The use of short message service (SMS) for patient appointment reminders

McClean, Susan; Perera, Ranawaka A.P.M.

doi:10.7309/jmtm.24

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Providing the appointment confirmation message and also the reminder message regarding the appointment time can lead to an increase in user satisfaction. This result is consistent with the findings of studies by Junod Perron and McClean [30,31] which have shown that Short Message Service (SMS) reminders significantly increased satisfaction. In the study done by Nakhaee, et al's [32], it has been stated that by sending a reminder SMS, it is possible to avoid office crowd due to forgetting the date or time of the appointment and reduce no-shows.…”

Section: Principal Findingssupporting

confidence: 92%

The use of various appointment systems among patients visiting academic outpatient centers in Kerman and the evaluation of patients’ perspective and satisfaction

Bagheri

Behnam

Galavi

et al. 2022

BMC Health Serv Res

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Background To optimize appointment systems, it is necessary to assess their users’ perspectives. This study aims to determine the use of various appointment systems among patients in academic outpatient centers and to investigate their perspectives and satisfaction. Methods This survey study was conducted on 332 patients or those accompanying patients in academic outpatient centers. A five-part questionnaire consisting of (1) demographic information, (2) willingness to use systems, (3) problems when using these systems, (4) problems after reserving the appointment, (5) recommendations and critics was used. The relationship between the system of interest and the available tools was examined by the Chi-square test, and the relationship between demographic characteristics and satisfaction was assessed using multiple regression. Results The participants’ overall satisfaction towards appointment systems, regardless of the type of system, was 49.12 ± 16.04 (out of 100). Satisfaction with the appointment system using Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) was significantly higher than the other two systems (p = 0.03). Web-based application and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) were the most frequently used systems with 61% and 48%, respectively. More than half of those who had access to a telephone (56%) preferred the IVR appointment system, and most of those who had Internet access (71%) preferred the web-based application (p < 0.05). Among 137 participants who had access to both the Internet and telephone, 49% (n = 67) stated that they would rather arrange their appointment through the web-based application. Conclusion The web-based application and IVR are the most frequently used and favorable appointment system among the patients or those accompanying patients. Despite the availability of the infrastructure, the participant had moderate satisfaction with these systems due to their failures. Therefore, to have more efficient systems and increase patients or those accompanying patients satisfaction with these systems, healthcare authorities should have a plan to solve the problems of these systemes and use the capacity of information resources to inform the community regarding these systems.

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Section: Principal Findingssupporting

confidence: 92%

The use of various appointment systems among patients visiting academic outpatient centers in Kerman and the evaluation of patients’ perspective and satisfaction

Bagheri

Behnam

Galavi

et al. 2022

BMC Health Serv Res

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“…For service improvement, this study identified several reasons for non‐attendance that could have been addressed by use of a standardized, SMS‐based reminder system, such as forgetfulness and illness. Automated SMS reminders have been implemented to improve attendance rates and therapeutic engagement in a range of healthcare settings, with many systems including the opportunity to confirm or cancel a scheduled appointment in advance (Koshy et al, 2008; McClean & Perera, 2012; Schwebel & Larimer, 2018). The bi‐directional, ‘two‐way’ messaging observed in this study also showed utility by providing clinicians a means to acquire further information surrounding non‐attendance, such as poor health and inadequate sleep, that may not have been readily disclosed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reasons for non‐attendance in youth mental health clinics: Insights from mobile messaging communications

Ayalde

Soong

Thomas

et al. 2023

Early Intervention Psych

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AimNon‐attendance at appointments in youth mental health services is a common problem which contributes to reduced service effectiveness and unmet needs. Reasons cited by young people for non‐attendance are poorly understood. Information derived from short‐message‐service (SMS) conversations about appointments between patients and clinicians can uncover new insights about the circumstances leading to ‘did not attend’ events.MethodsText messages between young people and clinicians were examined in a retrospective audit of medical records in two youth mental health services in Perth, Australia. Frequently non‐attending young people aged 16–24 (n = 40) engaged in 302 SMS message chains about appointments. Mixed methods included quantitative data and qualitative thematic analysis of textual data.ResultsMedical reasons (32/190, 16.8%) and forgetfulness (20/190, 10.5%) were the most frequent reasons for non‐attendance. Major issues included non‐avoidable events while others were potentially preventable and could be addressed by the service.ConclusionsThe analysis of mobile communications in clinical practice can be used for service evaluation and to reveal barriers that impede attendance to ongoing care.

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“…Other than education system, the practice of SMS as a reminder is widely applied in the health Several studies have shown that the use of SMS appointment reminders was effective in reducing non-attendance rates [14][15]. SMS reminders have also shown a significant saving of costs as it provides not only a cheap and automated alternative of sending out reminders, but also saves the administration staff time [16]. Therefore, it is recommended that the adoption of such systems will enhance the attendance not only in the medical setting but also increase attendance rates among students in schools, colleges and universities.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automated attendance management and alert system

Rahim

Ismail

Razak

et al. 2018

J. Fundam and Appl Sci.

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UiTM lecturers and Academic Affairs Department in monitoring students' absenteeism and improving the absenteeism record management. AAMAS provides various functions, from managing and recording students' attendance record, to sending auto with high absenteeism via short messaging system (SMS) and email. The system is also able to track the number of alerts sent. Through AAMAS, a significant amount of time and money can be saved, for instance time needed to fill out can be minimized significantly. Besides, message interception, human resources and human errors can also be reduced. AAMAS which was tailored to UiTM could be also enhanced and

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The use of short message service (SMS) for patient appointment reminders

Cited by 4 publications

References 5 publications

The use of various appointment systems among patients visiting academic outpatient centers in Kerman and the evaluation of patients’ perspective and satisfaction

The use of various appointment systems among patients visiting academic outpatient centers in Kerman and the evaluation of patients’ perspective and satisfaction

Reasons for non‐attendance in youth mental health clinics: Insights from mobile messaging communications

Automated attendance management and alert system

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