Health service earns top three-year accreditation

The University of Delaware Student Health Services have received a three-year national accreditation, extending through Oct. 30, 2003, by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care Inc. (AAAHC).

The designation follows an on-site visit Oct. 26-27 by an AAAHC survey team, which looked at such areas as quality of care and quality management and improvement, clinical records, surgical and pharmaceutical services, environmental safety, governance, administration and professional development.

"This was our first accreditation," Dr. Joseph Siebold, Student Health Services, said. "But, that makes our effort and success more meaningful since we had no major 'dings' or deficiencies or recommendations."

Siebold said the University had been involved in the process to seek accreditation for several years. To demonstrate its commitment, UD established a Quality Improvement Program of self-study of the Student Health Center's operation in every facet that the accreditation team would review.

"AAAHC provides six-month, one-year and three-year accreditations," Siebold said, "and as a result of our first review, we received the best rating, a three-year accreditation."

The AAAHC is a private, nonprofit organization formed in 1979 to assist ambulatory health care organizations improve the quality of care they provide to their patients. It sets standards, measures performance, provides consultation and education where needed and awards accreditation to those organizations found to be in compliance with its standards.

The accreditation is a voluntary process through which ambulatory health care organizations are able to measure the quality of their services against nationally recognized standards.

"I am very proud of the whole Student Health Service staff," Siebold said. "The accreditation is a benchmark of quality not only to those involved in health care, but to the students, their parents and families and the general public.

The accreditation process involved every staff person in the health service, and accreditation validates our belief in professional achievement and quality of care."

–Ed Okonowicz

New services available for women students

The Student Health Service has taken several actions to better serve the health-care needs of women students. Two part-time practitioners are being added to the staff to provide additional gynecology care, making it possible to offer more appointment times and quicker access to treatments and prescriptions. One position already has been filled and the other will be in the near future.

Other services also are being enhanced: State-of-the-art Pap smear testing using THIN PREP technology, which began last spring at the Health Service, will be advertised and promoted aggressively.

Emergency contraception (EC) will be introduced, effective Feb. 9. The Health Service will provide EC prescriptions for Plan B, which has recently become more widely accessible. This medication is reportedly more effective and has fewer precautions and negative side-effects compared with the older EC prescriptions.