Background: Patient no-shows impede the effectiveness and efficiency of health care services delivery.

Objective: To evaluate a 2-phase intervention to reduce no-show rates at an integrated care community health center that incorporates a teaching program for osteopathic family medicine residents.

Methods: The Elmont Teaching Health Center (ETHC) is 1 of 5 community-based health centers comprising the Long Island Federally Qualified Health Centers. In August 2015, the ETHC implemented a centerwide No-Show Rates Reduction Initiative divided into an assessment phase and implementation phase. The assessment phase identified reasons most frequently cited by patients for no-shows at the ETHC. The implementation phase, initiated in mid-September, addressed these reasons by focusing on reminder call verification, patient education, personal responses to patient calls, institutional awareness, and integration with multiple departments. To assess the initiative, monthly no-show rates were compared by quarter for 2015 and against rates for the previous year.

Results: We recorded 27,826 appointments with 6147 no-shows in 2014 and 31,696 appointments with 5690 no-shows in 2015. No-show rates in the first 3 quarters of 2015 (range, 18.2%-20.0%) were slightly lower than the rates in 2014 (20.1%-23.4%) and then changed by an increasingly wide margin in the last quarter of 2015 (15.3%), leading to a significant year (2014, 2015) by quarter (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) interaction (P=.004). Also, the change observed in Q4 in 2015 differed significantly from Q1 (P=.017), Q2 (P=.004), and Q3 (P=.027) in 2015, while Q1, Q2, and Q3 in 2015 did not significantly differ from one another.

Conclusion: No-show rates were successfully reduced after a 2-phase intervention was implemented at 1 health center within a larger health care organization. Future directions include dismantling the individual components of the intervention, evaluating the role of patient volumes in no-show rates, assessing patient outcomes (eg, costs, health) in integrative care settings that treat underserved populations, and evaluating family medicine residents' training on continuity of care and no-show rates.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.7556/jaoa.2018.022DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

no-show rates
28
health center
16
health
9
rates
9
0
9
patient no-shows
8
integrated care
8
teaching health
8
health care
8
2-phase intervention
8

Similar Publications

Introduction Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) is a common intervention for large colorectal polyps, but its long-term success depends heavily on post-procedure surveillance to detect recurrence. Despite the critical importance of follow-up appointments, some patients fail to attend these crucial visits. This study aims to identify demographic, clinical, and socioeconomic factors that predict missed follow-up appointments after EMR.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Chronic pain is a debilitating, multifactorial condition. The purpose of this study was to examine patient characteristics of those who did not show up for their scheduled first pain medicine appointment in order to identify factors that may improve access to care.

Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of 810 patients from a single-center academic pain management clinic between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2023.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Maternal morbidity and mortality in the United States are higher than peer countries. These adverse events disproportionally affect Black women.

Local Problem: Rates of maternal morbidity and mortality among Black childbearing women in West Louisville, Kentucky are higher than rates in Kentucky and the United States.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Primary health care (PHC) services face operational challenges due to high patient volumes, leading to complex management needs. Patients access services through booked appointments and walk-in visits, with walk-in visits often facing longer waiting times. No-show appointments are significant contributors to inefficiency in PHC operations, which can lead to an estimated 3%-14% revenue loss, disrupt resource allocation, and negatively impact health care quality.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To identify factors that are associated with no-shows and cancellations in a glaucoma clinic.

Methods: Retrospective observational study of patients seen at a glaucoma clinic over a two-year period (6/2017-5/2019). Demographics and clinic information were recorded from the electronic medical record.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!