Frequently Asked Questions

UHS serves UMass Amherst students, faculty and staff, along with their spouses, domestic partners and dependents.

UMass students can use UHS regardless of insurance.

Faculty, staff and family members of UMass community members with HMO insurance plans should designate a UHS primary care provider before seeking urgent care or primary care at UHS.

Ill or injured visitors can be seen at UHS on a fee-for-service basis.

All full-time college students in Massachusetts are required to have health insurance, and all services at UHS are billed to insurance. Students taking 5+ credits and/or who have the SHBP do not pay copays or coinsurance for provider visits at UHS! These are covered by your student fees.

For students with the SHBP, most services at UHS are covered at no additional cost to you. Exceptions include pharmacy copays and ultrasounds.

For students with other insurance, whether and how much you will pay out of pocket depends on your insurance plan, the service(s) you utilize, and whether UHS is considered in-network or out-of-network with your plan. If UHS is out-of-network, you may be charged for health care you receive at UHS until your family meets their annual deductible.

For more details, call the customer service number on the back of your insurance card, or call UHS Patient Services: (413) 577-5192.

Yes. Patients who need same-day urgent care without an appointment can join the virtual waiting room. You will receive a text message when it’s almost your turn to be seen.

Patients who have an urgent need that cannot wait can come directly to UHS without joining the virtual waiting room. When you arrive, tell the front desk staff that you need to speak with a triage nurse. (In a life-threatening emergency, call 911. UHS does not have an emergency room.)

Appointments are not necessary to use the UHS Pharmacy or to meet with Patient Services staff.

After hours, if you want to speak with a nurse about a health question, or if you need health advice, please call (413) 577-5000 to reach our clinical answering service. A UHS provider is on-call at all times. In an emergency, call 911.

UMass Amherst follows the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MA DPH) guidance for when an individual tests positive or exposed to COVID-19. Isolation (positive test) and exposure precuations are important steps to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

• If you test positive for COVID-19 (isolate) please review the following guidance.
• If you were exposed to someone with COVID-19, please review the following guidance.

If you have any questions, or to report your positive test results for additional public health guidance, please email @email or call (413) 577-8888 (messages will be returned Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.).

Yes. All required immunizations are available at UHS by appointment. Call (413) 577-5101 to schedule.

Current patients can request their medical records on the UMass Patient Portal. Former patients and parents of pediatric patients must request medical records in writing. Visit our Medical Records web page for detailed instructions.

Login to the UMass Patient Portal and complete the Communication Permission Form to let us know who we are allowed to share your health information with. If you need to make changes to this form, call the Nurse Triage Line: (413) 577-5229. A nurse will delete your existing form and you will be able to complete a new form on the portal.

If you receive healthcare services at UHS, your insurance provider may send an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) or Summary of Payment (SOP) to the insured person’s address. The EOB may list the date of the visit, the cost of the visit, the health care provider or visit location, and the type of service or visit.

If you have the Student Health Benefit Plan (SHBP), services are 100% covered, and no EOB will be sent.

If you are covered under a family member’s Massachusetts-based health insurance plan, the PATCH Act allows you to choose how and where your health insurance company sends your EOB. Here’s how:

1. Find your policy number located on your health insurance card.
2. Call the customer service number on your health insurance card and request that the EOB be sent to a different address or that you want to receive the form online. You can request that the EOB not be sent at all if you have no out of pocket costs.
3. Fill out a request form in writing or online if required by your health insurance plan.

If you are covered by a family member’s non-Massachusetts-based health insurance plan, an EOB may be sent to your family member. To prevent this from happening, you have 2 options:

• You may be able to have billing information sent directly to you instead of to your family member. To find out if this is possible, you MUST call your insurance company. This is NOT automatic and won’t happen unless you call your insurance company and ask for it.
• You can opt to pay your bill entirely out of pocket at the time of your visit. If you do this, your insurance provider would not be involved, and no documents would be sent to your family member.

Any money owed for visits will be billed to the patient at the address we have on file in Medicat. See next FAQ for instructions on updating your address in Medicat.

If your health insurance company cannot send an EOB to you instead of your family member, and you cannot afford to pay out of pocket, speak with your UHS healthcare provider about other options.

The UMass Patient Portal pulls information from SPIRE, so if your information on the portal needs to be corrected, you can update your SPIRE information by following these steps. (Non-UMass-affiliated patients who do not have SPIRE accounts must contact UHS Patient Services at 413-577-5192 to correct their information.)

1. Login to spire.umass.edu
2. Click Profile tile, then expand the My Personal Information menu.
   1. To update your address, click “Addresses.” The address listed in your medical record is the one listed under “Mailing Address” in SPIRE.
   2. To update your phone number, click “Email & Phone.” The number designated as “Preferred” is the one that will appear in your medical record.
   3. To update your name, click "Names." On this page, you can add or edit your Preferred/Chosen Name, which will appear in your medical record in parentheses next to your legal name.

Any updates you make in SPIRE may take up to 24 hours to appear in the UMass Patient Portal.