Journal of American College Health
ISSN: 0744-8481 (Print) 1940-3208 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vach20
College Health Must Advocate High Quality Care for Students David P. Kraft MD To cite this article: David P. Kraft MD (1992) College Health Must Advocate High Quality Care for Students, Journal of American College Health, 41:1, 35-36 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07448481.1992.9936306
Published online: 09 Jul 2010.
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Date: 06 November 2015, At: 23:44
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College Health Must Advocate High Quality Care for Students David P. Kraft, MD
ublication of the Recommended Standards for a College Health Program' in fall 1991 by the American College Health Association (ACHA) presents a challenge for all of us in college health to insure high quality standards for the health and safety of college students. (The standards are available from the American College Health Association, PO Box 28937, Baltimore, MD 21240-8937; $50 for ACHA members, $100 for nonmembers.) Despite fiscal constraints, the college or university as an institution has a direct responsibility to provide necessary services for all students, including not only direct clinical care but also preventive and protective services. Our challenge is to make sure that the standards are acknowledged and observed. As college health professionals, our role is to serve as educators of the institution, no matter what the financial or organizational crisis. The ACHA has taken a bold step in promoting high quality care in all service areas, whether they are directly administered from the student health service or from some other area of campus. The college or university as an institution ignores those standards at its own periloverlooking reasonable standards for the organization jeopardizes the health of our next generation of national leaders and citizens. The ACHA membership worked hard during the past 4 years to develop the recommended standards. The format of the standards was changed significantly to allow each chapter or section to stand on its own. Services include traditional medical, mental health, and ancillary David P. Kraft is executive director of the health service at the University of Mmachusetts at Amherst and is the current president of the American College Health Association. VOL 41, JULY 1992
services, and also specific requirements for improved institutional and collaborative relationships with parts of the campus that may not be a direct part of the college health service, such as counseling and psychological services, environmental health, safety, and athletic medicine. Section A of the recommended standards describes general characteristics that make a college health program unique in comparison with other ambulatory healthcare settings. The chapters discuss the service's responsibilities for the community; the responsibilities of health service workers; a set of ethical priniciples that must be observed in the college setting, including confidentiality within and between separate helping units, cooperation with the institution in setting health policies and in helping students who have special needs; attention to prevention and education services, especially around issues of sexuality, counseling, and health; coordinated health programs for varsity athletes; and attention to physically challenged students. Throughout the section, the emphasis is on the role of all health service personnel and on providing a consumer-oriented approach, given the overall educational mission of the college or university. Section B describes generic standards that must be observed by any college health program, irrespective of whether services are provided on or off campus and whether portions of those services are under contract to a separate organization or are wholly contained within the student health service. For example, specific chapters describe general requirements involving institutional responsibility, administration of the health service, health records, quality assurance activities, health education services, facilities and environment, and support and ancillary services. 35
Downloaded by [NUS National University of Singapore] at 23:44 06 November 2015
COLLEGE HEALTH
Section C of the recommended standards indicates specialized services that may be present in more comprehensive healthcare settings, such as pharmaceutical services, clinical laboratory services, diagnostic imaging services, surgical and anesthesia services, environmental health and safety services, and occupational health services. Although applications to a given setting may vary, the overall set of standards emphasizes high quality and personalized services with dignity for the students at a given institution, no matter how comprehensive or limited the on-campus capabilities. The problem with any recommended set of standards is how they are used. The Committee on Standards challenges each of us to look at our own health services in light of the published recommendations and to begin or continue an educational process of various parts of the health service and the university as a whole to make sure that services are improved as necessary. At a time when the funding and quality of campus health services are being threatened from many vantage points, including calls for privatization of some or all of our service functions, it is our responsibility as members of the college health community to make sure reasonable standards are not ignored. For years we have stated and written that college health services can serve as a model for the healthcare system in terms of coordinated, cost-effective, and consumer-oriented services. Our challenge now is to use tools such as the recommended standards to deliver acceptable services. Although the standards were written to encourage college health services to consider becoming accredited by independent healthcare accrediting association^,^^^ especially the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC)4 and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO),’ the standards actually go beyond the published requirements of the two accrediting bodies because of the community and institutional responsibilities that college health programs must assume. Accreditation is not an end in itself. It can, however, verify the fact that direct clinical delivery in college health services measures up to the same standards as other public and private ambulatory healthcare organizations. The ACHA recommended standards can also be used by themselves and must be used where applicable to maintain the quality of our service delivery and systems. After all, we are in the “people-helping business” and do have experience and credibility in delivering those services. ACHA’s recommended standards, with or without accreditation, can help us demonstrate our quality and improve our delivery. The challenge is ours. The healthcare field in the United States has recently embraced concepts of total quality management (TQM) or total quality improvement as a new emphasis and approach to improving services.6 Most college health organizations have, in fact, been practicing “bottom up” and participatory management styles for decades, partly because of the customers we serve and the col36
laborative nature of the healthcare we provide. In fact, the preventive and institutional responsibilities of college health services are even farther ahead in the total quality improvement of college and university campuses and practices than even the current emphases in healthcare TQM programs. We must use the new concepts and approaches in a way that emphasizes total quality improvement in the entire campus, where the health services may take the lead in certain areas of personalized healthcare, including preventive education and treatment approaches. Our challenge in the next decade will be to use the new and more popular concepts to educate and improve campus programs further. REFERENCES 1. Recommended Standards for a College Health Program, 5th ed. Baltimore, MD: American College Health Association;
1991.
2. Averill B. Accreditation of college and university health programs-Why have it and who should do it? J A m Coll Health. 1982;30:221. 3. Kraft DP. Quality of care and the accreditation of health services: What is the relationship? J A m Coll Health. 1988; 37: 109. 4. Accreditation Handbook for Ambulatory Health Care, 1989-90. Skokie, IL: Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care; 1989. 5. Ambulatory Health Care Standards Manual, 1988. Chicago, IL: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; 1987. 6. Kraft DP. Standards, quality assurance and quality of care in college and university health. In: Patrick K. Principles and Practices of Student Health, vol 3: Principles and practices for college health. Oakland, CA: Third Party Publishing Co (in press).
A print ready health service newsletter, written especially for the campus community; mailed four times during the school year, for reprint and distribution. Healthy Hints contains current information on health issues and promotes healthy living. For reprints, information, or brochure, call or write: Gretta Buller 410 13th Avenue SE Rochester, MN 55904 507-289-6859 JACH
ISSN: 0744-8481 (Print) 1940-3208 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vach20
College Health Must Advocate High Quality Care for Students David P. Kraft MD To cite this article: David P. Kraft MD (1992) College Health Must Advocate High Quality Care for Students, Journal of American College Health, 41:1, 35-36 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07448481.1992.9936306
Published online: 09 Jul 2010.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 9
View related articles
Citing articles: 1 View citing articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=vach20 Download by: [NUS National University of Singapore]
Date: 06 November 2015, At: 23:44
Downloaded by [NUS National University of Singapore] at 23:44 06 November 2015
College Health Must Advocate High Quality Care for Students David P. Kraft, MD
ublication of the Recommended Standards for a College Health Program' in fall 1991 by the American College Health Association (ACHA) presents a challenge for all of us in college health to insure high quality standards for the health and safety of college students. (The standards are available from the American College Health Association, PO Box 28937, Baltimore, MD 21240-8937; $50 for ACHA members, $100 for nonmembers.) Despite fiscal constraints, the college or university as an institution has a direct responsibility to provide necessary services for all students, including not only direct clinical care but also preventive and protective services. Our challenge is to make sure that the standards are acknowledged and observed. As college health professionals, our role is to serve as educators of the institution, no matter what the financial or organizational crisis. The ACHA has taken a bold step in promoting high quality care in all service areas, whether they are directly administered from the student health service or from some other area of campus. The college or university as an institution ignores those standards at its own periloverlooking reasonable standards for the organization jeopardizes the health of our next generation of national leaders and citizens. The ACHA membership worked hard during the past 4 years to develop the recommended standards. The format of the standards was changed significantly to allow each chapter or section to stand on its own. Services include traditional medical, mental health, and ancillary David P. Kraft is executive director of the health service at the University of Mmachusetts at Amherst and is the current president of the American College Health Association. VOL 41, JULY 1992
services, and also specific requirements for improved institutional and collaborative relationships with parts of the campus that may not be a direct part of the college health service, such as counseling and psychological services, environmental health, safety, and athletic medicine. Section A of the recommended standards describes general characteristics that make a college health program unique in comparison with other ambulatory healthcare settings. The chapters discuss the service's responsibilities for the community; the responsibilities of health service workers; a set of ethical priniciples that must be observed in the college setting, including confidentiality within and between separate helping units, cooperation with the institution in setting health policies and in helping students who have special needs; attention to prevention and education services, especially around issues of sexuality, counseling, and health; coordinated health programs for varsity athletes; and attention to physically challenged students. Throughout the section, the emphasis is on the role of all health service personnel and on providing a consumer-oriented approach, given the overall educational mission of the college or university. Section B describes generic standards that must be observed by any college health program, irrespective of whether services are provided on or off campus and whether portions of those services are under contract to a separate organization or are wholly contained within the student health service. For example, specific chapters describe general requirements involving institutional responsibility, administration of the health service, health records, quality assurance activities, health education services, facilities and environment, and support and ancillary services. 35
Downloaded by [NUS National University of Singapore] at 23:44 06 November 2015
COLLEGE HEALTH
Section C of the recommended standards indicates specialized services that may be present in more comprehensive healthcare settings, such as pharmaceutical services, clinical laboratory services, diagnostic imaging services, surgical and anesthesia services, environmental health and safety services, and occupational health services. Although applications to a given setting may vary, the overall set of standards emphasizes high quality and personalized services with dignity for the students at a given institution, no matter how comprehensive or limited the on-campus capabilities. The problem with any recommended set of standards is how they are used. The Committee on Standards challenges each of us to look at our own health services in light of the published recommendations and to begin or continue an educational process of various parts of the health service and the university as a whole to make sure that services are improved as necessary. At a time when the funding and quality of campus health services are being threatened from many vantage points, including calls for privatization of some or all of our service functions, it is our responsibility as members of the college health community to make sure reasonable standards are not ignored. For years we have stated and written that college health services can serve as a model for the healthcare system in terms of coordinated, cost-effective, and consumer-oriented services. Our challenge now is to use tools such as the recommended standards to deliver acceptable services. Although the standards were written to encourage college health services to consider becoming accredited by independent healthcare accrediting association^,^^^ especially the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC)4 and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO),’ the standards actually go beyond the published requirements of the two accrediting bodies because of the community and institutional responsibilities that college health programs must assume. Accreditation is not an end in itself. It can, however, verify the fact that direct clinical delivery in college health services measures up to the same standards as other public and private ambulatory healthcare organizations. The ACHA recommended standards can also be used by themselves and must be used where applicable to maintain the quality of our service delivery and systems. After all, we are in the “people-helping business” and do have experience and credibility in delivering those services. ACHA’s recommended standards, with or without accreditation, can help us demonstrate our quality and improve our delivery. The challenge is ours. The healthcare field in the United States has recently embraced concepts of total quality management (TQM) or total quality improvement as a new emphasis and approach to improving services.6 Most college health organizations have, in fact, been practicing “bottom up” and participatory management styles for decades, partly because of the customers we serve and the col36
laborative nature of the healthcare we provide. In fact, the preventive and institutional responsibilities of college health services are even farther ahead in the total quality improvement of college and university campuses and practices than even the current emphases in healthcare TQM programs. We must use the new concepts and approaches in a way that emphasizes total quality improvement in the entire campus, where the health services may take the lead in certain areas of personalized healthcare, including preventive education and treatment approaches. Our challenge in the next decade will be to use the new and more popular concepts to educate and improve campus programs further. REFERENCES 1. Recommended Standards for a College Health Program, 5th ed. Baltimore, MD: American College Health Association;
1991.
2. Averill B. Accreditation of college and university health programs-Why have it and who should do it? J A m Coll Health. 1982;30:221. 3. Kraft DP. Quality of care and the accreditation of health services: What is the relationship? J A m Coll Health. 1988; 37: 109. 4. Accreditation Handbook for Ambulatory Health Care, 1989-90. Skokie, IL: Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care; 1989. 5. Ambulatory Health Care Standards Manual, 1988. Chicago, IL: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; 1987. 6. Kraft DP. Standards, quality assurance and quality of care in college and university health. In: Patrick K. Principles and Practices of Student Health, vol 3: Principles and practices for college health. Oakland, CA: Third Party Publishing Co (in press).
A print ready health service newsletter, written especially for the campus community; mailed four times during the school year, for reprint and distribution. Healthy Hints contains current information on health issues and promotes healthy living. For reprints, information, or brochure, call or write: Gretta Buller 410 13th Avenue SE Rochester, MN 55904 507-289-6859 JACH
