Predicting appointment breaking.
The goal of physician referral services is to schedule appointments, but if too many patients fail to show up, the value of the service will be compromised. The authors found that appointment breaking can be predicted by the number of days to the scheduled appointment, the doctor's specialty, and the patient's age and gender. They also offer specific suggestions for modifying the marketing mix to reduce the incidence of no-shows.
La Salle University, Philadelphia, USA.
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D003625:Data Collection; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008511:Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009511:New England; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013038:Specialization; D013997:Time Factors; D014504:Urban Health