The Health Center will provide quality health care services.

The Health Center will engage in quality improvement.

The indicators for this objective are the quality improvement study reports. Our goal is to conduct one quality improvement study during FY 2013.

The Health Center completed one quality improvement study.  The study assessed external benchmarking processes and outcomes of similar organizations regarding organizational information. A comparison of the clinic's patient wait times, appointment types, and workflow processess was conducted. 

Our greatest success from the study found our wait time to be about 15 minutes, on average. We tied in 3rd with the lowest wait time compared to the other 6 organizations.

What we found to be a weakness for our organization is the comparison to those using Electronic Health Records and Practice Management Systems.  It is reported that out of all of the FP and SHS organizations that we are the only organization not using an EHR. Additionally, we do not use appointment reminders for patient appointments and discovered that 60% of those scheduled for more than 1 week receive a reminder for the visit in similar organizations. Other findings include the clinic's extended discharge times compared to other organizations. This is due to the lack of the front office staff placing a time in the log. Additionally, many of our patients continue on to the pharmacy to fill a prescription. When they present to the front office for discharge, the time spent in the clinic was extended.

We found that the organization with the shortest discharge time:

1. Includes as part of their “check out” process the scheduling of the patient’s next appointment.
2. Eliminates the need for most patients to return to the front desk by having all but one provider “check out” their own patients in the office (exam room).
3. Records in the EMR the time the patient left the building, as well as the time the appointment was scheduled. 

The study completed this year outlined quality improvement processes that yielded the following actions:
1. We will move forward with the implementation an Electronic Health Record and Practice Management System. We assessed this process and these results are confirmation of best practice standards related to EHR/PM among similar organizations.

2. With the implementation of the PM, the opportunity to send automatic appointment reminders is presented. This will help us minimize the amount of time it takes in man hours to make these calls. We can tailor the email message to fit in our policies about early arrival and cancelations.

3. With the implementation of the EHR, have providers schedule follow-up appointments in the room and have providers “check out” patients in the room when completed with the visit. We will eliminate the need for patients to obtain a receipt at the front office unless requested by the patient.

The Health Center will implement a Practice Management and Electronic Medical Records System.

The indicators for this objective is the successful implementation of an Electronic Health Record and Practice Managment System by the end of FY 2013.

Over the course of the fiscal year, the clinic completed the implementation of a practice management system in January 2013 and the electronic health records system in June 2013.

The clinic identified areas of improvement with the electronic system that guided the following actions:

1. Currently, patients must fill out health history information by handwriting the documents and submitting them to the front office. The front office then scans the information into the electronic chart. This process affects our workflow and increases patient wait times. To alleviate this burden, we will implement an Online Student Health module to streamline the completion of documentation of patient health information to be completed online prior to the initial visit.

2. Providers currently handwrite prescriptions to prescribe medications. To eliminate the need to scan the carbon copy of the prescription into the system, we will interface a prescription printer that requires specialty script paper and e-prescribe through the system. This will essentially eliminate the opportunity for script theft and will provide a more efficient means for prescribing.

The Health Center will equip and encourage students to make healthy lifestyle choices.

The Health Center will conduct outreach activities that improve students' knowledge of healthy behaviors and increase the likelihood they will exhibit them.

The assessment for the sexual wellness program will result in 85% of “Single” and “Single, But Dating” students stating that because of this presentation, they are more likely to use a condom when they are sexually active.

82.57% of the “Single” and “Single, But Dating” students indicated that because of the sexual wellness program, they exhibited a positive attitude toward the desired behavior of using a condom during sexual activity. 

The department did not meet the goal of 85% of respondents that are "single and "single, but dating" exhibiting a positive attitude toward the desired behavior of using a condom during sexual activity. Although the goal was not met, the result fell short of the target goal by less than a 3% margin and is viewed as a positive outcome. Students did inquire about free testing opportunities and additional programming. The department will look into ways to incorporate free testing into the clinic's programming.  The department will also look into outreach opportunities to educate the student body as a whole about sexual wellness and the impacts of risky behaviors.