Frequently Asked Questions

All currently registered MSU students and MSU law students, as well as their spouse/partner may use Campus Health Services. Select services are available to others.

Our costs are similar to those you would find at most doctors’ offices. However, if you are a currently enrolled MSU student*, there is no charge for your first three medical office visits of each academic year. (*There are charges for most Lifelong Ed students). The cost to you for other services will depend on whether your insurance pays for services. We will bill patients for charges not covered by insurance.

Campus Health Services uses an appointment system. Please call or schedule online. Patients calling before noon will usually get a same-day appointment. If the schedule is full for the day and the need for care is urgent, a nurse may triage the patient and refer them elsewhere for care.

Yes. Campus Health Services is staffed with MD (allopathic) and DO (osteopathic) physicians as well as certified Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants. The physicians, CRNPs and PA-Cs can diagnose, treat, and prescribe. Allergy shots are most often administered by a registered nurse under the supervision of a physician.

Not necessarily. The most common concern we hear is that "another doctor" was better because they prescribed antibiotics. However, it is easier to prescribe antibiotics than it is to determine whether or not they are needed and to then explain to the patient why antibiotics would not be effective. It is also possible that following the initial visit your infection worsened and new symptoms led to a diagnosis of a bacterial infection.

We ask because many people at MSU are of child-bearing age, and pregnancy could impact the choice of diagnostics or the mode of treatment.

Yes. Bring the order from your health care provider and your health insurance card with you. The laboratory is located in the basement, and no appointment is needed for lab services.

Yes. Call our Physical Therapy department at 517-353-5008 to schedule an appointment.

As you come in contact with different staff members, they are also in contact with many different patients. By repeating your name and other identifiers, such as your birth date, the staff member is ensuring that they have the right information for the right patient. This is a safety measure that more and more doctor’s offices and hospitals are following.

No, unless you want them to. In compliance with state and federal laws, we cannot release personal health information without your written consent. If you wish to provide consent, visit the Medical Records office, room 146 Olin.

Yes. All MSU students may be seen at Campus Health Services regardless of their insurance status.

Olin Health Center is located at 463 East Circle Drive.

It is the position of Campus Health Services that faculty should not require notes from medical professionals in order to excuse a student from a short-term absence from class or for missing an exam due to illness. Requiring notes results in students making appointments for short-term and self-limited illnesses ONLY for the purpose of getting a note. This takes up valuable resources and time that could be spent seeing students that truly need medical care. Instead, classroom policies should be structured to allow for routine short-term absences due to self-reported illnesses, including contagious illnesses, which are extremely common for university students and usually do not require medical care.

Illnesses of longer duration that require medical care and result in multiple days of missed classes may be handled differently. In these cases a medical provider may give a letter for a student. Students must see one of our health-care providers while they are ill, not after they have missed a few classes, recovered, and have returned to class.

Students who are seen at Campus Health Services can request an Appointment Verification for any visit, but we discourage professors from requiring this for the reasons given above. Campus Health Services will not issue verification notes or letters without examining the student.

Allergy injections can be arranged when the allergens and written orders are supplied by the student’s personal physician/allergist. All orders must be updated yearly. New allergy patients can review the requirements by visiting the Allergy & Immunization page for more information.

Sexually Transmitted Infection testing is available by appointment in the Primary Care Clinic and Gynecology. For an appointment, call 517-353-4660.

Our laboratory functions in compliance with the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA) and is accredited by The Joint Commission.

Accreditation means a laboratory has been assessed by a third-party auditor and has been determined to operate according to the standards for medical laboratories. It means that the quality and competence of the laboratory’s ability is monitored. This third-party assessment gives confidence that the laboratory is competent to produce reliable results.

The laboratory will assist you at any time during regular operating hours. There are some tests that can only be done between certain hours because of processing requirements. Your provider should let you know if you have any of these tests ordered and when to come to the lab.

Many tests can be run at Campus Health Services. We bill many insurance companies. If we do not participate with your insurance or if specialty tests are ordered, they are sent out to Sparrow Regional Laboratories. Therefore, you may receive a bill from Sparrow Regional Laboratory.

Many tests can be run at Campus Health Services. We bill many insurance companies. If we do not participate with your insurance or if specialty tests are ordered, they are sent out to Sparrow Regional Laboratories. Therefore, you may receive a bill from Sparrow Regional Laboratory.

Some tests require you to fast in advance. Your health care provider should advise you if this is necessary.

Having blood drawn is a minimally invasive procedure that only takes a few minutes. Any pain experienced is brief and minimal for most people. Being well-hydrated can make a venipuncture less traumatic.

Fasting means nothing to eat or drink other than water for 10-12 hours. For the duration of your fast you may not eat any food, candy, mints, or gum. You should not smoke cigarettes or consume any liquid other than water. You may brush your teeth and take your medications. Common tests that require fasting include glucose levels, lipid profiles, and cholesterol screens.

Let the phlebotomist know of your fear before beginning so they can prepare you. We can let you lie back and relax in our reclining chair so that you are more comfortable. You can also bring a friend or listen to music while being drawn.

Questions about specific tests and your personal need for them should be brought up with your provider. Many tests are helpful to ensure you are diagnosed and treated correctly.

Providers and doctors only order lab tests they need to make a diagnosis or other decision about ongoing care to keep you healthy. You have the right to refuse any test: however, as an informed patient, you need to realize that not having those test results may impact your provider’s ability to take care of you.

• Screening: identifies the risk of disease or medical condition in patients who present no symptoms. This allows for early diagnosis to better treat or to prevent disease from occurring, good examples are Pap tests and cholesterol levels.

• Diagnosis: to help to identify or exclude the presence of a condition or an illness in patients who have symptoms, such as a pregnancy test or a blood count for anemia. Sometimes the test will tell the practitioner what stage the disease is in.

• Management: to determine the prognosis or course of the disease. A test can be used to monitor the progression of the disease and to determine remission or recurrence and to keep or alter the patient’s current treatment.

By definition, a laboratory test is a medical procedure that involves testing a sample of blood, urine or other substance from the body.

Your doctor can help you understand the tests that they have ordered and why they need them. For further questions, the web site Lab Tests Online has been designed to help you to better understand the many clinical lab tests that are part of routine care as well as diagnosis and treatment of a broad range of conditions and diseases.

When you come into the lab, we will ask you for your student number or your name. Generally, if you saw a Campus Health Services provider, your test orders should be in our computer system. If you saw one of the psychiatrists or university physicians, you may need to give us the written request. If you have an order from another provider or a written request, we will need to enter this into the computer system. Please have a seat and we will do our best to take care of your needs as soon as possible.

If you have a specimen to drop off that you collected outside of the laboratory, we will still need to verify your name and student number to make sure that everything is correct. We will help you as soon as possible and appreciate your patience.

There are no limitations to your activity after you have blood drawn. You should be able to resume normal activity and remove the bandage within five minutes after collection.

Generally, most people have no problems and can return to normal activity immediately.

If you have had a hard time having your blood drawn, you may notice some bruising around the site where blood was drawn. You can use ice if you are experiencing discomfort.

The Campus Health Services laboratory can collect drug screens for court orders and pre-employment purposes. You need to provide the laboratory with the court documents or pre-employment letter stating the type of drugs you need to be tested for and contact information for result reporting. Be prepared to pay in advance for court-ordered drug screens. Costs may vary from $30 to $50. Employers will be billed for pre-employment screens with proper billing information.

Health insurance is required for international, medical, and veterinary students. For other students, it isn’t required, but it is highly recommended

Campus Health Services participates with the Aetna MSU Student Insurance plan, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan, BCN, BC Complete, Cofinity, McLaren, McLaren Medicaid, Aetna PPO and Priority Health, and some specific Medicaid plans. We would be considered an out-of-network provider for most other medical plans. We can bill your out-of-network insurance company, and would then bill you for the balance. It is your responsibility to find out what coverage your insurance plan will cover for out of network services.

Yes, the MSU sponsored Student Health Plan through Aetna is a comprehensive plan that provides very good coverage for MSU students.

MyMSUHealth is growing with more features becoming available on an ongoing basis. It may take a few days for information to be entered following a clinic visit. MyMSUHealth will allow you to view items such as:

• Personal Information (name, date of birth, sex, address, phone number, etc. that we have on file)

• Insurance, Preferred Pharmacies and other Contacts

• Health Conditions, Medications, Allergies, and Directives

• Vitals, care summaries, past and future scheduled appointments

• Current and past bills, plus ability to pay bills through MyMSUHealth

• Lab and other test results

• Request an appointment

• Cancel an appointment

• Request a medication renewal

• Ask for advice from your provider

• Update personal information

• Make a change to your MyMSUHealth account