The cost of missed medical appointment

Photo: Aaron Lefler

One of the main issues of the modern healthcare system is missed appointments or no-shows. These no-shows create quite a few problems for all health clinics across the globe. Waiting times, scheduling problems, as well as increased costs, are some of the major issues that missed patient appointments cause. So, let us take a closer look at the exact cost of missed medical appointments and how these no-shows can be decreased with modern technologies such as AI.

Average missed appointment cost

When it comes down to it, what do the stats say? If we take a look at the US, according to Forbes, there is an estimated cost of over $150 billion each year for missed appointments in their healthcare system. In Chile, for example, this number was around 40 billion pesos annually. This is quite a big number. Patients, with no fault of their own, rarely understand the cost of a missed appointment. Therefore, it is up to health clinics to not only educate patients on missed appointments but also ensure that there is a reliable and quick way to reschedule and fill in the gaps for those no-shows. This can greatly help prevent missed appointments but of course, cannot get rid of missed appointments entirely as they can always happen here and there.

Aside from the monetary costs, what are some of the other costs created by no-shows? The cost of these missed appointments also reflects on the overall patient-doctor relationship. A patient may not feel connected to the healthcare system a clinic provides as well as its services and thus that clinic might encounter no-shows to a greater extent. If patients are not satisfied with the services provided, they may not return for future appointments.

Another cost of the no-shows might come in form of having to change the overall accessibility of your clinic and working hours. If, for example, patients are less responsive or missing appointments during certain times of the day, a clinic will need to rethink its availability during these hours.

Finally, the major cost of missed appointments is the decreased number of patients. A clinic will lose patients and start to struggle with waiting times if the no-show numbers are increased.

How to combat missed appointments

So, now that we have covered the average costs as well as other additional issues that missed appointments can create, let's see what some of the solutions are. For starters, we should observe how a more efficient and easier outreach of a clinic can help patients schedule appointments and continuously come for follow-ups regardless of their location.

Building stronger connections with patients

Ensuring your patients feel secure and connected to the health clinic, also reinforces any future appointments and reduces the chances of no-shows. When patients feel that they have been prioritized, they will feel much better about their healthcare journey. This helps reduces no-shows. Building stronger connections mean making sure you know what the patient needs, creating a better availability for your clinic, and allowing patients to quickly and easily schedule an appointment.

This can all be achieved using digital tools and technologies such as AI. When we take a look at Patricia, we can quickly see how using a natural language processing engine allows for more efficient and faster communication and engagement with patients. With NLP and machine-learning abilities, AI such as Patricia created by team Eniax can allow patients to receive all of the answers they need about their medical journey, appointments, and others on their phones, computers, etc.

Reducing waiting times is essential

Waiting times create a real blockage in healthcare systems around the world. With the increase in patients from the global pandemic, we have seen how devastating the results of the overwhelmed healthcare system can be. Old mediums between patients and doctors such as call centers have proven to be largely ineffective. However, new and innovative ways of establishing communication with health centers, such as the use of various digital tools and technologies powered by AI that uses the NLP engine, have allowed for reduced waiting times. Namely, AI can handle a large number of patients at once. Furthermore, AI is always focused on each patient entirely. This means that patients will have 100% attention once they engage in communication with their clinics.

Contacting patients before the appointments is crucial in an effort to lower missed appointments

Having confirmation options for the set appointments greatly reduces no-shows. Using AI and digital services, once a patient makes an appointment, a few days or, for example, 24h before that appointment should take place, a short message prompt delivered by AI can allow patients to either confirm or reschedule or cancel their appointments. A confirmation service helps Increase the conversion of medical appointments, exams, and treatments. Thus, this reduces absenteeism and no-shows.

Dealing with the cost of missed medical appointments

In summary, the cost of missed appointments comes in several different forms other than monetary, and each cost impacts health clinics and their relationships with their patients. Tackling the problem of no-shows that cause missed medical appointments and these costs is essential when trying to establish a health clinic that is reliable and can offer its services to its patients at any time. As we can see, this can be achieved successfully with the proper implementation of a few new digital tools and services that are powered by a powerful AI with NLP technology at its core. Therefore, losing time, money, and bad relationships with your patients can all be avoided. Systems that work for you and provide a better overall patient experience will help you ensure each patient is satisfied, waiting times are lowered, and no-shows become a thing of the past.