East Carolina Behavioral Health, which provides mental-health services in Beaufort County, has been reaccredited in several areas by URAC, a Washington, D.C.-based health-care accrediting organization.

The reaccreditations were for health call center, health utilization management and health network. URAC establishes quality standards for the health-care industry.

Health call center standards apply to organizations providing triage and health information services to the public when conducted by telephone, via Web site or other electronic means.

Health utilization management standards ensure that all types of organizations conducting utilization review follow a process that is clinically sound and respect consumers’ and providers’ rights while giving payers reasonable guidelines to follow.

URAC’s health network accreditation standards include key quality benchmarks for provider network management, provider credentialing, utilization management, quality management and improvement and consumer protection.

“Our contract with N.C. Department of Health and Human Services requires we attain/maintain national accreditation to ensure we are following the most up to date best practices as a managed care organization for our industry,” said Georgia Claxton, ECBH’s communications director.

ECBH served 4,571 Beaufort County residents from April 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013, according to information provided by Claxton. Of that number, 1,422 of those were children (ages 3 through 17) and 3,149 were adults.

In Beaufort County, ECBH served 1,247 children with mental-health issues, 192 children with intellectual/developmental disabilities and 31 children with substance-abuse problems from April 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013. ECBH served 2,206 adults with mental-health issues, 342 adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities and 830 adults with substance-abuse problems from April 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013, according to ECBH records.

“I am pleased to report ECBH achieved its goal of full reaccreditation effective for three years” said ECBH Executive Director Leza Wainwright. “Our staff made an incredible effort to meet all standards, which was demonstrated by our score of 100% in all areas of the review process.”

East Carolina Behavioral Health is a local management entity/managed care organization (LME/MCO) responsible for publicly funded behavioral health and intellectual/developmental disability services and supports for people living in northeastern North Carolina. The counties that comprise the ECBH area are Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hertford, Hyde, Jones, Martin, Northampton, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Pitt, Tyrrell and Washington.

“We applaud East Carolina Behavior Health on achieving URAC Health Call Center, Health Utilization Management and Health Network Accreditation,” said Alan P. Spielman, URAC president and CEO. “In today’s health care market, URAC accreditation provides a mark of distinction for organizations to demonstrate their commitment to quality health care.”

URAC, an independent, nonprofit organization, is a leader in promoting health care quality through accreditation and certification programs. URAC’s standards keep pace with the rapid changes in the health care system, and provide a mark of distinction for health care organizations to demonstrate their commitment to quality and accountability. Through its broad-based governance structure and an inclusive standards development process, URAC ensures that all stakeholders are represented in setting meaningful standards for the health care industry. For more information, visit www.urac.org.

For more information, please contact Georgia Claxton, ECBH Communications Director, at 252-695-6400 or gclaxton@ecbhlme.org.