Saine Patrick J, Baker Suzanne M
Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA.
Jt Comm J Qual Saf. 2003 Jun;29(6):309-15. doi: 10.1016/s1549-3741(03)29035-3.
What is the best way to schedule follow-up appointments? The most popular model requires the patient to negotiate a follow-up appointment time on leaving the office. This process accounts for the majority of follow-up patient scheduling. There are circumstances when this immediate appointment arrangement is not possible, however. The two common processes used to contact patients for follow-up appointments after they have left the office are the postcard reminder method and the prescheduled appointment method.
In 2001 the two methods used to contact patients for follow-up appointments after they had left the clinic were used for all 2,116 reappointment patients at an ophthalmology practice at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. The number of completed successful appointments, the no-show rate, and patient satisfaction for each method were calculated.
A larger number of patient reappointments were completed using the prescheduled appointment procedure than the postcard reminder system (74% vs 54%). The difference between completed and pending appointments (minus no-shows) of the two methods equaled 163 patients per quarter, or 652 patients per year. Additional revenues associated with use of the prescheduled appointment letter method were estimated at $594,600 for 3 years.
Using the prescheduled appointment method with a patient notification letter is advised when patients do not schedule their appointments on the way out of the office.
安排随访预约的最佳方式是什么？最常见的模式是要求患者在离开办公室时协商随访预约时间。这一过程占随访患者预约安排的大部分。然而，在某些情况下，这种即时预约安排是不可能的。在患者离开办公室后，用于联系他们进行随访预约的两种常见方法是明信片提醒法和预先安排预约法。
2001年，达特茅斯-希区柯克医疗中心眼科诊所对2116名复诊患者采用了这两种在患者离开诊所后联系他们进行随访预约的方法。计算了每种方法完成的成功预约数量、爽约率和患者满意度。
与明信片提醒系统相比，采用预先安排预约程序完成的患者复诊数量更多（74%对54%）。两种方法完成的预约与待处理预约（减去爽约者）之间的差异为每季度163名患者，即每年652名患者。估计采用预先安排预约信函法在3年内带来的额外收入为594,600美元。
当患者在离开办公室时没有安排预约时，建议采用预先安排预约法并附上患者通知信函。
