Reengineering the Communication Process to Reduce Patient No-Show Rates in Hospital Outpatient Clinics
Background: Patient “no-shows” cause significant concern for healthcare organizations as it affects continuity of care provided to the patient, quality of care, waiting times for new patients, and wastes clinic resources. This project aimed to reduce the rate of no-shows in a general pediatric clini...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Innovative Healthcare Institute
2019-02-01
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| Series: | Global Journal on Quality and Safety in Healthcare |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://jqsh.org/doi/pdf/10.4103/JQSH.JQSH_17_18 |
| _version_ | 1811164515113369600 |
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| author | Mastourah D. Al Shammari Talal Al Harbi Abdulmohsen Al Saawi Khaled Al-Surimi |
| author_facet | Mastourah D. Al Shammari Talal Al Harbi Abdulmohsen Al Saawi Khaled Al-Surimi |
| author_sort | Mastourah D. Al Shammari |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Patient “no-shows” cause significant concern for healthcare organizations as it affects continuity of care provided to the patient, quality of care, waiting times for new patients, and wastes clinic resources. This project aimed to reduce the rate of no-shows in a general pediatric clinic to less than 10% to be consistent with the international benchmark range of 5%–10% of primary care clinics. Materials and Methods: A multidisciplinary team was formed to address the rate of no-shows using a quality improvement– driven approach in August 2017. Retrospective data analysis showed that 33% of patients who were referred to the general pediatric clinic at King Abdullah Specialist Children Hospital did not show up for their appointments in March 2017. Results: The impact of reengineering the patients’ appointment communication process led to a noticeable reduction in the rate of no-shows in the general pediatric clinic, reaching 14% in 1 month (November to December 2017) compared with the baseline of 33%. Data analysis for the post-intervention period showed a progressive decline in the no-show rate, reaching below 10% in the general pediatric clinic, indicating a big shift in the rate of no-shows among the patients attending the general pediatric clinic. Conclusion: Reengineering the communication process and increasing awareness to update contact information are effective strategies for improving communication with patients and reducing the rate of no-shows for scheduled appointments. The next step is to share project findings with healthcare workers and leaders to sustain the improvement. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T15:22:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-56c79e0341ef4683a79ce739394961cd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2666-2353 2589-9449 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T15:22:33Z |
| publishDate | 2019-02-01 |
| publisher | Innovative Healthcare Institute |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Journal on Quality and Safety in Healthcare |
| spelling | doaj.art-56c79e0341ef4683a79ce739394961cd2023-02-14T13:13:31ZengInnovative Healthcare InstituteGlobal Journal on Quality and Safety in Healthcare2666-23532589-94492019-02-01162010.4103/JQSH.JQSH_17_18i2589-9449-2-1-16Reengineering the Communication Process to Reduce Patient No-Show Rates in Hospital Outpatient ClinicsMastourah D. Al Shammari0Talal Al Harbi1Abdulmohsen Al Saawi2Khaled Al-Surimi31 Quality and Patient Safety, Ministry of the National Guard Health Affairs,2 Departments of Pediatrics and1 Quality and Patient Safety, Ministry of the National Guard Health Affairs,3 Department of Health Systems Management, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Ministry of the National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,Background: Patient “no-shows” cause significant concern for healthcare organizations as it affects continuity of care provided to the patient, quality of care, waiting times for new patients, and wastes clinic resources. This project aimed to reduce the rate of no-shows in a general pediatric clinic to less than 10% to be consistent with the international benchmark range of 5%–10% of primary care clinics. Materials and Methods: A multidisciplinary team was formed to address the rate of no-shows using a quality improvement– driven approach in August 2017. Retrospective data analysis showed that 33% of patients who were referred to the general pediatric clinic at King Abdullah Specialist Children Hospital did not show up for their appointments in March 2017. Results: The impact of reengineering the patients’ appointment communication process led to a noticeable reduction in the rate of no-shows in the general pediatric clinic, reaching 14% in 1 month (November to December 2017) compared with the baseline of 33%. Data analysis for the post-intervention period showed a progressive decline in the no-show rate, reaching below 10% in the general pediatric clinic, indicating a big shift in the rate of no-shows among the patients attending the general pediatric clinic. Conclusion: Reengineering the communication process and increasing awareness to update contact information are effective strategies for improving communication with patients and reducing the rate of no-shows for scheduled appointments. The next step is to share project findings with healthcare workers and leaders to sustain the improvement.https://jqsh.org/doi/pdf/10.4103/JQSH.JQSH_17_18appointment reminderinformation technologyno-showpatient communicationcommunication processtext message |
| spellingShingle | Mastourah D. Al Shammari Talal Al Harbi Abdulmohsen Al Saawi Khaled Al-Surimi Reengineering the Communication Process to Reduce Patient No-Show Rates in Hospital Outpatient Clinics Global Journal on Quality and Safety in Healthcare appointment reminder information technology no-show patient communication communication process text message |
| title | Reengineering the Communication Process to Reduce Patient No-Show Rates in Hospital Outpatient Clinics |
| title_full | Reengineering the Communication Process to Reduce Patient No-Show Rates in Hospital Outpatient Clinics |
| title_fullStr | Reengineering the Communication Process to Reduce Patient No-Show Rates in Hospital Outpatient Clinics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reengineering the Communication Process to Reduce Patient No-Show Rates in Hospital Outpatient Clinics |
| title_short | Reengineering the Communication Process to Reduce Patient No-Show Rates in Hospital Outpatient Clinics |
| title_sort | reengineering the communication process to reduce patient no show rates in hospital outpatient clinics |
| topic | appointment reminder information technology no-show patient communication communication process text message |
| url | https://jqsh.org/doi/pdf/10.4103/JQSH.JQSH_17_18 |
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