The effect of telephone call reminder on non-compliant patients in outpatient clinic

Cheong, Yoo Seock

Abstract

BACKGROUND: No-show is a major obstacle for proper management in outpatient clinic. This study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of a reminding telephone call on the compliance after no-show patients in family practice.
METHODS
A nurse in family practice called to 590 non-compliant patients who did not visit on the appointment day for 80 days. A single telephone call attempt was directed primarily to the patient or family members for them to make another appointment. The outcome measure was an increased attendance rate within 3 months after telephone calling.
RESULTS
The completed telephone contacted group (N=242) and failed group (N=348) were well balanced for all study variables except age. The attendance rate of 60.7 % in the completed group, regardless of who was contacted by telephone, was 40.7 % greater than 23.0 % attendance rate in the failed group. In the univariate analysis, attendance for patients who lived near the clinic (within 1 hour ) was better (45.3%) than that for any group (P = .02). In the logistic regression analysis, only the telephone call reminder was an independent predictor of attendance (Adjusted OR=5.03, P<0.001).
CONCLUSION
Telephone reminder is a very effective method of increasing attendance in a hospital-based family clinic. The reminder is a consistently effective intervention whether the message is delivered to the patient or the family member.