Gary Chadwick

Over the past year Wardenburg Health Center has incorporated many exciting and highly anticipated changes. With change comes challenge, but we are proud of our staff for their perseverance. Three major conversions have occurred: going live with state-of-the-art electronic medical records, reorganization of department reporting structures and a renovation project encompassing parts of all three floors.

An electronic medical record is a medical record in a digital format used to integrate provider notes with laboratory findings, digital radiology or other health information to provide a single point of visibility for viewing comprehensive patient data. Following a two-year implementation process, Wardenburg's EMR went live on June 7, 2007.

Benefits of EMR include:

• Increased patient safety due to the immediate availability of drug and allergy interactions, clinical notes, prescriptions, lab results and more.
• Multiple providers can view patient information simultaneously instead of passing around a paper chart.
• Greater legibility, consistency and accuracy than paper charts due to standardized templates.

Because our EMR was custom-designed for Wardenburg operations, it continues to evolve and we continue to tailor it to increase efficiency in our operations. We are evaluating digital radiography machines compatible with the EMR and intend to purchase one soon.

The reorganization changed the reporting structure of some departments, combined or abolished others, and created a few new positions. We abolished the Dental Clinic as the 2007-2008 insurance underwriter's rates are lower than our own, and ended the workers compensation program because it was being subsidized by student fees but primarily utilized by faculty and staff. Other changes include combining scheduling, self check-in, Electronic Content Management (ECM), immunizations, referrals and release of information under one health information services department, combining accounting, the business office, insurance and materials management under one financial services department, and combining the associate director of business and finance with the associate director of operations position to create a single associate director position responsible for financial services, health information services, information systems and environmental services.

In addition, Heather Collis was hired as the marketing and communications coordinator to assist in generating revenue and improving the internal and external communications of Wardenburg and an internal review committee was established to review the budgets, operations and efficiency of each department. Thus far, the committee, made up of Wardenburg administrators, UCSU student leaders and health board members, has evaluated the medical clinic, psychological health and psychiatry, IT services and auxiliary administrative functions, making appropriate recommendations and modifications deemed necessary.

Wardenburg Health Center itself remains very similar to the original building. While the way that health care is delivered has changed over the past 50 years and the student population at CU has doubled, Wardenburg has never undergone an expansion. The physical layout – particularly in the medical clinic – was cumbersome and did not lend itself to an efficient delivery of quality care to such a large number of students. The changes that were made over the 2007-2008 winter break will allow us to increase quality care and efficacy.

The medical clinic was remodeled to create three team offices and 24 exam rooms. The previous layout had 14 offices and 14 exam rooms. A new waiting room and self check-in/information/scheduling area was added by the main entrance. The women's health department was relocated to another area on the third floor to increase patient privacy, and the sports medicine manager's office was relocated to the department by renovating the main office space. Consolidated offices for most auxiliary functions into a single area on the third floor was completed by the time students returned to spring 2008 classes and includes administration, human resources, immunizations, insurance, release of information, safety officer and associated department managers. We continue to evaluate needs for additional furniture or equipment, for example waiting room chairs and storage.

Other noteworthy events during this past year:

• Appointed new leadership including myself as director, Associate Director of Clinical and Outreach Services Molly Fortuna, Associate Director of Finance and Operations Michele Van Pelt and Medical Director Ann Mattson.
• Negotiated a new student health insurance plan that provides lower premiums, expanded coverage and no co-pays for services at Wardenburg.
• Established health board liaison program with each clinical area in Wardenburg.
• Successfully passed a three-day, unannounced Joint Commission accreditation survey in April 2007
• Increased capitation revenues.
• Established a program for medical clinic providers to work in teams with support staff; the entire clinic moved to the team approach in January 2008.
• Were brought under the auspices of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); all staff underwent additional privacy trainings.
• Decided to switch accreditation from the Joint Commission to AAAHC, an accreditor specializing in ambulatory care; the application is in process.

The future of Wardenburg is bright, and the changes will help to ensure the continued health and health education of the CU-Boulder campus community.