Being sick at Ohio University carries more than just the promise of a runny nose and a nasty cough. Any student who has visited Hudson Health Center recently can attest to the shoddy condition of OU's primary clinic. Students seeking treatment are subjected to long waits and the facility itself is grossly understaffed. Fortunately, a new plan is being proposed that could change all that ' if the right actions are taken.
The Board of Trustees is will consider a proposal next week that would allow Hudson to function more efficiently by housing the clinic under the same roof as University Medical Associates, a nonprofit medical practice composed of physicians in the College of Osteopathic Medicine. The move to build a new facility and partner the two groups would allow them to collaborate and share resources. In addition, the move would give Hudson access to UMA's third-party biller, Adena Health. This is great ' but third-party billing is something the university should consider whether this proposed building becomes a reality or not.
It is good to see the university addressing the issues that currently trouble Hudson, but financial questions linger. Because the new facilities will not receive state funding, one might wonder where the dollars will come from in order to undertake this new project. Multiple solutions have been proposed, including a compulsory building and construction fee for students. But a compulsory fee is definitely not the right way to go to fund a new building.
Rather than place a further burden on students, a better solution would be to tap into the unused funds that lie in the use of a third-party biller. Doing so could save the university, and therefore students, $400,000 to $700,000. The course of action that should be taken seems very clear: By billing students' private insurance companies for things like routine checkups, OU's health services could avoid paying for minor procedures. This would allow more money to be used for the improvement of Hudson and maybe even the eventual construction of a new health center.
Provided that the university uses all the options at its disposal to keep expenses off the backs of students, a new building has great potential to improve the quality of health care for all OU students. It is clear that the health services at OU are in need of attention. Regardless of what the overall plan might be, third-party billing is a step in the right direction.
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Hudson should take third-party insurance
