Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Jan 14:16:13.
doi: 10.1186/s12913-015-1243-z.

Prevalence, predictors and economic consequences of no-shows

Parviz Kheirkhah  1 , Qianmei Feng  2 , Lauren M Travis  3 , Shahriar Tavakoli-Tabasi  4   5 , Amir Sharafkhaneh  6   7
Affiliations

Prevalence, predictors and economic consequences of no-shows

Parviz Kheirkhah et al. BMC Health Serv Res. .

Abstract

Background: Patients not attending to clinic appointments (no-show) significantly affects delivery, cost of care and resource planning. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence, predictors and economic consequences of patient no-shows.

Method: This is a retrospective cohort study using administrative databases for fiscal years 1997-2008. We searched administrative databases for no-show frequency and cost at a large medical center. In addition, we estimated no-show rates and costs in another 10 regional hospitals. We studied no-show rates in primary care and various subspecialty settings over a 12-year period, the monthly and seasonal trends of no-shows, the effects of implementing a reminder system and the economic effects of missed appointments.

Results: The mean no-show rate was 18.8% (2.4%) in 10 main clinics with highest occurring in subspecialist clinics. No-show rate in the women clinic was higher and the no-show rate in geriatric clinic was lower compared to general primary care clinic (PCP). The no-show rate remained at a high level despite its reduction by a centralized phone reminder (from 16.3% down to 15.8%). The average cost of no-show per patient was $196 in 2008.

Conclusions: Our data indicates that no-show imposed a major burden on this health care system. Further, implementation of a reminder system only modestly reduced the no-show rate.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
No-show rate for 10 main clinics in different VA hospitals at VISN16 in 2008
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
No-show rate in each day for 10 main clinics in VA hospital at Houston in 2008
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
No-show rate in each month for 10 main clinics in VA hospital at Houston (2008)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
No-show rates in 10 main clinics in VA hospital at Houston
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
No-show rate in 10 main clinics before and after applying new phone system
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. National Health Expenditure Data: NHE Fact Sheet . Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 2008.
    1. Clark J. Appointment cancellation options-a new system to help decrease no-show appointments. IACH Informer. 2006, 3.
    1. Xakellis GC, Jr, Bennett A. Improving clinic efficiency of a family medicine teaching clinic. Fam. Med. 2001;33:533–538. - PubMed
    1. Moore CG, Wilson-Witherspoon P, Probst JC. Time and money: effects of no-shows at a family practice residency clinic. Fam. Med. 2001;33:522–527. - PubMed
    1. Sharp DJ, Hamilton W. Non-attendance at general practices and outpatient clinics. BMJ. 2001;323:1081–1082. doi: 10.1136/bmj.323.7321.1081. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources