Review ArticleMethods to Reduce Outpatient Non-attendance
Section snippets
Search Methods and Selection Criteria
A professional medical librarian and a medical library technician assisted a physician and a nurse practitioner in performing PubMed searches to identify the English language articles from November 1999 to November 2009 acknowledging changing communication technology usage compared with earlier periods. The physician and a nurse practitioner reviewed the search results and abstracts and obtained full-text copies of potentially relevant articles for further examination. The authors also reviewed
Search Results
Of the 106 articles that felt to warrant more in-depth review, 42 studies met inclusion criteria to be used in the computation of a weighted average effect (Figure 1). Five of these studies had multiple intervention arms against a control group, placing them in more than 1 analysis category,6., 7., 8., 9., 10. while another study reported 2 separate datasets,11 yielding a total of 49 investigations suitable for computing weighted average effects: telephone (25), text/SMS (12), mail (7) and open
Comparison of Interventions
The majority of telephone intervention studies demonstrated significant reductions in non-attendance. However, 1 study7 showed no difference between telephone, postcard and no-reminder groups—explained in part by the fact that study subjects were young (mean age, 29 years) and from a low-income, inner-city clinic—2 qualities characteristic of chronic nonattenders.2 Satiani et al19 found a significantly higher no-show rate in a group contacted by automated telephone reminders (8.9%) compared
CONCLUSION
All interventions seemed to improve attendance modestly but at varying cost. Aggregate analysis of the various reminder systems for traditionally scheduled patients showed the greatest reduction in no-shows with telephone reminders, followed by text messaging/SMS and mail remainders. Cost analyses suggest text messaging to be most cost-effective, but its applicability may be limited by technology penetration for any particular population. Open-access scheduling seems to be beneficial,
REFERENCES (57)
- et al.
Failed appointments in an orthodontic clinic
Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop
(2005) - et al.
No-show rates in the vascular laboratory: analysis and possible solutions
J Vasc Interv Radiol
(2009) - et al.
Non-compliance with appointments amongst patients attending an Allergology Clinic, after implementation of an improvement plan
Allergol Immunopathol (Madr)
(2007) - et al.
What is the best way to schedule patient follow-up appointments?
Jt Comm J Qual Saf
(2003) - et al.
Improving efficiency and access to mental health care: combining integrated care and advanced access
Gen Hosp Psychiatry
(2008) - et al.
Uses and benefits of SMS in healthcare delivery
(2011) - et al.
Patient, hospital, and general practitioner characteristics associated with non-attendance: a cohort study
Br J Gen Pract
(2002) - et al.
Waiting time, doctor shopping, and nonattendance at specialist outpatient clinics: case-control study of 6495 individuals in Hong Kong
Med Care
(2003) - et al.
Non-attendance in general practice: a systematic review and its implications for access to primary health care
Fam Pract
(2003) - et al.
Continuous dependent variables
Effectiveness of reminder systems on appointment adherence rates
J Health Care Poor Underserved
The use of text messaging to improve attendance in primary care: a randomized controlled trial
Fam Pract
Comparison of an SMS text messaging and phone reminder to improve attendance at a health promotion center: a randomized controlled trial
J Zhejiang Univ Sci B
Impact of appointment reminders on vaccination coverage at an urban clinic
Pediatrics
The effect of care coordination on pediatric dental patient attendance
J Dent Child
Effectiveness of telephone reminders in improving rate of appointments kept at an outpatient clinic: a randomized controlled trial
J Am Board Fam Pract
Preclinic appointment telephone contact: an effective intervention for colposcopy clinic nonattendance
J Low Genit Tract Dis
The effect of telephone reminders on attendance in respiratory outpatient clinics
J Health Serv Res Policy
Telephone reminders improve adolescent clinic attendance: a randomized controlled trial
J Paediatr Child Health
The effect of confirmation calls on appointment-keeping behavior of patients in a children’s hospital dental clinic
Pediatr Dent
Using telephone prompts to improve initial attendance at a community mental health center
Psychiatr Serv
Telephone reminders to reduce non-attendance rate for endoscopy
J R Soc Med
Non-attendance at the colorectal clinic: a prospective audit
Ann R Coll Surg Engl
Nonattendance at outpatient endoscopy
Endoscopy
The effect of telephone appointment-reminder calls on outpatient absenteeism in a pulmonary function laboratory
Respir Care
The effect of reminder calls in reducing non-attendance rates at care of the elderly clinics
Postgrad Med J
Information given to patients before appointments and its effect on non-attendance rate
BMJ
The effects of telephone prompting on attendance for starting treatment and retention in treatment at a specialist alcohol clinic
Br J Clin Psychol
Cited by (78)
Mobilizing the fourth trimester to improve population health: interventions for postpartum transitions of care
2023, American Journal of Obstetrics and GynecologyDigital health solutions for reducing the impact of non-attendance: A scoping review
2023, Health Policy and TechnologyUsing machine learning tools to investigate factors associated with trends in ‘no-shows’ in outpatient appointments
2021, Health and PlaceCitation Excerpt :However, there is less agreement regarding the importance of factors such as educational level, race, or the distance from the patient's home to the clinic. Gender, for example, was found to be a factor in some studies (Junod Perron et al., 2010; Stubbs et al., 2012) but not others (Bush et al., 2014; Catz et al., 1999; Lehmann et al., 2007). Similar results can be found for variables such as the day of the week, season, time of day, new or follow-up appointment, employment status, and others.
What do we know about no-show behavior? A systematic, interdisciplinary literature review
2024, Journal of Economic Surveys