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. 1993 Winter;26(4):461–467. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1993.26-461

An appointment-keeping improvement package for outpatient pediatrics: systematic replication and component analysis.

L V Ross 1, P C Friman 1, E R Christophersen 1
PMCID: PMC1297871  PMID: 8307830

Abstract

Child health-care appointments that are not kept are an important pediatric problem. Previous research has shown that reducing effort (with a parking pass) and reminding patients (with mailed and telephone reminders) significantly improved appointment keeping for first-time and patient-scheduled appointments. This study, using a posttest-only group design, evaluated the effects of various combinations of that intervention applied to clinic-scheduled follow-up appointments. All combinations of the intervention significantly increased cancellations, but none increased appointments kept or decreased appointments not kept significantly. Log linear analyses showed that the lag time between scheduling and the appointment significantly influenced appointment keeping. The results suggest that if clinics want to increase cancellations, a mailed reminder and effort reduction are sufficient. To increase appointment keeping, other interventions, such as reduced lag time, may be necessary.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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