Trial reportJournal of general internal medicine2016
Targeted Reminder Phone Calls to Patients at High Risk of No-Show for Primary Care Appointment: A Randomized Trial.
Trial report in Journal of general internal medicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Predictive model-based interventions to reduce outpatient no-shows: a rapid systematic review.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2023Pooled it
- Factors associated with missed appointments by adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review.BMJ open diabetes research & care · 2021Pooled it
- Mobile Mammography Participation Among Medically Underserved Women: A Systematic Review.Preventing chronic disease · 2018Pooled it
- Reducing Disparities in No Show Rates Using Predictive Model-Driven Live Appointment Reminders for At-Risk Patients: a Randomized Controlled Quality Improvement Initiative.Journal of general internal medicine · 2023Trial
- Pragmatic Randomized Study of Targeted Text Message Reminders to Reduce Missed Clinic Visits.The Permanente journal · 2022Trial
- Enhancing Usability of Appointment Reminders: Qualitative Interviews of Patients Receiving Care in the Veterans Health Administration.Journal of general internal medicine · 2021Trial
- Addressing the causes of 'missingness' in healthcare: a co-designed suite of interventions.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- Exploring the Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Missed Primary Care Appointments in Adult Patients.The Permanente journal · 2026Article
- Clinic visit no-shows and last-minute cancellations are common among teens and emerging adults with type 1 diabetes.Diabetic medicine : a journal of the British Diabetic Association · 2026Article
- Barriers to and facilitators for attending dental care appointments among adults in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review.Evidence-based dentistry · 2025Article
- Understanding No-Show Patterns in Healthcare: A Retrospective Study from Northern Italy.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- Understanding the causes of missingness in primary care: a realist review.BMC medicine · 2024Review
- To confirm your appointment, please press one: Examining demographic and health system interface factors that predict missed appointments in a pediatric outpatient neuropsychology clinic.The Clinical neuropsychologist · 2024Article
- Transition From Pediatric to Adult Nephrology Care: Program Report of a Single-Center Experience.Canadian journal of kidney health and disease · 2023Article
- Reducing missed appointments in general practice: evaluation of a quality improvement programme in East London.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2021Article
- Nudging New York: adaptive models and the limits of behavioral interventions to reduce no-shows and health inequalities.BMC health services research · 2020Observational
- Diagnoses and other predictors of patient absenteeism in an outpatient neurology clinic.Neurology. Clinical practice · 2018Article
- Modified open-access scheduling for new patient evaluations at an academic chronic pain clinic increased patient access to care, but did not materially reduce their mean cancellation rate: A retrospective, observational study.Journal of clinical anesthesia · 2017Observational
- Predictors of missed appointments in patients referred for congenital or pediatric cardiac magnetic resonance.Pediatric radiology · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNo-shows, or missed appointments, are a problem for many medical practices. They result in fragmented care and reduce access for all patients.
objectiveTo determine whether telephone reminder calls targeted to patients at high risk of no-show can reduce no-show rates.
designSingle-center randomized controlled trial.
participantsA total of 2247 primary care patients in a hospital-based primary care clinic at high risk of no-show (>15 % risk) for their appointment in 7 days.
interventionSeven days prior to their appointment, intervention arm patients were placed in a calling queue to receive a reminder phone call from a patient service coordinator. Coordinators were trained to engage patients in concrete planning. All patients received an automated phone call (usual care). MAIN MEASURES: Primary outcome was no-show rate. Secondary outcomes included arrival rate, cancellation rate, reschedule rate, time to cancellation, and change in revenue. KEY
resultsThe no-show rate in the intervention arm (22.8 %) was significantly lower (absolute risk difference -6.4 %, p < 0.01, 95 % CI [-9.8 to -3.0 %]) than that in the control arm (29.2 %). Arrival, cancellation, and reschedule rates did not differ significantly. In the intervention arm, rescheduling and cancellations occurred further in advance of the appointment (mean difference, 0.35 days; 95 % CI [0.07-0.64]; p = 0.01). Reimbursement did not differ significantly.
conclusionsA phone call 7 days prior to an appointment led to a significant reduction in no-shows and increased reimbursement among patients at high risk of no-show. The use of targeted interventions may be of interest to practices taking on increased accountability for population health.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.