We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Targeted Reminder Phone Calls to Patients at High Risk of No-Show for Primary Care Appointment: A Randomized Trial.
- Authors
Shah, Sachin; Cronin, Patrick; Hong, Clemens; Hwang, Andrew; Ashburner, Jeffrey; Bearnot, Benjamin; Richardson, Calvin; Fosburgh, Blair; Kimball, Alexandra; Shah, Sachin J; Hong, Clemens S; Hwang, Andrew S; Ashburner, Jeffrey M; Bearnot, Benjamin I; Richardson, Calvin A; Fosburgh, Blair W; Kimball, Alexandra B
- Abstract
<bold>Background: </bold>No-shows, or missed appointments, are a problem for many medical practices. They result in fragmented care and reduce access for all patients.<bold>Objective: </bold>To determine whether telephone reminder calls targeted to patients at high risk of no-show can reduce no-show rates.<bold>Design: </bold>Single-center randomized controlled trial.<bold>Participants: </bold>A total of 2247 primary care patients in a hospital-based primary care clinic at high risk of no-show (>15 % risk) for their appointment in 7 days.<bold>Intervention: </bold>Seven days prior to their appointment, intervention arm patients were placed in a calling queue to receive a reminder phone call from a patient service coordinator. Coordinators were trained to engage patients in concrete planning. All patients received an automated phone call (usual care).<bold>Main Measures: </bold>Primary outcome was no-show rate. Secondary outcomes included arrival rate, cancellation rate, reschedule rate, time to cancellation, and change in revenue.<bold>Key Results: </bold>The no-show rate in the intervention arm (22.8 %) was significantly lower (absolute risk difference -6.4 %, p < 0.01, 95 % CI [-9.8 to -3.0 %]) than that in the control arm (29.2 %). Arrival, cancellation, and reschedule rates did not differ significantly. In the intervention arm, rescheduling and cancellations occurred further in advance of the appointment (mean difference, 0.35 days; 95 % CI [0.07-0.64]; p = 0.01). Reimbursement did not differ significantly.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>A phone call 7 days prior to an appointment led to a significant reduction in no-shows and increased reimbursement among patients at high risk of no-show. The use of targeted interventions may be of interest to practices taking on increased accountability for population health.
- Subjects
PRIMARY care; OUTPATIENT medical care; HEALTH services accessibility; MEDICAL care; POPULATION health
- Publication
JGIM: Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2016, Vol 31, Issue 12, p1460
- ISSN
0884-8734
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1007/s11606-016-3813-0