COMPARATIVE STUDY
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Factors associated with appointment keeping in a family practice residency clinic.

BACKGROUND: Failure to keep an appointment not only affects the patient's health care, but also has an impact on the effectiveness and productivity of the medical facility. This study explored patient demographic factors associated with appointment keeping.

METHODS: In a Midwestern, urban family practice residency clinic serving 2500 patient visits each month, data were obtained from the computer scheduling system and chart audits for 4669 patients who kept or missed 7283 physician appointments between April and June 1991. Independent variables studied were age, race and ethnicity, type of health insurance, marital status, sex, patient status, day and time of appointment, medical reason for the visit, and geographic proximity to the clinic.

RESULTS: The kept-appointment rate for this study was 73.9%. Appointment keeping was associated with age, race and ethnicity, type of health insurance, the day of the appointment, the medical reason for the visit, and geographic proximity to the clinic. Rates of appointment keeping were higher for patients who were older, who were Asian or white, who had private or managed care insurance, who had longer distances to travel to the clinic, and those who had appointments scheduled for the day on which they contacted the clinic.

CONCLUSIONS: Several identifiable factors significantly affect whether a patient will keep a clinic appointment. Our findings should be considered in program changes in appointment scheduling and follow-up methods for noncompliant patients.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app