hey guys, i just started my musculoskeletal placement and it's been a really fun and enriching experience so far. i felt that it was quite a fair difference though moving from cardiopulmonary inpatients to musculo-o/p though and i suppose one of the main things is just that in cardio i/p we manage our time and arrange to see the patients whenever we please (of course taking into consideration things like lunch/investigations) but with musculo o/p we're more dependent on the patients coming to us.
just in the last week, i think the total 'no-show' and cancellations were more than 10 at the clinic i am doing my prac at. as a result, i was just thinking what we could do to decrease those numbers? for example, the patients are all given an appointment card in the first session but many fail to bring it or use it thus leading to them forgetting their appointment times for example. as a result, the number of 'do not attend' and cancellations increase. i was thinking then in the future if it would be feasible to maybe send alerts/messages to their mobiles to remind them of their appointment the day before? (perhaps through an automated program if there are any?) or if anyone has any ideas, please do share. thanks
3 comments:
Hey sharon,
That can be very frustrating having so many cancellations. I know when I completed my musculoskeletal outpatient placement that is was a great learning experience and you do want to see as many patients as possible.
Fortunately though I didn’t experience the amount of cancellations you have had. One method my supervisor advised me to use to ensure patients did attend their scheduled appointments was to call them the day before to remind them of their physiotherapy session.
In one your cancellation slots you may have the time to look ahead at the patients you have the following day and try giving them a quick curtesy call. I was quite surprised how often a patient would say they forgot they had an appointment the next day, so this was one method that proved to be successful with increasing attendance to physiotherapy.
Hope this helps
Good thought Swan.
another question I have is, how often are there other reasons for no shows? Forgetting is once possibility, but not the only... feeling much better / worse (i.e. last Rx did not give them result they were looking for) and therefor deciding not to come. Obviously poor form, but a strong possibility. I am sure there are other reasons... maybe a good research topic for the poor sods who are coming up after us!
I feel like I have to comment on this one. For those who are on placement with Sharon and I you will know that it is my case load that has had all the cancellations. I had 8 (cancellations+DNA) in the first week. Apparently that is a clinic record. It certainly can be frustrating specially since it was my first week and I have not met any of them. I agree with both Swanny and Ed. I think there are a number of reason patients don't show up for their appointments. As physiotherapists we need to educate and inform patients of the important role that physiotherapy plays. This will also build rapport with the patients and have them want to return for more treatment. I agree calls can be very beneficial. However I don't believe the majority of my patients forgot as many called in to cancel and then reschedule. I think that physiotherapy was not a large priority for them and therefore took a back seat to other things in their lives. Physiotherapy provides a service but like any other service we need to provide something that people want/ need and that will make them return.
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