Student Health seeking accreditation status

Student Health Service administrators are hoping to receive an accreditation from a prestigious health care commission which would make it one of the few student health organizations in the nation to receive this status. Accreditation could mean increased grant dollars for Student Health, and would ensure students that Student Health maintains certain health care standards, said Joe Porcelli, the chairperson of the Student Health Advisory Board. The Joint Commission for Accreditation, Ambulatory Health Care Organizations will evaluate the service this month. Student Health Director MarJeanne Collins said this week that JCAAHCO has only accredited 17 student health organizations, adding that the group has "very meticulous requirements about how you have ongoing health care." Porcelli said accreditation "would vastly increase Student Health's stature in the industry." Collins said that beginning September 24, the JCAAHCO will examine Student Health's operational systems and announce its results at the end of the semester. She added that if accredited, Student Health will be re-evaluated every three years. A group of experts in the health care industry will examine in detail the function and systems at Student Health, said Collins. In the evaluation, the experts will monitor Student Health's case treatment, policies, case outcomes and system for receiving student feedback. Porcelli said he is optimistic that the service will be accredited, saying that the quality of the feedback in the SHAB-distributed patient survey is a major boost for Student Health. "The most important question of the JCAAHCO is, are you really monitoring and correcting [medical situations]," Collins said.

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