Join us for a Q and A on TeleHealth: Tuesday March 17 at 3 PM
with Dr. Sarah Van Orman, Chief Health Officer; and Dr. Broderick Leaks, Director of Counseling and Mental Health Services
As the situation around COVID-19 continues to impact our student community, we want to assure you that USC Student Health will continue to provide care—even expanding access through TeleHealth—during this time.
USC Student Health will remain in operation; we will be part of the health care response community, and in alignment with other Keck Medicine of USC care centers, we are launching TeleHealth as a measure of providing care while also following public health guidance on social distancing.
Screening and Care for Respiratory Symptoms
We are readying our teams to route an influx of patient diagnoses of respiratory symptoms (cough, sore throat, fever, runny nose, sneezing); both through TeleHealth (currently available as phone-based, and transitioning to Zoom-based), as well as on-site screening where medically indicated.
Patients should follow the procedures below:
- FIRST—Make a Telehealth or Phone visit appointment* to discuss your respiratory symptoms with a clinician (through the patient portal, My Student Health Record, MySHR (https://usc.edu/myshr); or call the 24/7 to speak with an Advice Nurse 213-740-9355 (WELL)
- No in-person respiratory visits will be permitted without first completing a phone/TeleHealth consultation.
- Patients who are recommended for testing for COVID-19 should be prepared to self-isolate until the results of the tests are confirmed(estimated at 48-72 hours)
Urgent medical care (“sick/injury” visits) will continue to be provided for USC students. Telehealth will be the appropriate route and best option for many visits; in-person visits will be arranged when medically indicated for students currently on and near campus. Routine appointments (“well” visits) may be rescheduled for a later time. Immunization clinics for travel are temporarily cancelled.
Counseling and Mental Health Services
Students will continue to have access to counselors, even as academic programs have moved online:
- for drop-in (“Let’s Talk…On Zoom! — an informal community session facilitated by a counselor;
- for individual appointments to talk to counselors “one-on-one”; available both through TeleHealth* and when needed, in-person
- for Group Counseling via TeleHealth* (time details to be announced on the studenthealth.usc.edu website)
Make an appointment through MySHR (https://usc.edu/myshr); or call 213-740-9355 (WELL).
For students who need access to long-term counseling: through August 18, you do not need a referral to access long-term counseling care. This regular requirement is temporarily suspended by the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP, provided through Aetna) until August 18.
Web-based Long-term Counseling with Inpathy
Inpathy, a web-based individual counseling service, is available as a long-term counseling option for students on SHIP/Aetna. Inpathy is available to residents of the following states: CA, CO, DE, PA, NJ, NY, VA, MO.
Additional Info
Insurance Coverage: Students on SHIP who are 50 miles or more outside of Los Angeles are not required to have a referral to seek services.
*Due to state licensing requirements, access to clinical care (medical, individual counseling or formal group therapy) is limited to patients currently in California. “Let’s Talk” discussions are open to all USC students regardless of their current location.
