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Stating Appointment Costs in SMS Reminders Reduces Missed Hospital Appointments: Findings from Two Randomised Controlled Trials

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  • Hallsworth, Michael
  • Berry, Dan
  • Sanders, Michael
  • Sallis, Anna
  • King, Dominic
  • Vlaev, Ivo
  • Darzi, Ara

Abstract

Background: Missed hospital appointments are a major cause of inefficiency worldwide. Healthcare providers are increasingly using Short Message Service reminders to reduce ‘Did Not Attend’ (DNA) rates. Systematic reviews show that sending such reminders is effective, but there is no evidence on whether their impact is affected by their content. Accordingly, we undertook two randomised controlled trials that tested the impact of rephrasing appointment reminders on DNA rates in the United Kingdom. Trial Methods Participants were outpatients with a valid mobile telephone number and an outpatient appointment between November 2013 and January 2014 (Trial One, 10,111 participants) or March and May 2014 (Trial Two, 9,848 participants). Appointments were randomly allocated to one of four reminder messages, which were issued five days in advance. Message assignment was then compared against appointment outcomes (appointment attendance, DNA, cancellation by patient). Results: In Trial One, a message including the cost of a missed appointment to the health system produced a DNA rate of 8.4%, compared to 11.1% for the existing message (OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.61–0.89, P

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  • Hallsworth, Michael & Berry, Dan & Sanders, Michael & Sallis, Anna & King, Dominic & Vlaev, Ivo & Darzi, Ara, 2015. "Stating Appointment Costs in SMS Reminders Reduces Missed Hospital Appointments: Findings from Two Randomised Controlled Trials," Scholarly Articles 22856929, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    • Handle: RePEc:hrv:hksfac:22856929
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    5. Hallsworth, Michael & List, John A. & Metcalfe, Robert D. & Vlaev, Ivo, 2017. "The behavioralist as tax collector: Using natural field experiments to enhance tax compliance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 14-31.
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    1. de Streel, Alexandre & Sibony, Anne-Lise, 2017. "Towards Smarter Consumer Protection Rules for Digital Services," 28th European Regional ITS Conference, Passau 2017 169509, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    2. Robert G. Wood & Brian Goesling & Diane Paulsell, "undated". "Design for an Impact Study of Five Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education Programs and Strategies," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 01852acb9cbb4dd9afd6bc7cb, Mathematica Policy Research.
    3. Chen Qu & Elise Météreau & Luigi Butera & Marie Claire Villeval & Jean-Claude Dreher & Matthew Rushworth, 2019. "Neurocomputational mechanisms at play when weighing concerns for extrinsic rewards, moral values, and social image," Post-Print halshs-02193425, HAL.
    4. Ankita Patnaik & Jonathan Gellar & Rebecca Dunn & Brian Goesling, "undated". "Text Message Reminders and Their Impact on Attendance at Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education Workshops," Mathematica Policy Research Reports c090e695c9624337ab886b1c0, Mathematica Policy Research.

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