Counting on Care

IN an overdue move, the University Health Services (UHS) this week will solicit student opinion about the quality of care. In a UHS-prepared, 14-page questionnaire. 10 percent of the student body will have a rare chance to talk back to the people who provide their health care. Past surveys have been taken seriously and led to improvements, like increased psychological support staff and improved gynecological services.

We can only concur with the instincts of Dr. Warren E. C. Wacker, who called for this week's survey. Now is a critical time to assess the work performed by UHS. The spread of AIDS requires careful monitoring of UHS practices and the effectiveness of its educational efforts.

But while we agree that it is important to periodically examine the quality and scope of the services provided by UHS, it is unfortunate that this week's survey will leave little room for more specific complaints about the treatment delivered by UHS. The survey's statistical focus will evaluate the different kinds of care offered by UHS, rather than the quality of care as told by personal anecdotes. And with the steady stream of student dissatisfaction with campus health care, UHS should pay more attention to complaints on a continual basis, not just at survey time.

The questionnaire will also ask a question of dubious value-- if students are satified with their "Harvard Experience." The UHS consultant responsible for the survey said they are doing this because, "in the past we have found that a student's general dissatisfaction with Harvard itself has a direct correlation to a general dissatisfaction with UHS." Such a skeptical attitude toward students with complaints is not good for any organization hoping to examine the quality of its services. This attitude could lead UHS to make the mistake of discounting any negative feedback from students who aren't satisfied with their"Harvard experience."

A survey of a random 10 percent sampling of undergraduates provides the perfect opportunity to gauge how many perceived cases of poor treatment have occurred during the last four years. We can only hope that the receptiveness UHS has shown for student opinion on the type of health care provided will translate into reform in areas where students feel they have been given poor treatment.