Avon health care outsourcing vendor Magellan Health Services announced a pair of milestones that it says will enhance the quality and cost of health care nationwide.
First, Magellan’s National Imaging Associates unit and the American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO) are collaborating to create standards to minimize what they say is the scattershot application of radiation therapies and costs among providers.
Radiation therapy is the treatment plan for 60 percent of cancer patients, yet there is considerable variation in how this care is delivered, Magellan said.
According to the agreement, ACRO will take the lead in developing, maintain and updating the use of disease site-specific radiation oncology practice guidelines.
Those guidelines will be licensed exclusively to National Imaging Associates, Magellan said.
In the other, Magellan said URAC – formerly the Utilization Review Accreditation Commission – has accredited its specialty pharmaceutical division, ICore Healthcare.
 Washington-based URAC establishes quality standards for the health care industry.
