Effects of Booking Horizon Reduction on Cancellation Rates: An Experimental Analysis in Pediatric Outpatient Care

Overview

Journal MDM Policy Pract

Publisher Sage Publications

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2024 Nov 20

PMID 39564521

Authors

Benjamin Ravenscroft

Hossein Abouee Mehrizi

Brendan Wylie-Toal

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Highlights: This study uses interrupted time-series approaches to assess the effects of reducing the appointment booking horizon at a policy level on last-minute cancellations and no-shows in a pediatric outpatient care setting.Reducing the permissible booking horizon from up to 3 mo to up to 4 wk is associated with a significant reduction in the rate of last-minute cancellations and no-shows.The shortened booking horizon policy is associated with a significant drop in the variance of last-minute cancellations and no-show rates, which is valuable in settings where overbooking occurs.

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