Patient "no-shows"--are we scheduling failure?

Radiology departments may inadvertently be contributing to their patient "no show" problems. This article continues the analysis of patients' failure to keep scheduled radiology appointments first described in "Patient 'No Shows'--A Costly Problem" (Radiology Management, 11:1) and illustrates "no-show" patterns in three examination groups in the Department of Radiology at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas. The study shows a strong link between patients' failure to keep appointments and the length of time between scheduling and the performance of the examination.