SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island recently announced that the university’s Dr. Pauline B. Wood Health Services earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for Ambulatory Health Care Accreditation by demonstrating continuous compliance with the commission’s nationally recognized standards. The Gold Seal of Approval reflects a health care organization’s commitment to providing safe and effective patient care, reported URI.
“Fewer than 20 university health centers across the nation achieve this accreditation,” Ellen Reynolds, director of URI Health Services, said in the statement. “It’s the gold standard, and earning it is a key differentiator in the health care industry … most physicians’ office … don’t achieve this level of accreditation.”
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Although other ambulatory health care entities in Rhode Island also received The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval, no other university or college health centers in Rhode Island were among them, according to data from qualitycheck.org, a website that identifies health care organizations that have received the Gold Seal of Approval.
The Joint Commission conducted a rigorous and unannounced onsite survey of URI Health Services last December. During the survey, a team of surveyors with expertise in ambulatory health care evaluated the center’s compliance with ambulatory care standards in a variety of areas, including coordination of care, infection prevention and control, medication management and patient education and training.
In addition to thoroughly examining the facility and its equipment, The Joint Commission reviewers followed patients from the time they entered the building all the way through discharge in an effort to reveal any systemic issues or deviations from the standards.
“URI Health Services is pleased to receive accreditation from The Joint Commission, the premier health care quality improvement and accrediting body in the nation,” Reynolds said. “Staff from across the organization continue to work together to develop and implement approaches and strategies that have the potential to improve care for the students/patients in our community.”
The university received full accreditation for the Health Services Center, which is surveyed every three years, and its laboratory, which is surveyed every two years. Dr. Fortunato Procopio, director of medical services, said the school has received full accreditation for both facilities each year since first achieving the standard in the 1990s.
“[T]hese accreditations … help us continue our mission to serve a college population,” Procopio said. “We’re unique in that the people who work here understand college students and are able to provide better care than would be available at a regular community practice. It’s vital to have an organization on campus that can deliver the specific care a college community needs, and this kind of accreditation proves we do an excellent job of it.”
