Last September, University Health Services (UHS) released the results of a semester-long student survey that revealed widespread dissatisfaction with its health care system. UHS seems to have since recognized that the quality of health care depends not only on diagnoses, but on the service experience as well--the fewer obstacles there are on the way to UHS, the faster students will be helped. A new scheduling system implemented last week promises to allow students to make appointments with their primary-care physicians with more ease and efficiency.

Although UHS installed its new appointment system software at the beginning of the academic school year, not until last week did it finally upgrade its computer systems. Undergraduates and the UHS staff were both catalysts for the change--and for good reason. UHS staff benefit from the new appointment system because they will have access to provider's schedules for a week at a time and can view multiple schedules at once. The new computer program serves students better because it eases the process of making an appointment and grants more privacy to those utilizing UHS, especially with regard to scheduling mental health appointments.

Little can be more frustrating than contracting an illness and being unable to receive medical advice--especially if the only obstacle between the doctor and the patient is a scheduling complication--and the new system promises to make UHS more user-friendly. The new system will also make UHS visits more convenient for students, enabling them to work around academic commitments and to more easily schedule vaccinations or physical examinations before going abroad.

We recognize that the updated software may have glitches, but we are more than willing to tolerate short-term complications for the anticipated long-term benefits. Although we would have liked UHS to have upgraded its appointment system sooner--the upgrade came six months after new software was installed--we welcome the change nonetheless.