The Student Health Center will implement a new online appointment scheduling method next semester.”We’re hoping by the fall to have the electronic clinic management system, which will allow students to schedule appointments online,” said Kathy Saichuk, Wellness Education coordinator at the Student Health Center. The current system only allows appointments to be scheduled by phone during health center hours. The new system will enable students to schedule appointments online at any time, not just during health center hours, Saichuk said.Electronic schedulers are advanced systems beginning to be used in many hospitals, Saichuk said. “We’ve been trying to do this for several years,” Saichuk said. “It’s an expensive endeavor to get started.”The health center must choose the best system for all three branches — Medical Care, Mental Health and Wellness Education.”We are working with the IT department to see if this system can be integrated with what’s already present at LSU,” Saichuk said. “It would be a great benefit to our students.”The center will be available during the summer to students taking summer classes and students returning in the fall semester. Students currently taking classes enrolled for the fall semester may still take advantage of the center’s discounted pharmacy and services for an $85 prepaid fee or $25 per visit, even if they are not registered for summer classes, Saichuk said. The summer fee is included in students’ fee bills if they are full-time summer students taking a minimum of six hours, Saichuk said. Students pay a $144 prepaid fee as part of their tuition for the fall and spring semesters. The health center also allows students leaving Baton Rouge for the summer to pick up prescription refills before the end of the semester. The center won’t allow prescription refills that last the entire summer because of legal issues, Saichuk said. “Graduating seniors taking prescriptions written out in a particular month can fill up the remaining refills at the health center at our reduced costs,” Saichuk said. Students may want to get prescriptions refilled soon because the center usually gets busier around exams, Saichuk said. Graduating seniors particularly try to schedule appointments and take care of health issues before graduation, Saichuk said. The center will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. during the summer. – – – -Contact Sabrina Trahan at [email protected]