Hartford HealthCare Medical Group will replace Quinnipiac University in providing on-campus Student Health Services on Aug. 1, operating its own clinic in the wing of the new Recreation and Wellness Center. 

“We now have an exceedingly agile, motivated, innovative partner as it relates to student health and wellness,” Chief Experience Officer Tom Ellett told the Chronicle. 

Through the transition, students will have access to over 3,000 HHC physicians and specialists, including primary and urgent care, behavioral health, physical therapy and rehabilitative services and sports medicine, according to Ellett’s email sent out to the university’s community on July 6. 

The clinic, run by HHC on campus, will offer medical exam rooms, triage rooms, private counseling rooms, counseling group meeting spaces and separate waiting rooms for medical care and counseling services. 

 “Truly this is an extension that the Quinnipiac leadership set forth,” HHC Vice President of Community Network Eric Smullen told the Chronicle. 

Smullen said student prescriptions will be delivered to the new facility on campus through an extended partnership with APEX pharmacy in Hamden.On-campus healthcare providers will maintain a limited supply of medicine for immediate first doses once students are prescribed, and APEX will continue to deliver full prescriptions twice a day to campus.

“(Students) will come to health services and pick up their prescriptions.” Smullen said. “We might be able to make it more convenient moving forward, but the new health services building should be the center of campus and the center of campus life, health and wellness.” 

In addition to receiving extended health and pharmaceutical services, the transition also changes the format of payment for health care on campus. 

Students with health plans that require a copay will need to pay the amount at the time of the visit. However, the university is capping all student copays at $15 per visit and will pay the difference if any student insurance plan has a larger set amount. 

All copay amounts can be paid with Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay, Google Pay or cash. Smullen said the university is not currently accepting Q-Cash or Q-Card as a means of payment, but is looking into making the visits more accessible for students in the future. 

“Quinnipiac is making up the difference so students are not hampered from access to care,” Smullen said. 

Upon visiting the clinic, students must present their insurance ID card to validate coverage and enable HHC’s billing process. A physical copy of the ID card is required to scan into the record system for a student’s first visit to the health center and will remain on file afterwards. 

Additionally, students are given the choice to request counseling and reproductive health services provided by HHC on campus to not be billed to their specific insurance plan. Instead, Quinnipiac will fully cover costs for those enduring those services and will not require any copay. 

“For us, it’s really about the partnership and the way that we will be provided customer services and access by the rich providers and deep network that Hartford Healthcare breeds as it relates to any medical issue a student may face,” Ellett said. 

Students can now download the mobile application, MyChartPLUS, for access to records of all care charts, prescribed medicine, lab charts and notes from providers in the health center, as well as the ability to directly message and host virtual visits with providers. The application can be downloaded on any mobile device, free of charge. 

“It is really your connection to health services in your pocket or purse,” Smullen said. “It’s not that you will have to go somewhere.” 

As a requirement in the transition, students must sign two consent forms that will grant access to HHC providers to previous medical information and records. As of publication, 43% of the student population has completed the forms that are due by Aug. 17. 

“This will ensure HHC care providers have access to medical records to verify the immunization records of new incoming students and also to expedite treatment times and improve the overall coordination of care when a student seeks services in the on-campus clinic,” Associate Vice President for Public Relations John Morgan wrote in an email. “Students can still access needed care if they have not yet signed their consent form, but they will be asked to complete the form during their visit.” Students with questions regarding insurance requirements or the university’s transition are encouraged to contact Quinnipiac One Stop at [email protected] and 203-582-8650, or review the Frequently Asked Questions section of Quinnipiac’s website.