ArticlePatient preference and adherence2017
Getting patients in the door: medical appointment reminder preferences.
Article in Patient preference and adherence, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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
17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Using discrete choice experiments to develop and deliver patient-centered psychological interventions: a systematic review.Health psychology review · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Patient and carer perceptions and experiences of technology-facilitated appointment reminders in healthcare: a scoping review.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2026Article
- Preferences for Personalized Text Message Appointment Reminders Among Outpatients in a Universal Health System: Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Social vulnerability and reliability to attend clinic appointments in an urban oculoplastic surgery clinic.Orbit (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2025Article
- Exploring the Causes of Missed Appointments at Ibra Hospital in the Sultanate of Oman: A Cross-Sectional Study.Cureus · 2025Article
- The development and validation of a one-off scale to measure procrastination and precrastination traits in young adults.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- The perception of facilitators and barriers to the use of e-health solutions in Poland: a qualitative study.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2024Article
- Consumer Preferences for a Healthcare Appointment Reminder in Australia: A Discrete Choice Experiment.The patient · 2024Article
- Consumers' Preferences for Purchasing mHealth Apps: Discrete Choice Experiment.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2023Article
- Reaching and Re-Engaging People Living with HIV Who Are Out of Care: A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Patient Preferences for Strategies to Enhance Clinic Communication and Outreach.AIDS patient care and STDs · 2023Article
- Investigating the reasons for missing an outpatient appointment in Royal Hospital, Sultanate of Oman: Perspectives of patients and medical staff in a survey.Health science reports · 2022Article
- Article
- Transportation Barriers to Health Care in the United States: Findings From the National Health Interview Survey, 1997-2017.American journal of public health · 2020Article
- Recent Approaches to Improve Medication Adherence in Patients with Coronary Heart Disease: Progress Towards a Learning Healthcare System.Current atherosclerosis reports · 2018Review
- A systematic review on reminder systems in physical therapy.Caspian journal of internal medicine · 2018Review
- Feasibility and Acceptability of a Text Message-Based Smoking Cessation Program for Young Adults in Lima, Peru: Pilot Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeBetween 23% and 34% of outpatient appointments are missed annually. Patients who frequently miss medical appointments have poorer health outcomes and are less likely to use preventive health care services. Missed appointments result in unnecessary costs and organizational inefficiencies. Appointment reminders may help reduce missed appointments; particular types may be more effective than other types. We used a survey with a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to learn why individuals miss appointments and to assess appointment reminder preferences.
methodsWe enrolled a national sample of adults from an online survey panel to complete demographic and appointment habit questions as well as a 16-task DCE designed in Sawtooth Software's Discover tool. We assessed preferences for four reminder attributes - initial reminder type, arrival of initial reminder, reminder content, and number of reminders. We derived utilities and importance scores.
resultsWe surveyed 251 adults nationally, with a mean age of 43 (range 18-83) years: 51% female, 84% White, and 8% African American. Twenty-three percent of individuals missed one or more appointments in the past 12 months. Two primary reasons given for missing an appointment include transportation problems (28%) and forgetfulness (26%). Participants indicated the initial reminder type (21%) was the most important attribute, followed by the number of reminders (10%). Overall, individuals indicated a preference for a single reminder, arriving via email, phone call, or text message, delivered less than 2 weeks prior to an appointment. Preferences for reminder content were less clear.
conclusionThe number of missed appointments and reasons for missing appointments are consistent with prior research. Patient-centered appointment reminders may improve appointment attendance by addressing some of the reasons individuals report missing appointments and by meeting patients' needs. Future research is necessary to determine if preferred reminders used in practice will result in improved appointment attendance in clinical settings.
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Registered trials
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.