Slackers costing hospitals big bucks
Patients skipping appointments without cancelling are likely costing Midcentral District Health Board hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
The problem also slows down access to vital medical care for the no-show patients and others still waiting, and is a bugbear hospital staff are itching to combat.
About 7800 appointments were skipped last year by people not required to stay at a Dhb-run facility, hospital services operations director Lyn Horgan said.
‘‘Every time someone does not attend an appointment, it means another person misses out on the opportunity.
‘‘We have limited ability to arrange for someone else to take the appointment spot on the day.’’
Patients not showing up for dental and women’s health appointments were the worst, at 13 per cent and 10.5 per cent respectively.
The best rate was the regional cancer treatment service, where just 3 per cent of appointments were missed.
About 5000 of the missed bookings were follow-up appointments.
Each year, the DHB manages more than 115,000 appointments for patients not requiring a hospital bed, and more than 6 per cent were missed.
The rate has been ‘‘slowly reducing over recent years’’ and is an improvement from about 8 per cent in 2010, Horgan said. However, In 2014 the total no-shows were between 4.9 and 5.2 per cent.
The DHB did not answer questions about costs and previous New Zealand hospital estimates vary.
In 2014, Counties Manukau DHB put the cost between $180 and $260 each appointment, and in 2012 Waikato DHB estimated it was losing about $150 each missed booking.
Reasons often cited for noshows include forgetting, difficulty with transport, anxiety, privacy concerns, not wanting to ask for time off work or not understanding the importance of the appointment.
Horgan said there was ongoing work to improve the number of noshows. Hospital staff tried to work with patients to book appointments at times that suited them, and use phone reminders.
‘‘Texting is currently being trialled in some areas. With reduced postal deliveries, email and other means provide more timely alternatives.’’
A new patient management system is being installed and should make automated texts possible. ‘‘Where possible, services are provided as close to home as possible, making it easier for people to attend. The cardiac assessment clinics established a few years ago in Dannevirke and Levin are an excellent example, as well as the Horowhenua-based hospital dental service.’’
Wellington’s Capital and Coast District Health Board reported a similar figure of a little over 6 per cent of appointments missed due to no-shows last year.
Horgan said making a call to cancel a hospital appointment was worthwhile, even at late notice, because some services keep a list of patients who can attend at short notice.