Morse D L, Coulter M P, Nazarian L F, Napodano R J
Pediatrics. 1981 Dec;68(6):846-9.
Broken appointments are a major problem in many health facilities. Many studies have shown that broken appointments can be significantly reduced by mailing out appointment reminder cards. One of the first such studies was done at the Anthony L. Jordan Health Center in 1972 and showed that use of such reminders resulted in kept-appointment rates of 64% compared with 48% for control studies. Subsequently, routine use of such reminders was instituted. In March 1980, a follow-up study was conducted at the same health center to determine whether mailed reminders were still effective in reducing broken appointments. A 20% systematic random sample of 766 scheduled March appointments had their reminder cards held; the remaining 80% were mailed reminders as usual. Results showed no significant differences in "keep rates" between the two groups: 64% in those with reminders compared with 62% for those without. These findings suggest that effectiveness of mailed appointment reminders on reducing broken appointments may decrease with time.
爽约在许多医疗机构中都是一个大问题。许多研究表明，通过邮寄预约提醒卡可以显著减少爽约情况。最早的此类研究之一于1972年在安东尼·L·乔丹健康中心进行，结果显示使用这类提醒使预约成功率达到了64%，而对照研究的成功率为48%。随后，开始常规使用这类提醒。1980年3月，在同一健康中心进行了一项后续研究，以确定邮寄提醒在减少爽约方面是否仍然有效。对766个安排在3月的预约进行了20%的系统随机抽样，扣留了他们的提醒卡；其余80%则像往常一样邮寄提醒。结果显示两组的“守约率”没有显著差异：收到提醒的患者为64%，未收到提醒的患者为62%。这些发现表明，邮寄预约提醒在减少爽约方面的效果可能会随着时间而降低。
