Missing a healthcare appointment, puts a good deal of unnecessary stress on a lot of people. This is because of how difficult it can be to make the money back, as well as the other implications that need to be considered, including the time lost that might have saved a patient’s life, and the resources that were prepared for that missing patient, simply gone to waste.
These issues can cause a healthcare facility to struggle financially, but there are some ways to make this happen, far less frequently. To do this, you need to examine the effects of missed healthcare appointments, and then look at how you can make them less persistent in your practice.
What impact does a missed appointment have on the healthcare service?
A patient choosing to miss an appointment without rescheduling, can be a huge waste for a medical facility. It shows a total lack of regard for fellow patients, and is very disrespectful to members of staff. If a patient calls up to explain that something unexpected has happened, there might be time to let another patient use their slot, otherwise…
#1 It wastes money
Appointments cost money to set up, which is often covered in the fee of the appointment. If a patient misses an appointment, they are wasting that money. You might have needed to bring in expensive equipment, and get a specialist to cover the appointment, which caused you to fork out a lot of money.
#2 It wastes resources
It can waste hospital resources. This means that if you brought in medication just for them and they don’t pick it up to help themselves, they are wasting your resources by taking up unexpected storage space. They will also be taking up doctors’ consultation rooms that might need to be used another time.
#3 It wastes time
No-shows result in a tremendous waste of time. It has a knock-on effect, wasting doctors’, nurses’, and receptionists’ time. It can also prevent other patients from getting potentially life-saving appointments. This is clearly very important, so there needs to be system put in place, to make sure that this valuable time doesn’t go to waste, and precious lives are not put at risk.
So what can be done?
To minimise absenteeism, hospitals and clinics like yours, can make sure that they’re investing in the appropriate tools, to ensure that patients are reminded when they have an appointment. Using reliable software such as Brevium, can help you do this successfully.
Final thoughts
There are a lot of reasons why a patient missing a healthcare appointment, is bad news – it wastes time, money, and resources that could have been spent on other patients who need treatment or diagnosis.
To counteract this, your healthcare facility would be wise to invest in software which reminds and recalls patients to let them know about their appointments. Patients also need to be encouraged to call up and cancel their appointments if they cannot attend, even with very short notice.
