Reduction of missed appointments at an urban primary care clinic: a randomised controlled study.
BACKGROUND
Missed appointments are known to interfere with appropriate care and to misspend medical and administrative resources. The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of a sequential intervention reminding patients of their upcoming appointment and to identify the profile of patients missing their appointments.


METHODS
We conducted a randomised controlled study in an urban primary care clinic at the Geneva University Hospitals serving a majority of vulnerable patients. All patients booked in a primary care or HIV clinic at the Geneva University Hospitals were sent a reminder 48 hrs prior to their appointment according to the following sequential intervention: 1. Phone call (fixed or mobile) reminder; 2. If no phone response: a Short Message Service (SMS) reminder; 3. If no available mobile phone number: a postal reminder. The rate of missed appointment, the cost of the intervention, and the profile of patients missing their appointment were recorded.


RESULTS
2123 patients were included: 1052 in the intervention group, 1071 in the control group. Only 61.7% patients had a mobile phone recorded at the clinic. The sequential intervention significantly reduced the rate of missed appointments: 11.4% (n = 122) in the control group and 7.8% (n = 82) in the intervention group (p < 0.005), and allowed to reallocate 28% of cancelled appointments. It also proved to be cost effective in providing a total net benefit of 1846. - EUR/3 months. A satisfaction survey conducted with 241 patients showed that 93% of them were not bothered by the reminders and 78% considered them to be useful. By multivariate analysis, the following characteristics were significant predictors of missed appointments: younger age (OR per additional decade 0.82; CI 0.71-0.94), male gender (OR 1.72; CI 1.18-2.50), follow-up appointment >1 year (OR 2.2; CI: 1.15-4.2), substance abuse (2.09, CI 1.21-3.61), and being an asylum seeker (OR 2.73: CI 1.22-6.09).


CONCLUSIONS
A practical reminder system can significantly increase patient attendance at medical outpatient clinics. An intervention focused on specific patient characteristics could further increase the effectiveness of appointment reminders.
Division of Primary Care, Department of Community Medicine and Primary Care, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. noelle.junod@hcuge.ch
Noelle Junod
NJ
Perron
Melissa Dominicé
MD
Dao
Michel P
MP
Kossovsky
Valerie
V
Miserez
Carmen
C
Chuard
Alexandra
A
Calmy
Jean-Michel
JM
Gaspoz
D000328:Adult; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D040421:Cell Phone; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011177:Postal Service; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017010:Reminder Systems; D013557:Switzerland; D013689:Telephone; D019037:Urban Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration