NCJ Number
229847
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 71 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2009 Pages: 56-58
Date Published
October 2009
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article provides an overview of the American Correctional Association's (ACA's) mission and standards regarding comprehensive health care for inmates.
Abstract
The founding principles of the ACA - humanity, justice, protection, opportunity, knowledge, competence, and accountability - recognize that the humane provision of comprehensive treatment services to incarcerated and detained persons is essential. Under the leadership of former ACA President Richard Stalder (1998-2000), an ACA Performance-Based Standards Committee was formed to begin drafting performance-based health care standards. As the health care advisor to the ACA president, Elizabeth Gondles enlisted the participation of nationally recognized correctional health care providers from across the country in the revision of the standards. These revisions are expected to be announced in the 2010 publication of the Performance-Based Standards for Correctional Health Care in Adult Correctional Institutions, Second Edition. It is expected that the use of performance-based standards and the ongoing analysis of collected outcome data will enable agencies to make informed administrative decisions related to the allocation of increasingly limited resources in the delivery of health care. These performance-based standards should be used to analyze the delivery of services, maintain continuous quality assurance, assess systemic needs, and control unnecessary or ineffective expenditures. As agencies balance budget constraints and a declining pool of qualified health service professionals, they must focus on effectively allocating diminishing resources. Accreditation that imparts performance-based standards has many benefits, including defense against litigation, a continuous process of quality management and risk assessment, and the ability to make informed decisions based on results. An example is provided of a partial health care outcome measure worksheet in compliance with one of the standards, along with the ACA health care standard for inmates with chronic health conditions.