Effects of Booking Horizon Reduction on Cancellation Rates: An Experimental Analysis in Pediatric Outpatient Care.

ABSTRACT: Background. The time between booking an appointment and the appointment taking place, known as lead time, has been identified as a predictor of cancellation and no-show probability in health care settings. Understanding the impact of reducing permissible lead times, that is, the booking horizon, at a policy level in an outpatient care setting is important when mitigating costly cancellation and no-show rates. Few studies have researched this in an observational or experimental setting. Methods. We leveraged longitudinal observational data from an outpatient pediatric rehabilitation organization in Ontario, Canada, consisting of 73,482 visits between June 2021 and October 2023. This organization reduced its booking horizon at the policy level from 12 to 4 wk in February 2023.

SUBMITTER: Ravenscroft B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11574887 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature