Campus Health Centers’ Lack of Information Regarding Providers: A Content Analysis of Division-I Campus Health Centers’ Provider Websites

ABSTRACT

Campus health centers are a convenient, and usually affordable, location for college students to obtain health care. Staffed by licensed and trained professionals, these providers can generally offer similar levels of care that providers at off-campus clinics can deliver. Yet, previous research finds students may forgo this convenient, on-campus option partially because of a lack of knowledge regarding the quality of providers at these campus clinics. This study sought to examine where this information deficit may come from by analyzing campus health centers’ online provider information. All Division-I colleges or universities with an on-campus health center, which had information on their websites about their providers (n = 294), had their providers’ online information analyzed (n = 2,127 providers). Results revealed that schools commonly offer professional information (e.g., provider specialties, education), but very little about their providers outside of the medical context (e.g., hobbies) that would allow a prospective student patient to more easily relate. While 181 different kinds of credentials were provided next to providers’ names (e.g., MD, PA-C, FNP-BC), only nine schools offered information to help students understand what these different credentials meant. Most schools had information about their providers within one-click of the homepage. Recommendations for improving online information about campus health center providers are offered.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to my undergraduate research assistants: Katie Schmitz and Allison Manson.

Funding

This project was supported by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Faculty/Student Research Collaboration Grants program.

Notes

¹ For the complete listing of all 181 different credentials and their frequencies in the dataset, please contact the author.

² The n’s exceed 294 because some button names contained multiple pieces of information. For example, a button that said “meet our staff and providers” was coded as both “staff” and “providers.”

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Faculty/Student Research Collaboration Grants program.