Does Needs Assessment Guided Education Improve Students' Knowledge on Portal Utilization for Assessing Health Care and Health Promotion? A Quality Improvement Project

Background: Digital portals are becoming more and more important in clinical and educational contexts for evaluating healthcare and encouraging health. The effectiveness with which college students can use these portals, however, frequently varies, which may limit their ability to evaluate healthcare information and take part in health promotion initiatives. Through the customization of learning experiences to each student's unique requirements and knowledge gaps, a needs assessment-guided education program could close this gap. Objective: The purpose of this quality improvement project is to assess university students' current knowledge and abilities about the use of the student health portals for healthcare assessment and promotion. Methods: A quality improvement (QI) initiative was implemented at a large public university at South Florida campus and Student Health Clinic. A pre-intervention needs assessment was conducted to identify students’ baseline knowledge and confidence in using the student health portals by filling out a 14-question survey. Based on the results, an educational flyer was developed, focusing on key aspects such as student health portal link, how to make an appointment, and portal navigation. Following the intervention, a baseline data comparison from portal utilization usage from Fall 2023 and Fall 2024 was conducted. Results: The number of students using the student portal increased by 53 between October 24, 2024, and November 21, 2024, compared to the baseline set in Fall 2023, when 82 students used the site. This year, 135 students utilized the portal. The success of the intervention is demonstrated by this 64.63% rise. Conclusion: As demonstrated by the 64.63% increase in usage from Fall 2023 to Fall 2024, the intervention was successful in raising student engagement with the portal. According to this increase in portal usage, student participation was positively impacted by the efforts undertaken during this time.