Locating Health Care Personnel and Clinical Services in Schools Saves Money and Improves Student Health

School nurses provide valuable medical care to students, thereby  improving the students’ health and school attendance, while increasing parent and teacher productivity and reducing medical costs.^1-9  Services provided by school nurses range from general care (e.g., wound care and body temperature monitoring), to treating chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes and asthma) and providing preventive care (e.g., administering vaccinations and sexually transmitted disease [STD] and pregnancy prevention counseling).^10-13

• A case study of the Massachusetts Essential School Health Service (ESHS) Program delivered by full-time registered nurses documented that for every dollar invested in the program, society gained $2.20 from reduced medical costs and increased parent and teacher productivity.¹¹ A total of 477,163 students in 933 Massachusetts schools received ESHS during the 2009–10 school year from a full-time school nurse.¹¹
• On the basis of the most recent data (2007), only 45% of U.S. public schools have a full-time on-site nurse; 30% have a part-time nurse, and 25% have no school nurse.¹⁴

School-based health centers (SBHCs), like school nurses, provide valuable medical care to students by improving their health and school attendance. SBHCs also increase parent and teacher productivity and reduce medical costs.¹⁵ SBHC services are more comprehensive than those typically provided by a school nurse and often include physical and mental health assessments; vision, hearing, and other screening services; vaccinations; STD screening and treatment; pregnancy testing, and contraceptive counseling and services.¹⁵

• A Community Guide systematic economic review concluded the following:
  • From a health care payers’ perspective, particularly Medicaid, SBHCs led to a net savings of $30–$969 per visit.¹⁶
  • For every dollar invested in SBHCs, society gained $1.38–$3.05 through reduced medical costs, increased parent and teacher productivity, and costs averted (e.g., travel costs and ambulance use).¹⁶
  • Based on the most current data available (2013-2014 school year), only 2.4% of the nation’s public schools have SBHCs. ^17-18

CDC supports local and state education agencies in promoting student access to health services

CDC funds local and state education agencies to help prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and STDs among adolescents and increasing academic success. One of CDC’s key programmatic strategies is to improve schools’ capacity for increasing adolescents’ access to key preventive sexual health services, either by providing on-site services or making referrals to adolescent-friendly community-based health service providers. CDC provides program guidance regarding how to increase student access to school health services. More information is available at Health Services for Teens.