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Client Story

Sarah Lawrence College

Keeping Care Integrated While Upgrading Counseling

Sarah Lawrence College runs a fully integrated Health & Wellness Center, where counseling and medical services share a building, front office, phone number, and student portal. An early adopter of integrated care and a long-time Medicat client with notably high utilization, the college wanted its counseling team to work more efficiently and see student needs more clearly. Moving counseling to MedicatOne gave staff a system purpose-built for mental health—without disrupting the seamless experience students rely on.

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  • School
    Sarah Lawrence College
  • Number of Students
    1,400
  • MedicatOne Implementation
    March 2025
  • Location
    Bronxville, NY

The Problem

Sarah Lawrence had long benefited from a fully integrated model: counseling and medical providers collaborated closely on student care, and their use of Medicat’s EHR reflected that philosophy. However, the counseling clinic was operating on a legacy system that wasn’t purpose-built for a counseling center. 

With a campus that leans on the Health & Wellness Center as a go-to problem solver, and a utilization rate between 30 and 40%, the team needed better tools for reporting, risk tracking, and both inter-clinic and student communication. Transitioning also felt like a risk: as a highly integrated center, any change to the counseling system raised the question of whether tight integration with medical would remain possible. 

Sarah Lawrence College Health Center

The Solution

Sarah Lawrence moved its counseling operations to MedicatOne, a system built specifically for the workflows of a counseling center. The team took a measured and phased approach, going live on core clinical workflows first and unlocking additional capabilities as staff grew more comfortable with the system. And throughout the upgrade process, Medicat’s implementation support helped the team feel confident.

I realized I didn’t need to be so worried about this change. The transition felt more seamless than I anticipated.” ~ Cary Bosak, AVP of Health, Counseling and Wellness at Sarah Lawrence

Purpose-built features reshaped daily operations:

  • Notes of concern allowed providers to privately pass clinically relevant information to one another, so a colleague is aware of any pressing issues a student may be facing.
  • The risk dashboard gives administrators and clinicians a clear, real-time view of caseloads and student risk.
  • The outreach module streamlined scheduling, reminder blasts, and group waitlists — a major shift for a team that runs many outreach events each semester.
  • CCMH integration made standardized assessment data easy to pull and review.
  • A web-based platform let hybrid staff and administrators log in from anywhere—populating same-day appointments or checking on the clinic from across campus.
  • Self-scheduling in the shared student portal lets students book appointments at any time of day, fitting the busy schedules and unique needs of college students.

The Result

MedicatOne’s impact has been felt most in how the counseling team communicates, operates, and manages information as a group.

Advice For Peers:

Bosak’s guidance for directors weighing a move from legacy to MedicatOne: it’s less daunting than it seems. Templates and workflows largely carried over, and there’s no need to master every feature on day one. “Start with what you need,” then unlock capabilities as your team is ready.

  • Stronger team communication and handoffs: Notes of concern and the risk dashboard have improved how clinicians coordinate care.

  • Operational control: Staff can quickly adjust visit types, color-code appointments and blocks on the calendar, and see cancelled appointments, making it far easier to get an idea of what the week will look like at-a-glance.

  • Reporting made easy: Directors can now pull quick snapshots of trending appointment types, utilization rates, and diagnosis trends that were previously difficult to surface.

  • Student Experience: Students continue to access counseling and medical care through a single integrated, easy-to-use portal. Around-the-clock self-scheduling gives the community a sense of access even outside business hours (feedback the team has heard directly from students).