Appointment attendance at a remote rural dental training facility in Australia

Outpatient visit behavior in patients with epilepsy: Generalized Epilepsy is more frequently non-attendance than Focal Epilepsy

BACKGROUND

Patients with epilepsy (PWE), especially those with Idiopathic Epilepsy (GE), are at a high risk of disadvantage caused by non-adherence. It has been suggested that medical visit behavior may be a surrogate indicator of medication adherence. We hypothesized that patients with IGE would adhere poorly to visits.

METHODS

This was a retrospective study of PWE who visited the Department of Psychiatry and Neurology at Hokkaido University Hospital between January 2017 and December 2019. Demographic and clinical information on PWE were extracted from medical records and visit data from the medical information system. Non-attendance of outpatient appointments was defined as "not showing up for the day of an appointment without prior notice." Mixed-effects logistic regression analysis was conducted with non-attendance as the objective variable.

RESULTS

Of the 9151 total appointments, 413 were non-attendances, with an overall non-attendance rate of 4.5%. IGE was a more frequent non-attendance than Focal Epilepsy (FE) (odds ratio (OR) 1.94; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.17-3.21; p = 0.010). History of public assistance receipt was associated with higher non-attendance (OR 2.04; 95% CI 1.22-3.43; p = 0.007), while higher education (OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.43-0.93; p = 0.021) and farther distance to a hospital (OR 0.33; 95% CI 0.13-0.88; p = 0.022), and higher frequency of visits (OR 0.18; 95% CI 0.04-0.86; p = 0.031) were associated with fewer non-attendances. In a subgroup analysis of patients with GE, women were associated with fewer non-attendance (OR 0.31; 95% CI 0.14-0.72; p = 0.006).

CONCLUSIONS

GE was more frequent in the non-attendance group than in the FE group. Among patients with GE, females were found to have non-attendance less frequently; however, there was no clear difference in the odds of non-attendance between Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy (JME) and IGE other than JME.

Using business intelligence and data visualization to understand the characteristics of failed appointments in dental school clinics

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES

Broken appointments are an important cause of waste in health care. Patients who fail to attend incur costs to providers, deny trainees learning opportunities, and impact their own health as well as that of other patients who are waiting for care.

METHODS

A total of 410,000 appointment records over 3 years were extracted from our electronic health record. We conducted exploratory data analysis and assessed correlations between appointment no-shows and other attributes of the appointment and the patient. The University of Michigan Medical School's Committee on Human Research reviewed the study and deemed that no Institutional Review Board oversight was necessary for this quality improvement project that was, retrospectively, turned into a study with previously de-identified data.

RESULTS

The patient's previous attendance record is the single most significant correlation with attendance. We found that patients who said they are "scared" of dental visits were 62% as likely to attend as someone reporting "no problem." Patients over 65 years of age have better attendance rates. There was a positive association between receiving email/text confirmation and attendance. A total of 94.9% of those emailed a reminder and 92.2% of those who were texted attended their appointment.

CONCLUSION(S)

We were able to identify relationships of several variables to failed and attended appointments that we were previously unknown to us. This knowledge enabled us to implement interventions to support better attendance at Dental Clinics at the University of Michigan, improving patient health, student training, and efficient use of resources.

Impact of demographics and appointment characteristics on patient attendance in a university dental clinic

INTRODUCTION

Failed patient attendance in a university dental clinic is detrimental to the student learning experience, the university as a business, and to members of the public awaiting urgent dental treatment.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to identify the demographic, appointment characteristics, and time-related factors associated with patient attendance in a university dental clinic from 2015 to 2019.

METHODS

A 5-year retrospective analysis was conducted in 2020 on data extracted from the Griffith University Dental Clinic patient management system. Following data cleaning and categorization, the dataset was downloaded into SPSS for statistical analysis. Frequencies, odds ratio, and chi squared were used to determine the demographic and time-related factors of patients who had completed, cancelled, and failed to attend (FTA) appointments.

RESULTS

A total of 23.4% of appointments were cancelled, and 6.6% were FTA. Demographics associated with cancellations include females, adults aged 25 to 44, and private paying patients. FTA were higher in young adults aged 19 to 24, low to mid-range socioeconomic status (SES) and those eligible for publicly funded dental treatment. Mondays and Fridays experienced the greatest number of FTA and cancellations, respectively. Emergency appointments had the greatest attendance rates and endodontic procedures the lowest.

CONCLUSION

The loss of clinical teaching hours, resources, and revenue necessitates the implementation of targeted strategies to minimize cancellations and FTA based on demographic and appointment characteristics that may render individual as high risk for failed attendance.

Association between attendance at outpatient follow-up appointments and blood pressure control among patients with hypertension

Objective

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of regularity in treatment follow-up appointments on treatment outcomes among hypertensive patients attending different healthcare settings in Islamabad, Pakistan. Additionally, factors associated with regularity in treatment follow-up were also identified.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was undertaken in selected primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare settings between September, 2017 and December, 2018 in Islamabad, Pakistan. A structured data collection form was used to gather sociodemographic and clinical data of recruited patients. Binary logistic regression analyses were undertaken to determine association between regularity in treatment follow-up appointments and blood pressure control and to determine covariates significantly associated with regularity in treatment follow-up appointments.

Results

A total of 662 patients with hypertension participated in the study. More than half 346 (52%) of the patients were females. The mean age of participants was 54 ± 12 years. Only 274 (41%) patients regularly attended treatment follow-up appointments. Regression analysis found that regular treatment follow-up was an independent predictor of controlled blood pressure (OR 1.561 [95% CI 1.102–2.211; P = 0.024]). Gender (OR 1.720 [95% CI 1.259–2.350; P = 0.001]), age (OR 1.462 [CI 95%:1.059–2.020; P = 0.021]), higher education (OR 1.7 [95% CI 1.041–2.778; P = 0.034]), entitlement to free medical care (OR 3.166 [95% CI 2.284–4.388; P = 0.0001]), treatment duration (OR 1.788 [95% CI 1.288–2.483; P = 0.001]), number of medications (OR 1.585 [95% CI 1.259–1.996; P = 0.0001]), presence of co-morbidity (OR 3.214 [95% CI 2.248–4.593; P = 0.0001]) and medication adherence (OR 6.231 [95% CI 4.264–9.106; P = 0.0001]) were significantly associated with regularity in treatment follow-up appointments.

Conclusion

Attendance at follow-up visits was alarmingly low among patients with hypertension in Pakistan which may explain poor treatment outcomes in patients. Evidence-based targeted interventions should be developed and implemented, considering local needs, to improve attendance at treatment follow-up appointments.

Facilitating Access to Dental Care for People Experiencing Homelessness

INTRODUCTION

Fear, lack of information, and lower health literacy are prominent barriers preventing people experiencing homelessness from accessing dental services. Most of this population are eligible for free dental treatment in Australia, yet few access care. This study evaluated 3 models for facilitating access to dental services for people experiencing homelessness.

METHODS

Three facilitated access models were developed and implemented at 4 community organizations. In model 1, dental appointments were booked on the spot after a screening by dental practitioners. Model 2 also involved dental screenings followed by appointments made via phone call from the service. In model 3, the community organizations referred clients directly to the service where appointments were made via a phone call to the client. The models were trialed with community organizations between 2017 and 2019. For each model, participant demographic information, attendance at subsequent dental appointments, and program operation resource use were collected. Cost-effectiveness was assessed as an incremental cost per additional person attending a dental appointment.

RESULTS

A total of 76 people participated in model 1, 66 in model 2, and 43 in model 3. Model 1 was the most effective, leading to 84.2 (confidence interval, 75.8-92.7) of every 100 participants attending a dental appointment. Model 2 had a lower effectiveness of 56.1 (44.6-67.6), and model 3 was the least effective, with a mean of 29.3 (15.0-43.6) per 100 participants attending. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were $51 per additional person attending a dental appointment for model 3 (compared to no strategy) and $173 per additional person attending for model 1 (compared to model 3).

CONCLUSIONS

Model 3 was the most cost-effective strategy of increasing access to dental care for people experiencing homelessness. Decision makers who find the effectiveness of model 3 insufficient should look instead to employ model 1 or a combination of these 2 models. The importance of face-to-face engagement to foster trust between the individual and health care practitioner was evident.

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER STATEMENT

This study provides a range of models for dental and community services to facilitate access to dental care for people experiencing homelessness. Decision makers should consider the needs of vulnerable populations, alternative model designs, and their cost-effectiveness when implementing models of facilitated access to dental care. Face-to-face engagement between clients and dental practitioners by inclusion of a screening stage appears to be instrumental in overcoming barriers to access clinical care.