Recognized for Quality and Safety in First-Ever Award Series
Safety. Quality. High standards. Those are words most patients would welcome when describing a healthcare service. UC San Diego’s Gastrointestinal Endoscopy program was recently recognized by the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) as one of the top 56 endoscopy units in the country. 
The ASGE Endoscopy Unit Recognition Program is a new program specifically dedicated to promoting quality in endoscopy and honoring those units that follow the ASGE guidelines for quality and patient safety.
“ASGE received an outstanding response to this program, and we are delighted to be recognizing the first recipients from 56 endoscopy units, who are working hard everyday to provide high-quality care to their patients in a safe environment,” said Douglas O. Faigel, MD, FASGE, Chairman, ASGE Quality Assurance Task Force. “We are proud to acknowledge these ASGE members through our Endoscopy Unit Recognition Program for their commitment to promoting the highest standards of safety and quality.”
“This ASGE recognition reflects the high quality of endoscopic care being provided at the three UCSD GI Endoscopy centers by our excellent physicians, nurses, techs, and support staff,” said Thomas Savides, MD, Clinical Service Chief for UC San Diego Gastroenterology and director, UCSD Interventional Endoscopy Program.
An important component of the program is an educational course that thoroughly reviews related guidelines. Upon completing the program, units receive an ASGE "Certificate of Recognition,” which is granted for a three-year renewable period. The program applies to all settings in the United States where endoscopy is practiced, including: office-based endoscopy units, hospital-based endoscopy units, and stand-alone ambulatory endoscopy or surgery centers.
Only four such programs in California were recognized this year, including the UC San Diego GI Endoscopy Unit.
“I am very proud that our GI Staff and Department received this well deserved recognition,” Jill Deetz, Nursing Director Professional Services/Administrator, Gastroenterology, UC San Diego Medical Center. “My staff, who attended the core training course in Chicago, felt empowered to learn that our UC San Diego Medical Center GI units were currently practicing under the high quality guidelines and procedures ASGE holds out as exemplars of quality practice.”
About ASGE:
ASGE is the profession’s leader in setting standards of excellence in endoscopy through its safety guidelines and the training of its members so that patients receive the best and safest care possible. The Society constantly reinforces the importance of quality among its members.
About the UC San Diego GI/Endoscopy Unit:
The UC San Diego Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS) and Interventional GI Endoscopy programs are among the premier programs in the United States for diagnosis, staging, and treating of gastrointestinal, pancreatic, and lung cancer. The Advanced Interventional GI Program offers cutting edge diagnostic and therapeutic procedures including: deep small bowel enteroscopy, bile duct cholangioscopy, and esophageal mucosal ablation technologies. In 2008, the programs provided over 7500 endoscopic diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, served over 6400 patients and opened a third procedure site at Moore's UCSD Cancer Center.
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Media Contact: Kim Edwards, 619-543-6163, kedwards@ucsd.edu