Increasing Follow-Up Rates at a Free Clinic.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Informatics
• Patient Adherence Research

Background:

• Low follow-up visit rates are a persistent challenge in free medical clinics.
• Effective patient reminder systems are crucial for maintaining continuity of care.
• Traditional reminder methods like paper cards have limitations in reach and impact.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of SMS (Short Message Service) messaging on patient follow-up visit rates.
• To compare the effectiveness of SMS reminders against traditional reminder methods.
• To evaluate SMS messaging's influence on appointment adherence irrespective of scheduling method.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of an SMS messaging application for patient reminders.
• Tracking follow-up visit adherence for patients receiving SMS versus paper reminders or no reminders.
• Analysis of the overall change in follow-up rates attributed to the SMS intervention.

Main Results:

• The SMS application intervention led to a 7% increase in overall follow-up visit rates.
• Patients who received SMS reminders demonstrated consistent adherence to their scheduled appointments.
• The intervention proved effective regardless of whether patients scheduled appointments before leaving or received paper reminders.

Conclusions:

• SMS messaging is a viable and effective tool for improving patient follow-up adherence in free clinic settings.
• Integrating mobile technology like SMS can enhance healthcare delivery and patient engagement.
• Further research can explore optimizing SMS reminder strategies for diverse patient populations.