What Today’s Students Expect from Campus Health Services
Nearly 9 in 10 patients (89%) say it’s important to schedule appointments anytime using digital tools, and today’s students bring that expectation straight to campus. For campus leaders, this is more than a convenience trend. It’s now a core part of how students judge whether campus health services are accessible, trustworthy, and worth using.
Below are the top features and experiences today’s students expect from college health services. Plus, learn how clinics can deliver them without adding additional work.
1) Text reminders and mobile-friendly communication
Students live on their phones. If your campus health center still relies heavily on calls and voicemails, students may delay care or no-show, simply because the process feels cumbersome.
Text reminders help in two big ways:
- First, they reduce missed appointments by meeting students where they already are.
- Second, they lower the burden on your front desk staff because fewer students call in “just to confirm” or to cancel. This allows your staff to focus on the more important tasks at hand.
What this can look like in a higher-ed setting:
- Appointment reminders by text with clear instructions on how to confirm or cancel, i.e., reply with “1” to confirm or “2” to cancel
- Pre-visit forms available for health history, consent forms, and contact preferences
- Targeted outreach for time-sensitive needs (e.g., vaccine deadlines, lab follow-ups, referrals)
For college health clinics, text reminders can help drive attendance for immunization appointments, STI testing, follow-up visits, and vaccine clinic announcements.
2) Self-scheduling that actually works (and lives in a modern patient portal)
Students expect to book services the same way they book everything else: fast, online, and without waiting on hold. A modern patient portal is the centerpiece of that experience—especially when self-scheduling is baked in.
This is where many portals fall short: they technically exist, but they’re clunky, hard to find, or force students back into phone tag. When self-scheduling is easy and intuitive, it supports both access and clinic efficiency.
Here are a few high-impact self-scheduling features students value:
- Real-time booking (not “request an appointment and wait”)
- Clear visit types (e.g., “UTI symptoms,” “medication follow-up,” “same-day counseling consult”)
- Smart guardrails that route students to the right level of care (urgent vs. routine)
Operationally, self-scheduling can reduce inbound calls, shorten scheduling time, and make it easier to fill cancellations. That means campus health services can increase throughput without compromising the student experience.
3) “Less clicking, more caring”: automation that gives time back to staff
Let’s be honest — nobody wants to feel overlooked during their appointments. And college students absolutely notice when providers are rushed, distracted by screens, or spend half of the appointment furiously typing.
That’s why clinic leaders should care about what happens behind the scenes: technology that reduces manual work, so clinicians can be fully present.
Two examples that resonate with student priorities:
1. ICM Agent: fewer manual steps for immunization compliance
Immunization compliance is one of the most manual responsibilities for college health teams. When systems automate verification, flag noncompliance, and streamline follow-up, staff spend less time reviewing documents and more time helping students navigate next steps.
For schools juggling thousands of records, the ICM Agent offers the kind of automation that can be the difference between “deadline chaos” and a calm, trackable process.
2. Note Agent: More Face Time, Less Documentation Time
Students want to feel heard. Ambient listening tools can reduce documentation burden, helping providers maintain eye contact and build stronger rapport. In fact, research suggests eye contact is a big deal: 95.8% of patients reported feeling comfortable when clinicians used eye contact to strengthen the relationship.
Even small reductions in workflow friction matter. Note Agent’s clean interface and fewer clicks support faster charting and smoother appointments, which improves the student experience in a way they can actually feel.
–> Learn more about Note Agent
4) A seamless experience across medical, counseling, and wellness
A seamless experience is essential for providing a positive health experience to students on your campus. When campus services feel fragmented—different portals, separate forms, repeated intake questions—students can get confused and are more likely to disengage.
This is where integrated workflows can quietly improve care:
- Shared scheduling (so students land in the right place the first time)
- Coordinated referrals between medical, counseling, and wellness services
- Consistent communication and expectations across departments
For VPSAs and student affairs leaders, this is also a retention and student success issue. When access is simple, and care is coordinated, students get help earlier—before challenges escalate into academic disruption.
5) Digital convenience must come with trust and privacy
Even with online scheduling and messaging, students (and their parents) want reassurance that their information stays protected.
Any modern patient portal or messaging tool should be backed by clear privacy standards and role-based access. Additionally, it’s important to comply with healthcare and higher-ed requirements like HIPAA and FERPA.
A practical way to build trust is to communicate the “why” behind your workflows:
- Why certain visit types require screening questions
- Why are some appointment slots limited
- How privacy is protected across medical and counseling records
When students understand the process, they’re more likely to use it.
How to meet these expectations without burning out your team
You don’t have to rebuild everything at once. Many campuses see quick wins by prioritizing improvements that reduce friction for both students and staff:
- Turn on (or optimize) automated reminders for high no-show visit types
- Make self-scheduling the default for common appointment types
- Identify your biggest “click drains” and automate or simplify them (immunization review, repetitive documentation, intake routing)
P.S. As a Medicat customer, our support team can help with this!
Key Takeaways
Today’s students expect campus health services to feel as easy as the apps they use every day: text reminders, self-scheduling, and a modern patient portal are now baseline.
The most impactful upgrades also reduce staff workload. Moreover, through tools like Medicat’s ICM Agent and Note Agent, providers can spend more time connecting with students.
If you’re planning next steps, start with the friction points that affect both student access and staff time, then build toward a more seamless and trusted digital experience.
