[Text message reminders in the hospital-psychiatry outpatient setting - a quasi-experimental study on cost aspects]

During their specialty training program residents are stimulated to think and work in a goal-oriented way. Patient 'no shows' are quite common in the mental healthcare system, consequently causing the ineffective use of healthcare services.
AIM: To reduce the amount of 'no shows' in an outpatient clinic for hospital psychiatry by sending reminders via text messaging.
METHOD: A quasi-experimental study was conducted at an outpatient clinic for hospital-psychiatry in 2016, in which 101 patients were included. Eventually, 50 patients received a text message to remind them of their appointment, while 46 did not. We used a χ2 test to evaluate group differences. The effect size was expressed in the 'number needed to cash' (nnc), similar to the number needed to treat (nnt). Routinely available hospital-data was used to estimate lost revenue per year.
RESULTS: A significant group difference was found in the number of outpatient clinic visits in favour of sending a text message reminder (74% vs. 92%, p = 0.018). This corresponded to a nnc of 5.53, i.e. 6 text messages need to be sent in order to accomplish one extra patient showing up for their intake. Based on hospital-data from 2016 the estimated lost revenue was € 53.017,38 / year at our outpatient clinic.
CONCLUSION: Sending reminders via text messaging is effective in reducing the number of 'no shows' at an outpatient clinic for hospital psychiatry.