Health
Improvements in prison health care needed
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 5, 2004
Medical care provided in jails should meet the standards of the National Commission on Correctional Health Care, and prison officials should work with the commission to find cost-effective ways to improve funding and quality, according to a policy adopted at the American Medical Association's Annual Meeting in June in Chicago.
The AMA has long supported the concept of a national accreditation program for correctional facility medical care. Now that one exists -- the NCCHC -- the AMA is going one step further and asking the prison system to sign on to it in order to improve the quality of services, including those related to mental health.
Physicians widely supported this policy because of the recognition that illness in prison can spill over to affect the community at large.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/07/05/hlbf0705.htm.
