Impact of a revised appointment scheduling script on IUD service delivery in three Title X family planning clinics

The objective was to study a redesigned call script for intrauterine device (IUD) appointment scheduling.

The script for a Title X call center was redesigned. Pre- and postintervention data were collected.

For women with a scheduled IUD visit (n=99, pre n=57, post n=42), the preintervention IUD insertion rate was 47%; the postintervention insertion rate was 60% (p=.23). Among women ≤25 years old, the preintervention rate was 41% and the postintervention rate was 68% (p=.05). No-show rates decreased (40.4% vs. 23.8%, p=.08), particularly for younger women (n=51; 46.9% vs. 15.8%, p=.04).

A revised IUD appointment scheduling script improved long-acting reversible contraceptive uptake.

Revising an appointment scheduling call script is a simple and scalable intervention to decrease administrative and clinical barriers to family planning services. As many clinics in the United States move toward computerized and centralized call centers, improving patient communication during the scheduling process may have a broad impact on clinical efficiency.