Inside Stout
Inside Stout
Inside Stout Ep. 9 - Student Health Care on Campus
On January 1st, 2022, Student Health Serves started being managed by Prevea Health. Though there aren't many changes to how a student experiences receiving health care as before, there are some new things students get to experience! Students, with their campus ID, can receive care at any Prevea Urgent Care location in the region, during work hours or after.
Website: https://www.prevea.com/UWStoutHealth
Guests:
Kristin Rubenzer, Nurse Practitioner at Student Health Services
Lisa Raethke. Registered Nurse & the primary administrative liaison with Prevea Health
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Hello, everyone. Welcome to Inside Stout, a UW-Stout podcast that focuses on the stories of students, faculty, staff and the entire campus community. I'm Pam Powers.
Rachel:And I'm Rachel Hallgrimson with the marketing and communications team here to share with you everything that makes UW-Stout unique today on the podcast, we are going to be talking about Prevea Health, who is now partnering with Stout to provide student healthcare. We have two guests in the studio today. Why don't you introduce yourselves?
Kristin:Hello, thanks for having us. I'm Kristin Rubenzer. I'm a nurse practitioner with Prevea Health and I'm also the supervisor/manager of what we call employer services clinics, which is when Prevea partners with companies, universities, municipalities to deliver primary care, urgent care, family practice to those specific people. And so we have recently, as you said, partnered with Stout to deliver healthcare to the student body here.
Lisa:And I'm Lisa Raethke. I'm a registered nurse. And my job here at Stout is to be the student health promotions manager. And I was previously with student health services, and so my role as in my new role is to work with Prevea health to help them integrate their services into the university and also to, ddress COVID testing and other questions related to COVID on campus.
Pam:Now, the partnership started Jan. 1st, correct?
Kristin:Correct.
Pam:What are some of the advantages benefits to students to have Prevea partner with UW-Stout?
Kristin:Well, we like to think they're vast. We are passionate about giving excellent medical care throughout Prevea, and we are ecstatic to be partnering with UW-Stout. And Lisa has been an integral part of helping us transition into the Stout community and making sure that we have all of the contacts that we need. She answers a lot of our questions about, who do we talk to about this? And, oh gosh, we have to do, you know, we want to do this on campus. Or Lisa comes to me and says, we need you to do this on campus and we are thrilled to be, to be doing all of that. Prevea brings 25 years of clinic experience to health care here at Stout. We are offerings that are in addition to what students have experienced before here on campus is access to all of our urgent cares throughout the Western region. And they now have access to virtual care treatment and a 24-hour nurse hotline with questions, you know, should I be seen, do I need to go to the emergency room room? Those questions can be answered by that nurse hotline.
Pam:Talk with me a little bit about what it means, the virtual care. What does that mean to a student?
Kristin:Sure. So they can stay in their dorm room or apartment and see a provider virtually via camera very similar to a zoom meeting and potentially have that appointment and their medications or recommendations taken care of right then and there, these appointments aren't appropriate for everything, but certainly for many, many things. And in this age of COVID and quarantining and isolation, that offering has become increasingly beneficial. So say you need a medication follow up for depression, anxiety. You can have that visit just as you would have the it in the clinic face to face, but having it virtually and, and getting what you need as far as prescriptions and care
Pam:And I'm hoping you'll address a little bit more on the urgent care as well, because things tend to happen after hours. You know, things we get injured, we get ill talk about that, how the students will have access to urgent care?
Kristin:So we have four urgent cares throughout the Western region. We have one in Menomonie, one in Altoona, in Rice Lake and Chippewa Falls with the partnership with stout, we have offered the urgent cares at no charge beyond what the students pay for their segregated fees. To go see our urgent care providers after hours when the clinic isn't open on weekends or say a student is commuting from Rice Lake, they pay the segregated fee, they are sick, right? They're not going to come all the way to nominate, to be seen at student health. Now they have the option of going into the Rice Lake urgent care stating that they're a student at Stout presenting their student ID and being seen.
Pam:And no extra cost to them?
Kristin:No extra cost to them. T
Rachel:That's really nice. I think that's a great, great option for all of our students, because we do have a lot of students that commute to, and I think this helps serve the greater student body more than just our on campus students.
Pam:Absolutely. I can also see as a student, usually you're on a, a budget and this is going to help prevent some unforeseen medical cost.
Kristin:Exactly, exactly. Like you said, things happen after 4:30 p.m.. And so having that care accessible, and that was big part of what Stout wanted to offer the students that was part oftheir proposal is that the students have more access to health care outside of, you know, an 8 to 5 Monday through Friday clinic. And that's what we've been able to provide.
Rachel:Yeah, I think that's great. I, I was wondering if you could each share a little bit about your own history working in the healthcare industry and then translating it to here. I wonder if there's a whole lot of difference working in higher ed. I mean, Lisa, I think you work more in higher ed than I think Kristen does, but, but now you're kind of here and you're in the environment. So I was just wondering, like, do you set different goals for your purpose and how you live out your purpose through your job. And I know you both have, uh, history in the medical field, so Lisa, do you have anything to that?
Lisa:Well, I came to Stout 10 years ago. Inmy background before I came here, I had worked in a hospital at one point, but I had worked many years in public health. And I had lots of different roles when I worked in public health, including school nurses in asmall school districts, including being a jail nurse at one time and doing lots of community education a nd outreach a nd home visiting. And I think when I came here, I, u m, you know, just was excited to work with students. They are learning to navigate h ealth c are for the very first time. And I think that's a very important role that student health services.I think health c are i s confusing to all of us and when you're trying to interact with insurances and,and things like that, that even adds another layer. One of the beauties of Prevea providing services here is that students aren't gonna have to worry is their insurance in network or out of network. They just have the services available, they can see a provider here at student health, they can have immunizations, they can have labs done, and all of that is included in their segregated fee. And I do think that one of the things that student health centers really good job of is trying to give that extra care to adults who are learning to navigate health care for the first time. Explaining those test results, explaining how you make appointments or maybe explaining how referral processes work, because those are all things that students have have, um, you know, had mom or dad take care of in the past. Another really nice thing that, that Prevea is continuing, that we've had in the past is a dispensary on site. So if you see a Prevea provider and they say, oh, you've got strep throat you can leave the clinic with a reasonably priced antibiotic that you pay for, and you aren't going to have to make that secondary step to stop at a pharmacy. And so I think just having a lot of those resources there with some extra education and guidance could be, is really helpful to students,
Rachel:Anything from you, Kristin, on that.
Kristin:Well, Lisa did a great job. She did a really great job So I thinkso I'm an RN background. Okay. And then I, I was an RN for 15 years in care, went back to get my masters as, and become a nurse practitioner nurses. And Lisa will attest to this. Our primary goal is to advocate and educate patients. So you take that background and then add the ability to diagnose and treat and provide medical care. It really becomes this very powerful package and placing that at a university health center just fits. Students are learners, right. That's what they're here for. And so just as t hey're learning and focused in their education, they're also learning, like Lisa said how to be h ealth c are consumers, how to navigate their own health and to advocate for themselves. And so it's just a natural fit t hat we are there to help them do that.
Rachel:Yeah. That makes a lot of sense because when I was a student here, I've been out for a while, so I've been, you know, not just learning, I've been learning how to deal with health care, but also living it out and going through it and stumbling through it. But in college it was not something I thought about very often. Like if I was sick, I, I remember going to student health services a couple times, one time had a sinus infection, you know, like I had never had one before. It just, it was nice that there was a place on campus where that was the goal was to help us learn how to navigate it once we left, like, I did feel very taken care of. I felt they were, I mean, they were so nice and just very, like, they never treated us, like we should have already known something. And I know like, we're all I know you're an adult when you're in college, but it was, it was very, very good experience. So I'm excited and just thankful for Prevea. And just for student health services to continue evolving, to be better for our students, because, you know, especially after this pandemic, it's, you know, people are get a bit nervous when they, when they get a little tickle in their throat now and it's, you know, they need calm people to talk to them on the phone or on an appointment because that's all they know a bout.
Pam:I think there's one issue we do have to, to talk about because I, I think it's received a little press and I wanna make sure we address it because I understand it's been resolved.I know there's some concern about transgendered students not getting the services as quickly as they thought. Please talk about that. And I understand it has been resolved. Please assure some of our students out there how that's been handled and how it's gonna work for them now.
Kristin:Thanks Pam for bringing this up because it is an important thing to get through to the students. So Preva has always been committed to continuing transgender care and working with the university and seeing how important the treatment is to the Stout student body really cemented in us that we needed to get this right. And we in Prevea have not done transgender treatment in this area. We want to be sure that we are educated and doing evidence-based practicing and giving the best care possible. So in working with the university we are thrilled that D r. Alex Hall who was working at the university for many years is going to be continuing to work at student health for the spring semester, caring for current patients, and hopefully getting new patients started in the program while at the same time mentoring us and our staff and making sure that we have all the tools we need to continue this care.
Rachel:Well, that sounds like an excellent plan. And I think that the student body, like you said, will be very appreciative and just happy to know that they're gonna be cared for, which is the whole point.
Kristin:It is the whole point. Absolutely.
Rachel:Excellent. So one thing we wanted to talk about too, and which could potentially affect every student, will they see any major change changes from their end, if they want to receive care for anything, what differences or changes might they experience? And then what are the next steps that they can take?
Kristin:Well, the goal was to still have them not experience any changes right away. So we are, we kept the same phone number. we, uh, still have very similar hours. We still are, have the capability of if a student needs to walk in and inquire about care, they can still do that. The changes that they'll see are maybe after their first initial visit, when we introduce them to ou app, that they can download, which is called My Prevea. They will be able to see in real time their lab results, they could even read our note from their visit. They will be able to message directly with the provider if they want to. All of this is kind of the, the support that comes on the backend by Prevea and the, the other thing that's coming down the line is online scheduling. They can do that through the dedicated website that Prevea has for UW-Stout student health. Right now if you go to the UW-Stout student health website, there's a link that links them directly to the Prevea UW-Stout website. And from there, they can see hours, what our offerings are, how to schedule a n online appointment, which is coming.
Pam:It's also the same location. I think you might, want to mention the location for student health services
Kristin:Absolutely. Yeah. Same building, same,paint on the walls, same everything,a few new faces. But otherwise we have no intention on moving anything. We're not going to fix what isn't broken.
Pam:I think I want to talk a little bit more, generally. Why are healthcare services on campus so important, why is it such a good thing to have on a campus?
Kristin:Well, every population, every person deserves great access to medical care and the student population at Stout deserves that same thing. Stout has a long history of offering their students great healthcare. And I think they're by partnering with Prevea they're making sure that that is going to be the case for years to come. As humans we have a right to health and we just want to make sure that this population has that great accessibility on campus within walking distance, if needed.
Rachel:Lisa, did you have anything to add to that?
Lisa:I agree. I thin kthe convenience factor, we know that many of our students don't always have access to cars. The bus stops right there at student health services. And I think there is that whole specialty area of knowing health issues that are pertinent to who that 18 to 25 year old population that is the bulk of the population. And so, student health service providers are our specialists in knowing about that, that age group and, and knowing about, you know, health issues, which are totally different than what a 50 or 60 year old might encounter. And so just, you know, really focusing on what screenings that age group needs, what, how they might look different than other populations when they're really sick or, you know, those kinds of things. So I think having those practitioners right here on campus, very important, and just the whole connection with the whole campus, working with our partners on campus, disability services, counseling services, athletics,, housing, we've probably the only good thing in my mind that's ever come out of the pandemic is all of the connections that we've made with as h ealth c are providers with all of dining and housing and facilities andall of those kinds of things having student health services right here on campus to be resources and to connect with all of those other important services on c ampus i s really important.
Rachel:I think too, how important having services on campuses and just to know that there are people here that students can talk to, is that if they're not healthy, they're not gonna do well in school, or if they don't have the right plan, like steps to take to get healthier, they won't be able to focus on school very well maintain relationships very well. And
Pam:A lot of times it's the first time they're away from mom and dad. And they may not understand, you know, because usually parents would take care of it when we were younger. Right. If we fell ill.
Rachel:Yeah. What's the, do I get, you know, DayQuil or Sudafed, those w ere the things that I w as, I was like, do I like t he syrup better? Or the pills b etter? I don't, you know, I just had to learn for myself, b ut you know, and it was sad. It was, you know, you, you, you grieved home once you come to college. S o I do remember that feeling very well.
Pam:Rachel really brings up a really good point about staying healthy. So give us some tips. How, and what should students and staff and faculty for that matter be doing to stay healthy?
Kristin:I think of two, two separate avenues. When you, when you ask that question, I think pandemic healthy<laugh> and I think lifestyle healthy.
Pam:Let's go pandemic healthy, then lifestyle healthy.
Kristin:So as far as pandemic healthy, stay home. If you are sick, wear your mask, wash your hands, eat a good balanced meal and get some sleep. Go get tested. If you have symptoms and please, please, please get vaccinated.
Lisa:Give me, I think, as far as lifestyle healthy, you know, making sure that that sleep I think is, is probably one of the number one thing, um, be good to yourself, eat a decent diet, get some exercise, get outside, don't be overwhelmed by studying. And if you are feeling overwhelmed in any way, reach out talk to someone, um, reach out to counseling services, come see student health services is I think, you know that is something that can happen, um, at any time in life,be good to yourself and if you need help, don't be afraid to reach out
Kristin:What Lisa said. Just reminded me of something that I should plug for the student health services. It's something that was offer in the past. And I think the pandemic kind of shut it down for a while, but we do have the light therapy room available. Oh. So that can help with seasonal effective disorder symptoms and just feeling tired, low mood you, can you schedule a 20 minute appointment block to sit in front of that 10,000 lux light?
Rachel:I need that.
Kristin:Come on in because that's available. Um, and I it's, it's important to address your circadian rhythms and it helps boost mood and energy. So something that we thought was an awesome idea that was being done and wanted to make sure that that continued. So that's an option.
Rachel:Great promotion. Thank you for that. Yeah. And if you want to learn more about all the services that the student health services with Prevea offers, they can go to, what is it, do you know the URL by heart
Kristin:w ww.p revea. com/u wstoutstudenthealth Or you can just find the link on your UW-Stout app.
Rachel:Yeah, for sure. For sure. And that will go on the description of the podcast. So if you're listening to this and that link doesn't work or whatever, you can just go to our description of the, of the podcast and you can find it well, is it or anything else you either of, you would like to add before we close out the show today,
Kristin:I'm just thankful tha we've been able to work together so well with Stout and change is scary. And we know this and we are just very aware that we're here to help students and that's our focus
Lisa:I'm excited to just get this message out for students. And so that they're aware that, that there is a new provider at student health, but the services will remainas they have been. And that there are some exciting, new additions to the care that's available.
Rachel:Awesome. Well, thank you both for joining us today. We really appreciate it. We're excited for our listeners to hear all this to everyone. Thank you for listening to Inside Stout a podcast devoted to the stories of our students, faculty, staff, and campus community. We want to thank Kristin and Lisa for visiting with us today and talking to us about Preve healthncare and UW-Stout, subscribe to us on Spotify and Google podcasts. And don't forget to tune in next time when we share even more stories that go Inside Stout.