Abstract:
Introduction/Purpose: Appointment cancellations or "no-shows" have been shown to
interfere with patient care, cause health issues, and increase hospitalization rates. A rise in the
number of no-show appointments can cause issues for both patients and providers. This quality
improvement project's goal was to implement an evidence-based protocol that assisted a pain
management clinic in reducing the number of no-show appointments. To help reduce clinic no show rates, the project used evidence-based strategies.
Methods: A pre-and post-implementation design was used in this quality improvement
project to determine the daily no-show rate over a 6-week period. Staff utilized evidence-based
approaches to promote patient compliance, which resulted in a lower no-show rate. Check-out
and missed appointment scheduling policies and procedures were verbally reminded and updated
for the MA staff while providers continued to have weekly educational calls.
Results: All pre-and post-intervention follow-up appointments over a 6-week period
were used for comparison. Prior to the project's implementation phase, the clinic had more than
10% of appointments missed over a six-week period. The no-show rate during the six-week pre intervention period was 12%, and the no-show rate during the six-week post-intervention period
was 8%.
Discussion/Conclusion: Missed appointments can have a negative impact on both the
patient and the clinic. Staff monitoring of missed appointments will be critical in the clinic
setting to ensure that patients are more engaged in their treatment programs and keeping their
appointments. This quality improvement project found that the use of an evidence-based
approach assisted in the reduction of the daily missed appointment ratio.
