“Longwood outsourced the Student Health and Wellness Center,” said Student Health and Wellness Director Dana Cary, who was hired through Potomac Healthcare Solutions when the transfer of ownership occurred. “As of two weeks ago, we are now fully staffed.”
On July 1, 2015, the Student Health and Wellness Center (SHWC) at Longwood University transferred ownership from the university to Potomac Healthcare Solutions, a small business in Woodbridge, Virginia.
Potomac placed a few new positions in place at the SHWC, including that of Billing Office Manager Karmyn Baird. “I’m on the back end of things, so after the patients are seen, I make sure all the coding is correct,” she said. “I make sure those things go correctly to the insurance companies and that they are processed correctly and that the claims are paid.”
In addition to Cary and Baird’s positions, Potomac hired students to cover the front desk and a licensed practical nurse (LPN) to assist the registered nurses (RNs) and providers. “A lot of the staff were retained from last year prior to contracting with Potomac,” said Baird.
The policies and procedures have changed slightly since the SHWC contracted with Potomac.
Students were once only required to produce proof of insurance for laboratory procedures in the past, but everyone must now produce their insurance cards when they are first checked into the system.
“We don’t turn students down if they don’t have insurance,” said Cary. “It’s just something that’s written off at the end of the procedures, so no student should ever fear coming to the health center if they don’t have insurance.”
The purpose of charging third party insurance companies is to cover the cost of staffing and equipment at the SHWC.
“Any form of payment received here is put back into the university,” said Baird. “Potomac does not receive any profit. It will allow us to buy more equipment without dipping into Longwood’s budget.”
In addition to equipment, Potomac intends to put funds into staffing increases and changes in the hours of operation. “We’re hoping to make longer hours during the day, some evening hours, and maybe even eventually some weekend hours, but to do that, we obviously need to hire more staff, so we have to have that money generated,” said Cary.
One major change are flu shots. “Before the change in ownership, SGA paid for them,” said Cary. “SGA advised Matt McGregor and the powers that be that this year they were not providing them; we had to put our order in for flu shots in March.” Because the university was stillunclear as to who would contract the SHWC at the time, Wellness Dean Matthew McGregor ordered 500 flu shots which, according to Cary, is about half of what the university usually orders.
“Supplies have been lower than normal, but apparently that word got out to students even before we were here, because a lot of students have gone home and gotten flu shots,” said Cary. Around 250 of the 500 flu shots have been administered so far.
The flu shot fee for uninsured patients at the SHWC is $20.
While preventative shots are important, Potomac staff are focusing their efforts on improving the services the SHWC already offers and potentially providing some new ones, though Cary would not explain further details until the plans are more solidified.
One action the SHWC intends to take is to implement a web portal for students to virtually set up appointments, chat with nursing staff, and fill out the paperwork electronically. Cary hopes to have the portal fully functional by the end of the semester.
A flu clinic will be held by SHWC in Lancer Park on Monday, Nov. 16 at 1:00 p.m.
