The effect of integrating short messaging services` reminders with electronic medical records on non-attendance rates.
OBJECTIVE
To measure the effect of integrating short messaging service (SMS) reminders with an electronic medical record (EMR) system on non-attendance rates in outpatient clinics in a Saudi hospital.


METHODS
Pre- and post- observational studies were conducted at King Abdulaziz Medical City and National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from January 2010 and March 2010. Data collected from 16 out-patient clinics included the number of non-attended appointments at the clinics in a 3-month period (March-May) in 2 consecutive years: pre-implementation of SMS appointment reminders in 2008 and post-implementation in 2009.


RESULTS
The mean non-attendance rates for the 16 outpatient clinics during 2008 were 23.9% (SD 0.0578) and for 2009 were 19.8% (SD 0.0386) with a 4.1% (p < 0.001, T-value = 4.81) reduction rate.


CONCLUSIONS
Integrating SMS reminders with EMR systems showed a positive effect on the reduction of the non-attended appointments at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. majidt@ngha.med.sa
Majid M
MM
Altuwaijri
Abdulrahman M
AM
Sughayr
Mohamed A
MA
Hassan
Fahad M
FM
Alazwari
D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017010:Reminder Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D060145:Text Messaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*