Eastern Health - No Show Policy & Automated Notification System (ANS)

COVID-19: Impact to Services and Operations

Going to Hospital

Care at Home and in the Community

Engage Us

No Show Policy & Automated Notification System (ANS)

On November 28, 2016, Eastern Health implemented a new policy to address the number of ‘no-shows’ to its Adult Ambulatory Clinics, as well as diagnostic imaging appointments.

Approximately one million appointments are scheduled annually at Eastern Health’s adult ambulatory clinics, sometimes referred to as the outpatient specialty clinics. They include a variety of program areas, such as endoscopy, orthopedics, diabetes, and physician appointments, among others.

Statistics for fiscal years 2016-2017 indicate that 10.4 per cent of patients either did not show up for their appointments – or did not cancel with sufficient notice. This equates to just over 97,000 missed appointments, which have a significant impact on both the organization’s resources and its waitlists.

With the implementation of the policy, the rate of 'no-shows' for the fiscal year 2017-2018 showed some improvement. The number of 'no-shows' amounted to just over 95,000 missed appointments or 10.4 per cent.

When a person doesn’t show at the appointed time, or doesn’t give sufficient notice, diagnostic equipment lies idle, as there is no time to offer that appointment to someone else, resulting in wasted resources of both staff and equipment. Additionally, the ‘no-show’ patient usually needs to be re-booked, which, in turn, slows down the booking/appointment process overall.

Eastern Health asks the public to partner with staff to make the appointment process more efficient and fair for all by:

keeping scheduled appointments,
or cancelling with at least 48 hours’ notice, and
by keeping contact information up to date.

Staff who book appointments shall use discretion in an effort to avoid undue hardship for patients who miss an appointment due to extenuating circumstances.

Automated Notification System

An automated notification system (ANS) was introduced in November 2016, in an effort to reduce the number of ‘no shows’ to clinical appointments, a concern to all four regional health authorities. It was first piloted in the 12 Endoscopy Services Departments throughout the province, and in February 2018, ANS expanded to include the Diagnostic Imaging Department - beginning with the Ultrasound Service.

With automated notifications, patients will be notified by phone, text or email a week prior to an appointment, so that they may either confirm the appointment and make required preparations, or cancel the appointment, allowing other patients to be booked in unfilled appointment slots.

Policy:

PRC-001 No Show Appointments for Regional Acute Care Ambulatory Services (adult) (PDF)