Article

Modernize Your Patient Booking Strategy to Avoid No-Show Missed Appointments 

October 20, 2021
doctor talking to patient
Patients who miss appointments without notice continue to be a problem for non-acute healthcare providers. No-shows can have a bottom line impact on businesses, which is particularly challenging for organizations that have already experienced a 50% loss of revenue over the last year and a half due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
While the vast majority of non-acute healthcare facilities typically take measures like sending appointment reminders to patients via emails, texts or postcards, these actions are not always effective. To mitigate the problem of no-shows, providers can take strategic steps to help ensure patients arrive when they’re supposed to for their appointments.
 

IDENTIFY SERIAL NO-SHOWS

Missing just one appointment can keep the patient from returning, which can have a negative effect on care, costs and patient experiences. For example, a study by athenahealth that looked at more than 1 million patients over a two-and-a-half year period found that a patient who missed just one appointment with a primary care physician was 70% more likely to not come back within 18 months. Older patients whose illnesses are the most likely to become chronic are also the most likely to not return after missing a single appointment.

Keeping track of patients who regularly cancel or don’t show up for appointments can reveal insights about who the culprits are—and why. These insights can empower facilities to identify obstacles that prevent patients from making their appointments, then resolve the issue. Common and ongoing challenges include patients forgetting about the appointment, not receiving appointment reminders, or a lack of reliable transportation.

The athenahealth study found that the strongest predictor of who will miss an appointment comes from looking at past no-shows. For instance, the study discovered that 60% of missed appointments came from just 10% of the patient base.

IDENTIFY SERIAL NO-SHOWS

Missing just one appointment can keep the patient from returning, which can have a negative effect on care, costs and patient experiences. For example, a study by athenahealth that looked at more than 1 million patients over a two-and-a-half year period found that a patient who missed just one appointment with a primary care physician was 70% more likely to not come back within 18 months. Older patients whose illnesses are the most likely to become chronic are also the most likely to not return after missing a single appointment.

Keeping track of patients who regularly cancel or don’t show up for appointments can reveal insights about who the culprits are—and why. These insights can empower facilities to identify obstacles that prevent patients from making their appointments, then resolve the issue. Common and ongoing challenges include patients forgetting about the appointment, not receiving appointment reminders, or a lack of reliable transportation.

The athenahealth study found that the strongest predictor of who will miss an appointment comes from looking at past no-shows. For instance, the study discovered that 60% of missed appointments came from just 10% of the patient base.

“A study found that 60% of missed appointments came from just 10% of the patient base. ”

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TECHNOLOGY TO ENGAGE PATIENTS TO AVOID NO-SHOWS

Leaving a phone message as an appointment reminder works for some patients, but not all. Texting and emailing are popular options as well, but there’s no guarantee that patients see the message. One way to ensure they receive the communications is to ask for a confirmation. Requesting patients to click a button to confirm the appointment lets the clinic know they saw it, which helps encourage them to keep it or reschedule.

Having a modern scheduling platform that allows patients to book, manage and change appointments online lets them pick the day and time that accommodates their schedule. This approach allows patients to choose convenient appointments when they are most likely to be able to make them. Provista supplier Panda offers a marketplace for digital health technologies, including a digital virtual assistant, or “virtual receptionist,” to help patients schedule appointments, answer patient questions and provide other services.

If the clinic offers telehealth services, they can be a practical option for patients who routinely miss in-person appointments. Virtual care also eliminates the obstacle of patients who are reluctant to go to a facility due to the pandemic.

Knowing that last minute cancellations and no-shows will probably always be a challenge to some degree, regardless of clinics’ best efforts, facilities can take a proactive approach that fills the gap. They can maintain a short waitlist of patients who will come in for an appointment on very short notice to fill vacancies.

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