New Data Finds a Quarter of Patients Forget Healthcare Appointments

June 27, 2019 - PRLog -- No-show appointments can, and do, result in major revenue losses for those operating within healthcare. Data shows 27% of appointments go unattended across the USA. With estimates suggesting average healthcare consultation costs are valued at around $200, the consequences of such high non-attendance can be devastating for some practices.

However, a new survey run by ReminderCall.com has revealed much of this revenue loss is avoidable.

The data — gathered through a public poll of 1000 individuals across the United States — has uncovered that 27.6% of patients had missed a healthcare treatment or session due to forgetting their scheduled appointment. Missed appointments were found in all areas of healthcare, from hospitals and physician practices to specialty care firms such as chiropractors, physical therapists, opticians, and dentists. Respondents ranged in age, gender, background, and geographic location to ensure universal coverage of healthcare consumers.

"Many practices and services in healthcare are suffering from no-shows. While it might seem alarming that a significant number of patients are simply forgetting their appointments, the news that over a quarter of individuals do show up is actually a good thing for the industry," commented Chantal Halmos, President of ReminderCall.com.

"Although some issues that lead to no shows are unavoidable, patient forgetfulness can be prevented using communication strategies. Modern tools such as automated appointment reminders enable healthcare practices to develop cost-effective solutions to appointment attendance drop-offs. This improves their ability to focus on support and care for patients."

Prior research into automated reminder solutions has suggested these systems can be very effective when it comes to increasing attendance rates, with studies seeing improvements of up to 37% following introduction. Further supportive reports have led to the recommendation of reminder software, with the conclusion of a detailed review (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1258/jtt.2011.11...) published on Sage Journals stating "All hospitals should consider using automated reminders to reduce non-attendance at appointments," and concluding that "the evidence is overwhelming that reminders have a positive effect on non-attendance rates."

For full details see: https://www.remindercall.com/why-patients-miss-appointments-new-data/