title: Using no-show modeling to improve clinic performance.
abstract: 'No-shows' or missed appointments result in under-utilized clinic capacity. We develop a logistic regression model using electronic medical records to estimate patients' no-show probabilities and illustrate the use of the estimates in creating clinic schedules that maximize clinic capacity utilization while maintaining small patient waiting times and clinic overtime costs. This study used information on scheduled outpatient appointments collected over a three-year period at a Veterans Affairs medical center. The call-in process for 400 clinic days was simulated and for each day two schedules were created: the traditional method that assigned one patient per appointment slot, and the proposed method that scheduled patients according to their no-show probability to balance patient waiting, overtime and revenue. Combining patient no-show models with advanced scheduling methods would allow more patients to be seen a day while improving clinic efficiency. Clinics should consider the benefits of implementing scheduling software that includes these methods relative to the cost of no-shows.
authors.affiliation: Purdue University, USA.
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Daggy
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lawley
authors.forename: Deanna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Willis
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thayer
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Suelzer
authors.forename: Po-Ching
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: DeLaurentis
authors.forename: Ayten
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Turkcan
authors.forename: Santanu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chakraborty
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sands
mesh_terms: D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D009819:Office Visits / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014481:United States