title: Text Message Reminders Increase Appointment Adherence in a Pediatric Clinic: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
abstract: Background. High no-show rates can burden clinic productivity and affect patient care. Although multiple studies have shown that text messages improve appointment adherence, very little research has focused on low-income and predominantly African American populations in resident clinic settings.Objectives. To determine whether incorporating a text message reminder reduces the no-show rate at an urban, pediatric resident clinic.Methods. A randomized controlled trial was conducted at a tertiary level ambulatory pediatric practice between August 2014 and February 2015. Following a demographic survey, 170 patients were enrolled. Patients were randomized into control or intervention groups. All patients received the standard voice message appointment reminder, but the intervention group additionally received a text message reminder. The primary outcome was no-show rate.Results. 95.3% of the participants were African American, and the overall no-show rate was 30.8%. No-show rate was significantly lower in the intervention group (23.5%) than the control group (38.1%) representing a difference of 14.6% (p= 0.04). No demographic factors were found to alter the association between no-show rate and text message intervention.Conclusions. Text message reminders effectively improve show rates at a resident pediatric practice with high no-show rates, representing a promising approach to improving appointment adherence.
authors.affiliation: Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Chia-Lei
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8729-320X
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Nila
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mistry
authors.affiliation: Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Jordana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boneh
authors.affiliation: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA; Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Rina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lazebnik