Decreasing New Patient No-Show Rates at a Mental Health Clinic by Process Improvement

Background: Patients in the mental health community are at risk for worsening symptoms and declining mental health without treatment. Missed psychiatric appointments are both costly and detrimental to patient outcomes. Objective: The purpose of this project was to implement evidence-based strategies to improve workflow and scheduling with the goal of decreasing the new patient no-show rate. Methods: Policy change for how new patients were scheduled was implemented, and other improvements were made. Results: The no-show rates decreased from an average of 21% preintervention to an average of 13% postintervention. Discussion: No-show rates decreased by 43% during the intervention period, which is an estimated annual financial gain of $17,840. Although after project implementation the new patient no-show rate declined, staff compliance throughout project implementation was inconsistent. Conclusions: In an outpatient mental health clinic, the implementation of multifaceted, evidence-based process improvement strategies successfully reduced no-show rates for the first appointments. Implications for Nursing: Evidence-based interventions to reduce new patient no-shows can be effectively implemented across all outpatient mental health clinics, enhancing access to care and minimizing revenue loss.