What is the best way to schedule patient follow-up appointments?
BACKGROUND
What is the best way to schedule follow-up appointments? The most popular model requires the patient to negotiate a follow-up appointment time on leaving the office. This process accounts for the majority of follow-up patient scheduling. There are circumstances when this immediate appointment arrangement is not possible, however. The two common processes used to contact patients for follow-up appointments after they have left the office are the postcard reminder method and the prescheduled appointment method.


METHODS
In 2001 the two methods used to contact patients for follow-up appointments after they had left the clinic were used for all 2,116 reappointment patients at an ophthalmology practice at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. The number of completed successful appointments, the no-show rate, and patient satisfaction for each method were calculated.


RESULTS
A larger number of patient reappointments were completed using the prescheduled appointment procedure than the postcard reminder system (74% vs 54%). The difference between completed and pending appointments (minus no-shows) of the two methods equaled 163 patients per quarter, or 652 patients per year. Additional revenues associated with use of the prescheduled appointment letter method were estimated at $594,600 for 3 years.


CONCLUSIONS
Using the prescheduled appointment method with a patient notification letter is advised when patients do not schedule their appointments on the way out of the office.
Saine
Patrick J
PJ
Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA. patrick.j.saine@hitchcock.org
Baker
Suzanne M
SM
D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000458:organization & administration; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D009513:New Hampshire; D009885:Ophthalmology / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017010:Reminder Systems; D012985:Software Design; D013597:Systems Analysis