What's the Most Effective Appointment Reminder Method to Reduce Office No-Show Rates?

Telephone reminders from clinic staff are better than automated calls.

Patients who fail to keep their office appointments greatly reduce the efficiency of a physician's practice and might lose access to medical care. In a prospective randomized trial, investigators compared no-show rates among 12,000 adult patients scheduled for appointments at a university-based, multispecialty internal medicine practice during a 4-month period. Patients were assigned to one of three appointment reminder groups: a telephone reminder from a clinic staff member, an automated telephone reminder 3 days before the appointment, or no reminder. Patient satisfaction was assessed upon arrival at the clinic.

No-show rates were 14%, 17%, and 23% for the staff-reminder, automated-reminder, and no-reminder groups, respectively (P<0.01 for…

Reviewing Author

F. Bruder Stapleton, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardCareer Physician

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Society of Pediatric Nephrology Foundation (Chair)

F. Bruder Stapleton, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardCareer Physician

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Society of Pediatric Nephrology Foundation (Chair)