Abstract
Introduction: Missed appointments (MAs) at child development centres (ChDCs) cause multiple problems: they preclude timely diagnosis and treatment of both the invited child and children whose appointment was delayed due to overbooking, as well as disrupting efficient organisational management. The aim of this study was to assess the rate and describe the reasons for missed appointments at Israeli ChDCs, and to evaluate the association of socio-demographic, clinical, and administrative variables with MA rates. Methods: This nested case-control study included all children scheduled for initial appointments (N = 1143) at three centres during 1 year. Parents of children who missed their appointment and a sample of those who attended were interviewed by telephone. Results: The rate of missed appointments was 26.6%, and the most frequent reasons were unexpected events (26.0%) and lack of insurance coverage (23.4%). Variables associated with lower MA rates were: having had ≥3 types of rehabilitative interventions (odds ratios (OR) = 0.26; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.16–0.44), detailed referral letter (OR = 0.48; 95%CI 0.30–0.75), telephone reminder (OR = 0.37; 95%CI 0.24–0.57) and health maintenance organisations or private insurance coverage (OR = 0.12; 95%CI 0.06–0.17 and OR = 0.56; 95% CI 0.38–0.89, respectively). Conclusion: Encouraging physician's referral letters and personal-contact reminders can reduce missed appointments. Understanding the family's and the child's personal characteristics, and the organisational/administrative aspects of missed appointments may guide efforts to ensure timely care for every child.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2779-2793 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | International Journal of Health Planning and Management |
Volume | 37 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2022 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022 The Authors. The International Journal of Health Planning and Management published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Funding
The authors wish to express their appreciation to Mrs. Ina Zaslavsky‐Paltiel for statistical support, to Mrs. Daphna Pollack for data management assistance, and to Mrs. Rachel Barazani for assistance in data collection. The authors also wish to thank the parents for their cooperation and participation in the study. This research was funded by the Israel National Institute for Health Policy Research (Grant #91155).
Funders | Funder number |
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Israel National Institute for Health Policy Research | 91155 |
Keywords
- child development centre
- disabilities
- healthcare management
- missed appointments
- no-shows