The incidence of nonattendance at an urgent care dermatology clinic

Abstract

Nonattendance in dermatology clinics remains a burden on clinic efficiency. Nonattendance rates have been measured in an urban university-based dermatology clinic and are significant. The nonattendance rate in a dermatology clinic dedicated primarily to new acute problems is not known. We hypothesized that the nonattendance rate would be minimal in an urgent care setting. We measured the incidence of nonattendance in a university-based, urgent care dermatology clinic. The clinic is held once weekly for patients with new skin problems. Almost all patients seen in the urgent care clinic are first-time patients. We tabulated clinic attendees and nonattendance, including same-day cancellations, for 508 consecutive patients seen over a 10-month period at the urgent care clinic. We then determined nonattendance rates for the group and by payer type. The total nonattendance rate was 23.9%. The percentage of patients who failed to appear was 21.9 and same-day cancellation was 2.0. The highest nonattendance and same-day cancellation rates were noted in HMO-based programs. The lowest rate of nonattendance was in the Medicare-based program. The nonattendance rate in a dermatology clinic dedicated to new skin problems was similar to that reported in a general dermatology clinic and correlated with payer type. In addition to factors identified in previous studies that affect clinic attendance, the rate in this study may reflect spontaneous clearing of patient-identified skin problems. (J Am Acad Dermatol 2002;46:457-9.)