Effectiveness of post card appointment reminders.
OBJECTIVE
This study measures the effectiveness of post card appointment reminders in a residency-based family practice center.


METHODS
Outcomes of 1,380 consecutive appointments before institution of reminders were compared with 1,303 appointments afterward. Then, 140 patients were informally surveyed in follow-up.


RESULTS
Before reminders, overall office no-show rate was 13.0%, cancellations were 19.4%, and arrivals were 67.6%. No-shows correlated with length of time from scheduling date to appointment date, seeing a resident rather than faculty, and patient payment classification (p < 0.0001). Post card reminders did not significantly improve arrivals by patients or change no-shows to cancellations. The reminders were well received by patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Post card appointment reminders were simple to institute and appreciated by patients but had little effect on improving appointment-keeping behavior.
University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita Family Practice Residency Program, Wesley Medical Center.
S E
SE
Moser
D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D005194:Family Practice / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D011177:Postal Service; D017010:Reminder Systems / Q000592:standards*