The cost of missed patient appointments are very high, estimates peg this number to be more than $150 billion annually. As more and more patients miss their follow up appointments this number is counting high. Apart from the grave financial costs involved, the cost of missing follow up appointments also translates to incomplete medications which are even more dangerous.
Chances are high that the cost of missing follow up appointments makes patients turning up somewhere else in the healthcare systems with more serious and more costly health concerns. Estimates believe that depending on the type of healthcare practice, patient no-show rates range anywhere from 5 percent to 50 percent.
As patients seldom take follow up appointments seriously, doctors believe that patients who miss or cancel appointments risk undetected and untreated medical conditions, threatening the continuity of care especially when follow-up appointments are scheduled for chronic disease management treatments and medications.
With so much at stake, understanding why patients miss appointments is the first step towards healthy wellbeing and critical to reducing no-shows.
So why follow up Appointments are not seriously taken by Patients? Here are the common problems:
Fear– It is true that most of the people fear to go to the doctor. In addition to current medication, most of the patients worry that doctors may reprimand them for unhealthy behaviors or not following medical advice.
- Time- In today’s busy schedules, it often happens that work and family commitments take priority over one’s personal health, especially when it comes to preventive care and medical follow-ups. If any appointment scheduling is stated for weeks or months in advance, it is often forgotten as one becomes busy with professional and family commitments.
- Self-Medication- That is another main cause, most of the patients feel good after the first visit and often self- get the same medicines and treatments again. This is an erroneous practice as follow up procedures aim at changing medication according to the recovery progress of the patient.
Managing one’s and family’s health is very important. A healthy body and mind ensures a productive workplace and honoring one’s professional, family and social commitments. Here is how one can never miss a follow-up appointment.
Appointment Software to Reduce No Shows
Follow up appointments are as important to a patient and to a doctor. Follow-up cancellations disrupt the medications, take up most of a physicians’ time thus even prompting some doctors to charge no-show fees, worse to terminate relationships with chronic offenders.
In this case, it becomes very important that an effective solution is kept in place to remind patients of their follow-up appointments. An effective system like Gigadocs, allows medical practices to automatically send follow up appointment reminders via text messages so that the probability of follow up no-shows is kept at minimum levels.
How does Gigadocs help?
- The integrated Gigadocs app helps patients to book follow up appointments at the click of a button on the Gigadocs app.
- After the patients have booked a follow-up appointment, they get an SMS confirmation.
- The Gigadocs app sends an SMS reminder in the morning of the follow-up appointment date on the patient’s registered number, thus ensuring the probability of no-shows are kept at minimum levels.
In a crux, missed patient appointments can have a detrimental impact on their health, it can even worsen an illness which can be fatal. With the Gigadocs app, patients are ensured that they do not miss follow up appointments, and thereby assures that the doctor-patient relationship is nurtured towards better healthcare practices.
Maintain your entire family health history in one app: #Gigadocs
IOS App – apple.co/2W2iG4V
Andriod App – bit.ly/33AQoRC
To know more, reach out to us at info@gigadocs.com
