A Pilot Study of Reasons and Risk Factors for "No-Shows" in a Pediatric Neurology Clinic.

Missed clinic appointments lead to decreased patient access, worse patient outcomes, and increased healthcare costs. The goal of this pilot study was to identify reasons for and risk factors associated with missed pediatric neurology outpatient appointments ("no-shows"). This was a prospective cohort study of patients scheduled for 1 week of clinic.

The estimated cost of "no-shows" in an academic pediatric neurology clinic.

Objective: Missed appointments ("no-shows") represent an important source of lost revenue for academic medical centers. The goal of this study was to examine the costs of "no-shows" at an academic pediatric neurology outpatient clinic.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of patients who missed appointments at an academic pediatric neurology outpatient clinic during 1 academic year.