SHAC works to improve health services

Taylor is graduate co-chair of the Student Health Advisory
Committee.

By Catherine A. Taylor

In response to the article, “GSA discusses its frustration
with directors of health care,” (News, Feb. 15) there are
some important things that students should know about their health
plan.

One is that the health care system is complex, both at UCLA and
in the real world. This complexity often leads to a lack of clarity
when it comes to students understanding the nature of the problems
they encounter within health care and the best ways to handle
them.

Anyone who has lived and worked outside of a student-based
setting knows that dealing with health care referrals and
reimbursements is rarely simple. Having said this, I believe UCLA
students are strongly advantaged when it comes to the options they
have for resolving their questions and concerns about health care
issues.

The clinicians and the administration at the Ashe Center are
highly committed to student health. And if you happen upon a
clinician or other staff person who you feel does not share in this
commitment, you should contact the Ashe Center administration. If
you would like to lodge an effective complaint, be specific about
the person you saw and what transpired during your interaction. If
you report only that you were generally dissatisfied with a
service, this will not promote real change.

There are two main routes for lodging such complaints. If the
nature of your complaint is immediate (for example, you really
needed an appointment right away due to the nature of your
condition and you didn’t get one), contact Shelley Pearson,
the director of ancillary services, at mpearson @saonet.ucla.edu.
However, those with urgent needs or without appointments should go
to the first floor of the Ashe Center and request to either be
scheduled for a same day appointment, or talk to a triage
nurse.

If your complaint does not need immediate attention, you can
complete a comment card available near the Solutions Centers on
each floor of the Ashe Center (near insurance on the fourth floor).
You can fill it out anonymously, or provide your name and contact
information for a direct response. All of these cards are reviewed
both by Student Health Services administration and, with names
removed, by the Student Health Advisory Committee.

Every student’s situation is unique. The Ashe policy is to
respond to every one of these comments through direct contact with
you.

When students venture beyond the Ashe Center for health care,
say through the referral process to see a specialist at UCLA
Medical Center, or to a dental care provider through CIGNA, things
get more complex. Nonetheless, there are still routes for resolving
grievances.

First, it is important to understand that while the UCLA Medical
Center may be world renowned for its top-notch medical care, it
does not share the same reputation for its billing and
administrative processes. So before you go to see someone outside
of Ashe, make sure that you have either read your insurance plan so
that you know exactly what will be covered, or that you consult
with the insurance liaison at the Ashe Center (contact information
provided below). If you go to an outside care provider knowing
exactly what to expect for billing and whom you can contact with
questions, it should make the process less daunting and
frustrating.

Finally, please make use of your Student Health Advisory
Committee. The committee consists of four graduate and four
undergraduate students appointed by your undergraduate and graduate
student government to represent students and to advise SHS about
students’ health-related needs. If you have comments,
concerns or frustrations about your health care, we urge you to
contact us. We have worked very closely with SHS to offer
students’ perspectives, and we have been most impressed with
their concern and responsiveness to student needs.

As a committee member, I have learned that there is a very fine
balance in trying to achieve comprehensive, high-quality,
convenient, accessible and low-cost health care for students. The
complexity of such a package deal means the answers to student
health concerns are often not as simple as we would like them to
be.

However, be assured that there are people at UCLA you can
contact with your concerns, who care very much about
students’ health and who want to make sure that your
experience with SHS ultimately leads you to better health ““
not frustration.

Contact SHAC with questions at [email protected].