Policies

Appointment Scheduling

The Student Health Center is not Walk-in Urgent Care Clinic or Emergency Room and cannot accommodate patients without an appointment, i.e., “walk-ins” or “drop-ins.”

Patients who present to the Student Health Center without an appointment with urgent/emergent health concerns will be referred to UTER or another local hospital emergency room for further evaluation. Therefore, do not delay definitive care of urgent/emergent medical issues by first coming to the Student Health Center.

Those with non-urgent/non-emergent health concerns arriving at the SHC without an appointment will be advised to contact the Telephone Triage Nurse to schedule an appointment.

Please click here for further information about scheduling an appointment at the SHC.

Appointment Cancellations

Patients who have secured an appointment to see a provider at the clinic, but find they cannot keep the appointment, are required to cancel at least one hour in advance of their scheduled appointment time. This window of time will permit us to place another patient in their vacated appointment slot. Appointments may be canceled by one of the following methods:

1. By contacting the Provider’s Nurse at their office number, or
2. By speaking with an Appointment Clerk at 865-974-5080.

Patients who repeatedly do not keep appointments or fail to cancel appointments at least one hour in advance can lose their scheduling privileges and will be required to meet with the Student Health Center Associate Director or designee before scheduling any further appointments at the health center.

Late Arrivals to Appointments

Patients are encouraged to arrive at least 15 minutes before their appointment time to complete any necessary administrative procedures and avoid reducing the amount of time their Provider can dedicate to their care. As we do not desire to impose delays on those who have otherwise arrived on time, the following options will be made available to patients who arrive late for their clinic check-in:

1. You may contact the Telephone Triage Nurse to reschedule your appointment. Should you elect to reschedule, your Provider will be notified so that their office may contact you if needed.
2. You may choose to wait to be seen by your Provider at their next available opportunity. However, since patients on time for their appointments will be given priority, you should anticipate an extended wait.

Division of Student Life Media Policy

Effective 8/15/2016, the University of Tennessee Student Health Center will begin accepting internet payments. Patients may use the following credit cards for online payments: VISA, MasterCard, and Discover card. There is a 2.75% service fee for online payments. UT has a contract with an outside vendor to provide this service. The vendor retains the fee in full.

Providers at the Student Health Center do not prescribe opioid analgesics for the treatment of chronic pain. Patients requiring chronic pain management, including the use of opioid analgesics, will be referred to an appropriate off-site resource for ongoing care and management of their chronic pain.

View the Everything You Need to Know about Student Health brochure.

View the Patient Rights and Responsibilities Policy

View information about the Use of Chaperones and Examinations: What to Expect

FERPA-protected Patient Information and Records

At the Student Health Center (SHC), patient privacy and the release of protected health information are governed by the Family Educational Rights & Privacy
Act (FERPA). You may view a copy of the SHC FERPA Notice of Privacy Practices here. 

Students seen as a patient at the SHC are treated as adults. As such, a student must consent to the release of their health information, except as otherwise exempted in our Notice of Privacy Practices statement. Parents are not granted access to a student’s records without their student’s permission.

However, it is still common for us to communicate student health concerns with a parent. Many of our students request that we discuss their diagnostic and treatment options with a parent before proceeding with their care, and we are happy to do so.

Students may provide consent for the release of this information by use of a signed Release of Information Form or, when present at an office visit, verbally. Information released will be limited to that pertaining to a specific diagnosis or that office visit. Generally, blanket releases of information are not permitted.

Students may request a copy of their own Medical Records at any time by contacting the SHC Medical Records Department.

Emergency Contact Information

It is essential for students to list with the University and the Student Health Center a reliable Emergency Contact who can be contacted in the event of a medical emergency, especially one wherein the student is unable to communicate their wishes and wherein further assistance with immediate medical decision-making is required. This Emergency Contact information is updated by the SHC each semester during a student’s office visit or otherwise as needed by the student.

Power of Attorney for Health Care Affairs (Medical POA)

A Power of Attorney (POA) for Health Care Affairs is not required by the SHC. However, students who have granted a POA for Health Care affairs to a personal representative should provide a copy of the POA to the SHC to upload to their Medical Records, and their chart will be flagged accordingly.

While some parents elect to have a POA for Health Care Affairs for their students, most do not. Many are concerned that having a POA for their student could dissuade the student from seeking needed care for a medical issue of which they may prefer their parent not be aware.

Questions regarding the necessity and use of a POA for your student should be directed to your attorney.

Point-of-sale

The Student Health Center processes all point-of-sale transactions securely using the point-of-sale system from Elavon, which is compliant with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI). Only the last four digits of card numbers are displayed on any printed material or credit card devices, including reports and receipts. Cardholder numbers are not stored electronically. All reports and receipts with cardholder information are secured in a locked cabinet. The department secures all point-of-sale devices by ensuring personnel are present during the hours of operation and that all doors are securely locked to the areas where the devices are kept outside the hours of operations. Each device is assigned to an individual cashier, and the cashier is responsible for ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of the device from other individuals.  All cashiers and Administrative staff receive annual training regarding the importance of security and confidentiality in using student and patient information.  Applicants chosen to work for the Student Health Center must pass a background check performed by Human Resources before an employment offer being extended.  It is noted that the point-of-sale merchant is the leading provider of trust services, including authentication, validation, and payment needed by the PCI data security standards.  Paper records are maintained as per University of Tennessee policy, and no complete documents with credit card numbers are stored at the Student Health Center.  Any document with a credit card number is placed in the secure HIPAA destruction bin for disposal or shredding.

Furthermore, cardholder data is never sent via text, chat, or other end-user messaging technologies.  Credit card payments are never asked for nor accepted by e-mail.  Should a customer e-mail their card information to the Student Health Center, the e-mail will be deleted immediately. The e-mail “deleted items/trash” will be immediately emptied.  The customer will be sent a new e-mail (not a reply to the original message) saying that the e-mail containing credit card information has been deleted and payments cannot be accepted via e-mail.  The customer will be given alternative methods for making payments.

Cardholder data will be restricted to Student Health employees on a need-to-know basis.  Access rights are granted to privileged users to the least privileges necessary to perform job responsibilities.  The privileges will be assigned based on role-based access control (i.e., job classification and function).

Internet Sales

TouchNet U. Commerce, Medicat, and Elavon have been certified as complying with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. Only the last four digits of card numbers are displayed on any printed material or electronic devices, including receipts and reports. All transactions are securely processed using TouchNet, Medicat, and Elavon over a secure sockets layer (SSL) connection (a protocol for encrypting information over the internet). TouchNet is a leading provider of trust services, including authentication, validation, and payment needed by websites to conduct trusted and secure electronic commerce and communications over Internet protocol (IP) networks. Credit card data and paper records shall be stored and destroyed as identified above.

Returns or payment refunds must be approved in writing by the Student Health Center Business Office.  Refund requests must be made in writing and may be mailed to the Student Health Center, Attention: Business Office, 1800 Volunteer Blvd., Knoxville, TN 37996-3102, or e-mailed to dblair4@utk.edu.

Following approval by the Student Health Center Business Office, a memo will be forwarded to the University Bursar’s office.  The Bursar’s office will determine whether the student has outstanding university debts before any refund may be issued. The refund will not include the 2.75% charged by the processing vendor. A refund will be made in one of the three following manners:

• If the student’s bursar account shows a university debt, the approved refund amount will be applied to the university debt.
• The approved amount will be refunded to a student’s bursar account if there is no outstanding university debt.  If the student has a direct deposit linked to their MYUTK account, the refunded money will refund into the linked bank account.
• If the student does not have a direct deposit linked with their bursar account, a check will be prepared and mailed to the address on file.

Clinical Shadowing at the SHC

We understand the need for pre-health program undergraduate students to have clinical exposure opportunities. However, due to patient privacy concerns, clinical shadowing of healthcare providers is not permitted at the SHC.

Student Employment at the SHC

Periodically, certain clinical and/or administrative positions at the SHC may be available for student employment. Students must meet the criteria for employment as outlined in the job description, as well as maintain any required certifications or licensing required for the position. Any currently open student positions for students will be advertised on Handshake.

Professional Clinical Affiliation Agreements

As an educational institution, we permit professional students in the following professional fields to have clinical rotations arranged by their respective programs through SHC clinical areas:

• College of Nursing, Nurse Practitioner Program students
• College of Pharmacy students (SHC Pharmacy only)
• Graduate Medical Education: Medical Resident Physicians and Fellows
• Physical Therapy, Physical Therapy Assistant, and Athletic Trainer students

Professional program representatives may contact the SHC Director (drgregg@utk.edu) to discuss the availability of clinical rotations and requirements for clinical affiliation agreements.

Cost free language assistance is available for use by patients with limited English proficiency. Cost free interpretation services are available for patients who are deaf or hard of hearing. When scheduling your appointment by phone and when presenting to the Student Health Center in person, please inform our staff if these services are needed.