120 - Reducing Missed Appointment Rates at Hawaii FQHCs

Purpose:
This study aimed to reduce total missed appointment (TMAR) rate for pediatric dental patients aged 5-17 years at the Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) Wai’anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center (WCCHC) through phone call reminders.

Methods:
Baseline data were collected over 12 weeks, followed by an intervention with phone call reminders one week before scheduled appointments. Post-intervention data were gathered for 12 weeks. Quality Improvement (QI) methods, including control charts and sigma analysis, were used to compare pre-and-post intervention TMAR to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention and to determine any significant changes in appointment adherence.

Results:
The pre-intervention TMAR for patients aged 5-12 and 13-17 were, respectively, 41%. Following the phone call reminder intervention, there was no significant reduction in the TMAR, which for the 5-12 and 13-17 age group were, respectively, 41% and 43%. The pre- and post-intervention stability index for the 5-12 and 3-17 age groups were, respectively, 1.09 and 0.95 and 0.86 and 1.25.

Conclusion:
The intervention did not reduce the overall TMAR. These findings suggest that additional cycles of the PDSA process are required to identify the true root causes for successful intervention.