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Improving the No‐Show Rate of New Patients in Outpatient Psychiatric Practice: An Advance Practice Nurse‐Initiated Telephone Engagement Protocol Quality Improvement Project
Author(s) -
Clouse Kristen M.,
Williams Kimberly A.,
Harmon Jane M.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
perspectives in psychiatric care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1744-6163
pISSN - 0031-5990
DOI - 10.1111/ppc.12146
Subject(s) - protocol (science) , practice nurse , nursing , medicine , quality management , quality (philosophy) , psychology , psychiatry , family medicine , alternative medicine , primary care , operations management , engineering , pathology , management system , philosophy , epistemology
Purpose The aim is to improve the uptake of psychiatric services for new patients being referred from primary care, counseling, and hospital discharge follow‐up care. Design and Methods A convenience sample of 18 new patients participated in a provider‐initiated telephone protocol to increase knowledge related to psychiatric treatment and remind patients of appointments the day before the initial visit. Findings Fifteen patients attended the initial visit, resulting in a 26% reduction rate of no‐show rates from 27% the previous year to 20% in a 3‐month period. Practice Implications Introduction and reminder calls by psychiatric providers improve no‐show rates.