Missed medical appointments costs hospital millions Published March 2, 2009 By Capt. William Sorrells 3rd Medical Group practice manager ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- Missed medical appointments are a problem for many medical practices, and the 3rd Medical Group is no exception. A missed appointment means the physician, technician and nurses suddenly find themselves with time on their hands that should be filled by a sick or injured patient. While this short break from a hectic clinical day or the chance to reduce a mound of paperwork may be appreciated, the medical appointment time lost will never be recovered. This becomes more problematic when appointment demands are high, especially during the flu and cold season, or when parents are trying to get mandated school or sport physical appointments for their children. In 2008, there were 15,521 medical appointment no-shows, costing the hospital here nearly $1.3 million in lost productivity. Worse still were the 4,493 beneficiaries, not on active duty, diverted to Urgent Care Centers in the Anchorage Bowl. For a myriad of reasons, this is not the preferred method for our beneficiaries forced to seek health care off-base. It also created an additional expense of more than $500,000, bringing the total cost to nearly $2 million. To help combat appointment no-shows, an appointment reminder system was established to call patients two days before their appointment. This reminder system sends a message identifying the appointment date and time after identifying the family member by birth month and year. This system provides an opportunity for people to cancel their appointment, freeing a bookable appointment for someone else. The appointment reminder system uses the sponsor and family member's telephone number available in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System. Beneficiaries must ensure their current phone number is correctly registered in DEERS. The 3rd Medical Group staff continues exploring options to improve access to high-quality health care for all beneficiaries they serve, but need help combating the missed medical appointment "no-show" problem. If a patient can't make a scheduled appointment, call the central appointment line at 580-2778 to cancel. Often, the appointment time can be rebooked for someone else needing to be seen if done early enough. It's also important the patient to arrive at their scheduled appointment 15 minutes early. This allows time for the patient to be checked in, preliminary information gathered, and vitals to be taken so the health care provider can make the scheduled appointment more efficient for the patient and the provider.