Targeted Reminder Phone Calls to Patients at High Risk of No-Show for Primary Care Appointment: A Randomized Trial.
J Gen Intern Med
; 31(12): 1460-1466, 2016 12.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-27503436
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
No-shows, or missed appointments, are a problem for many medical practices. They result in fragmented care and reduce access for all patients.OBJECTIVE:
To determine whether telephone reminder calls targeted to patients at high risk of no-show can reduce no-show rates.DESIGN:
Single-center randomized controlled trial.PARTICIPANTS:
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. INTERVENTION 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). MAINMEASURES:
Primary outcome was no-show rate. Secondary outcomes included arrival rate, cancellation rate, reschedule rate, time to cancellation, and change in revenue. KEYRESULTS:
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.CONCLUSIONS:
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.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Citas y Horarios
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Atención Primaria de Salud
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Cooperación del Paciente
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Sistemas Recordatorios
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Teléfono Celular
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Pacientes no Presentados
Tipo de estudio:
Clinical_trials
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Etiology_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Adult
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Aged
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Gen Intern Med
Asunto de la revista:
MEDICINA INTERNA
Año:
2016
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos