Non-returning patients: a survey of inactive patients in a suburban practice

Maintaining an adequate patient volume is a new concern for primary care physicians. Retaining active patients may be as important as recruiting new patients. A mail survey was conducted using a random sample of patients not returning for care over a three-year period in a primary care office. Over half of the inactive patients were transient, never having established themselves with the practice. One third of regular attending inactive patients had changed physicians, whereas the others had simply not returned for care. Patients who had changed physicians were more likely users of emergency rooms or drop-in clinics, had more negative feelings while in physicians' offices, were less satisfied with their own present physicians, and had less positive attitudes toward physicians in general. Inactive patients who had not changed physicians were as satisfied with their own physicians and with physicians in general as the active patient control subjects, even though they used services infrequently, usually for acute care. Investigating transient patients and those who are inactive but remain with a practice would positively affect patient volume and would likely benefit these patients as well. Primary care physicians should survey their own inactive files before embarking on other marketing techniques.