The usefulness of patients' individual characteristics in predicting no-shows in outpatient clinics.
Patients' characteristics and no-show patterns are analyzed in order to determine the number of patients to schedule in outpatient clinics. This predictive model is evaluated on a second sample of data and compared with another scheduling technique that is based on the average no-show rate for each clinic. Our survey suggests that it is possible to predict accurately the number of no-shows with a small set of variables, and that patient scheduling can be improved by paying attention to the characteristics of individual patients. The most important single predictor is the patient's previous appointment-keeping pattern.
D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D003237:Connecticut; D003657:Decision Making; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*