoing monitoring means accreditation is reviewed during the cycle rather than only at the start.
Strengths and limits
- Strength: breadth of program types. Programs reach beyond hospitals into pharmacy, utilization management, networks, health plans, telehealth and AI in health care.
- Strength: verifiable. Status can be looked up in URAC’s directory.
- Limit: program-specific. A listing for one program says nothing about the organization’s other services.
- Limit: standards are not free to read. Full standards are sold through URAC’s store, so comparing them requires obtaining them.
- Limit: not a regulatory license. It is a voluntary, private accreditation; it does not replace state licensure or federal certification.
Other health care accreditors
URAC is one of several accreditors. The Joint Commission was formerly known as JCAHO. CASRAI has separate guides for the others, each describing that body’s own scope:
| Accreditor | Read more |
|---|---|
| The Joint Commission (formerly JCAHO) | What is Joint Commission accreditation? |
| DNV | DNV accreditation: standards, surveys and verification |
| ACHC | ACHC accreditation and CMS deeming authority |
| CIHQ | CIHQ accreditation for hospitals |
| HFAP | HFAP accreditation for hospitals |
| ACR (imaging) | ACR accreditation: coverage and process |
FAQ
What does URAC stand for?
URAC’s own program and about pages do not spell out the acronym, so this guide uses the name as URAC presents it.
What is JCAHO called now?
The Joint Commission. See What is Joint Commission accreditation?.
Does URAC accredit AI?
URAC lists AI in health care under its Digital Health and Telehealth program group.
How long does URAC accreditation last?
URAC refers to a three-year accreditation cycle with random virtual compliance reviews during it.
Sources
- URAC, Accreditation and certification programs, read 2026-11-07.
- URAC, About URAC, read 2026-11-07.
- URAC, Accreditation process, read 2026-11-07.
