병원 외래환자의 예약부도 요인

Abstract

In order to maximize the efficiency and the quality of care in a hospital, hospitals in general operate by appointments. Patient no-shows or missed appointments waste the time of staffs who prepare for appointments, deprive patients of needed care, and increase burden on clinic capacity. The purpose of this study is to examine the importance and significance of factors that affect patient no-shows. The actual data of 50,000 outpatient appointments is compiled and analyzed from a VAMC in the United States with aims to identify the factors that contribute to outpatient no-shows and to draw meaningful implications. Random forest along with logistic regression analysis identify the factors affecting no-shows; appointment leadtime, show-up rate, travel distance, no-show rate in previous period, patient age, severity, complexity of disease, chronic pain, depression, drug dependence. The appointment leadtime, show-up rate, travel distance and previous no-show rate can be improved by enhancing SMS pre-notification and by improving afterwards telephone counseling. For other factors, it needs to study on the service differentiation with the characteristics of each patient group.