Date
November 2013
Document Type
Event
Description
Community health centers across the country struggle with patients who frequently miss appointments. Missed and unused appointment slots represent lost revenue for health centers and disruption in care continuity. The medical home model recognizes these challenges and establishes patient access as a core element, key components of which include more efficient scheduling functions and capacity for same-day appointments. Identifying effective and feasible strategies to reduce the no-show rate is a critical component of these efforts.
The Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center came together to launch a patient communications pilot program that involved outsourcing and centralizing patient communication functions. With grant funding, the collaborators were able to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program and the performance of the appointment reminder system. Secondary data sources - call reminder disposition data merged with data on patients and other characteristics - were analyzed to assess the performance of the call reminder system and the factors associated with a patient showing up for an appointment. The collaborators will present their innovative partnership approach and findings on patient demographics and other factors that can result in missed appointments.
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Evaluation of a Patient Communication Program and Patient Appointment Reminder Calls in a Community Health Center Setting
Community health centers across the country struggle with patients who frequently miss appointments. Missed and unused appointment slots represent lost revenue for health centers and disruption in care continuity. The medical home model recognizes these challenges and establishes patient access as a core element, key components of which include more efficient scheduling functions and capacity for same-day appointments. Identifying effective and feasible strategies to reduce the no-show rate is a critical component of these efforts.
The Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center came together to launch a patient communications pilot program that involved outsourcing and centralizing patient communication functions. With grant funding, the collaborators were able to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program and the performance of the appointment reminder system. Secondary data sources - call reminder disposition data merged with data on patients and other characteristics - were analyzed to assess the performance of the call reminder system and the factors associated with a patient showing up for an appointment. The collaborators will present their innovative partnership approach and findings on patient demographics and other factors that can result in missed appointments.