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NCCHC News

NCCHC's
2009 Award Winners

Read about the honorees recognized at our awards ceremony at the National Conference in October.

Correctional facilities look to their health services professionals for leadership in managing a potential outbreak. Visit the H1N1 Flu page for more information.

NCCHC's Journal Indexed in Medline

The Journal of Correctional Health Care is indexed in the National Library of Medicine's Medline database of biomedical citations and abstracts.

Education on Medication Assisted Therapy

This free resource is designed for jail administrators and others. Visit the Education page.

Standards for Mental Health Services

NCCHC offers standards for mental health services in correctional settings. Learn more »

CCHP Program Launches Specialty Certification for RNs
This new certification offers registered nurses who already participate in the Certified Correctional Health Professional program a great opportunity to be recognized for the work they do. The first CCHP-RN exam is taking place at the Updates conference in April. (Winter 2010)

NCCHC Seeks Public Comment for Juvenile Standards Revision
As NCCHC prepares to revise its Standards for Health Services in Juvenile Detention and Confinement Facilities we are soliciting expert opinion on the current Juvenile Standards from accredited facilities, practitioners and our supporting organizations. This input will help us ensure that the revised manual reflects the highest professional and ethical exemplars for quality health services in juvenile correctional facilities. Send your comments by April 15, 2010, to juvenilestandards@ncchc.org. Please indicate your name and professional affiliation. (Winter 2010)

Revised Guidelines for Disease Management
The NCCHC Policy and Standards committee has redesigned and renamed the NCCHC guidelines. Now called Guidelines for Disease Management in Correctional Settings, they are streamlined and standardized in format and content. They minimize discussion of clinical issues that are covered more comprehensively in guidance from governmental agencies and national organizations, instead focusing on issues of concern in correctional settings. Each provides a list of these valuable resources. Four guidelines have been approved thus far: asthma, diabetes, hyperlipidemia and hypertension. They are available in the Resources section of this Web site. (Winter 2010)

Pocket Guide on Schizophrenia
NCCHC is collaborating with Applied Clinical Education to produce an educational pocket guide titled “Caring for Individuals With Schizophrenia in Correctional Settings and Beyond.” Written by correctional psychiatry experts Andrew Angelino, MD, Jeffrey Metzner, MD, CCHP-A, and Henry Weinstein, MD, the guide includes a free posttest that offers one hour of continuing education credit for physicians, nurses and psychologists.
Content will address treatment guidelines specific to incarcerated patients, key issues in psychosocial and pharmacologic treatment, strategies for risk assessment and risk management, common barriers to adequate treatment and challenges with preparations for reentry to the community.
The guide is supported by an educational grant from Janssen, a Division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. It will be distributed in the first quarter of 2010. (Fall 2009)

New Position Statements
The NCCHC board of directors has adopted two new position statements. One addresses Transgender Health Care and the other addresses Health Services Research. Find them in the Resources and Links section » (Fall 2009)

NCCHC Receives SAMHSA Reapproval to Accredit OTPs
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has reauthorized NCCHC to accredit opioid treatment programs for an additional five years. In 2004, NCCHC became one of six entities so authorized, and the only one specializing in corrections. By law, opioid treatment programs based in correctional facilities must obtain certification from SAMHSA, but to become certified, OTPs first must be accredited by a federally approved body.
NCCHC standards are the foundation of the OTP accreditation program. The Standards for Opioid Treatment Programs in Correctional Facilities are based on federal regulations but address the special nature of care provided in correctional facilities. Learn more at the Accreditation section » (Summer 2009)

Survey Will Help to Bridge Gaps in Pandemic Flu Assistance
As part of a nationwide effort to improve relationships between correctional facilities and state and local health departments, NCCHC is conducting a survey of all NCCHC-accredited facilities asking about health department assistance related to the H1N1 flu outbreak. Learn more »

New SAMHSA Grant Supports OTP Accreditation Program
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has awarded NCCHC funding related to its accreditation program for opioid treatment programs. The grant is part of SAMHSA’s effort to reduce the costs of basic accreditation education and accreditation surveys for OTPs. This latest grant will support quality accreditation services that promote better and more accessible health services for inmates, and that help OTPs to be self-sufficient in maintaining accreditation. A priority is for accredited OTPs to maintain quality of care and to expand their services. (Summer 2008)
Learn more about NCCHC's OTP accreditation program »

Board Member Update
Alvin J. Thompson, MD, was honored by the American College of Physicians as recipient of the Ralph O. Claypoole Sr. Memorial Award. Bestowed at the ACP’s annual meeting in May, the award is given to an outstanding practitioner of internal medicine who has devoted his career to the care of patients, is highly respected for his clinical skills and has been a role model as a member of a clinical faculty or department of medicine.
Thompson is a long-standing member of the NCCHC board of directors, representing the American Medical Association for more than 20 years. After more than 60 years of practice and teaching, he is an emeritus clinical professor of medicine at the University of Washington.
In announcing the award, the ACP (also a supporting organization of NCCHC) cited Thompson’s career-long dedication to the strategic mentoring of community organizations and individuals. In 1969, he developed the unique health plan of the Seattle Model City program. In 2005, he was cochair of the task force that guided the development of the acclaimed Puget Sound Health Alliance. Thompson also was the founding president of the Washington State Association for Biomedical Research. He has been president of all of his city, county and state professional organizations and has served as ACP governor for Washington and Alaska. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 1978. His current service to NCCHC includes participating on the finance committee and representing the Commission to the AMA’s House of Delegates. (Spring 2008)

AMA Endorses Opioid Replacement Therapy in Corrections
The American Medical Association's house of delegates has adopted a policy of support for "Opiate Replacement Therapy Programs in Correctional Facilities" (resolution no. 443). The action was taken at the AMA's annual meeting in June. The resolution calls for the AMA to endorse this medical treatment model as "an effective therapy in treating opiate-addicted persons who are incarcerated" and for collaboration with NCCHC and the American Society of Addiction Medicine in this endorsement. To read the entire resolution, visit the AMA Web site at www.ama-assn.org/meetings/public/annual05/refcomdannotateda05.pdf.

New AMA Policy Backs NCCHC Standards, Accreditation
The American Medical Association has adopted a policy of support for the National Commission on Correctional Health Care’s standards for health services and its accreditation program. The policy “encourage[s] all correctional systems to support NCCHC accreditation,” and calls for finding ways to increase funding for correctional health services. Read the full story. (Spring 2004)

Institute of Medicine Honors NCCHC Founders
Bernard P. Harrison, JD, and B. Jaye Anno, PhD, CCHP-A, were honored for their pioneering efforts that have appreciably improved correctional health care. Read more... (Fall 2003)