Patient "no-shows"--a costly problem.
The cost of patients' failure to keep scheduled appointments can be significant. This article examines two methods of reducing this problem and evaluates their effectiveness: the reminder phone call and computer-generated reminder letters. The varying success rates of these two methods are discussed as they relate to several areas of the Radiology Department at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas.
D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D003142:Communication; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006748:Hospital Departments / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011872:Radiology Department, Hospital / Q000191:economics*; D013781:Texas