scholarly journals Using SMS Reminders in Psychology Clinics: A Cautionary Tale

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonnie A. Clough ◽  
Leanne M. Casey
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Treatment ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Psychological Practice ◽  
Appointment Attendance ◽  
Widespread Implementation ◽  
Sms Reminders ◽  
Cost Efficient ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Background:As healthcare services become progressively more stretched, there is increasing discussion of ways in which technological adjuncts may be used to deliver more cost-efficient services. Before widespread implementation, however, the use of these adjuncts requires proper scrutiny of their effects on psychological practice.Aims:This research examined the effectiveness of SMS reminders on client appointment attendance and dropout in a psychological treatment setting. It was predicted that the reminders would result in increased initial appointment attendance, increased total appointment attendance, and decreased client dropout.Method:A randomized controlled trial investigated the impact of SMS appointment reminders (two levels: present or absent) on client attendance (three levels: attended, rescheduled, or did not attend) and dropout (two levels: completed treatment or terminate early). Participants (N= 140) at an outpatient psychology clinic were randomly allocated to either receive an SMS appointment reminder one day before their scheduled appointment, or to receive no reminder.Results:No significant differences were found between the SMS and no SMS conditions in relation to appointment attendance. There were more client dropouts in the SMS compared to the no SMS condition.Conclusions:The SMS appointment reminders were not effective at increasing appointment attendance. The current research suggests that there is more to client non-attendance in psychological settings than the simple forgetting of appointments. Technological adjuncts may be useful in increasing the cost-efficiency of current services; however, this research highlights the importance of understanding the effects of technology before widespread implementation.

scholarly journals Cost efficient internet of things based smart farm system for rural farmers: Leveraging design thinking approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-120
Author(s):  
Segun Adebayo ◽  
Ozichi Emuoyibofarhe ◽  
Tolulope Awofolaju
Keyword(s):  
Design Thinking ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Impact Performance ◽  
Farm Productivity ◽  
Cost Benefit Ratio ◽  
Cost Efficient ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Farmers are faced with challenges of producing enough food and the use of traditional methods seems not to keep pace with the ever-growing demand of the populace thus creating increased concern in food scarcity. Although it has been identified that smart tools will enhance the production pace needed in the Agricultural sector, unfortunately, most of these tools are designed for farmers without their inputs, thus creating tools that are not meeting demands. This study focused on a farmer-centered design, development, and deployment approach to improving farm productivity. The design thinking approach was used to identify the specific need of the farmers in selected areas, ideas were created using brainstorming sessions involving experts in the field, and prototypes were developed and deployed to evaluate the impact performance. The result shows that the proposed system improved the cost-benefit ratio of crop farming from 2.14 to 2.26. This is a 12% productivity increase.

scholarly journals Self-report versus care provider registration of healthcare utilization: Impact on cost and cost-utility

2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 588-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martine Hoogendoorn ◽  
Carel R. van Wetering ◽  
Annemie M. Schols ◽  
Maureen P. M. H. Rutten-van Mölken
Keyword(s):  
Resource Use ◽  
Care Provider ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Cost Utility ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Cost Difference ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Objectives: This study aims to compare the impact of two different sources of resource use, self-report versus care provider registrations, on cost and cost utility.Methods: Data were gathered for a cost-effectiveness study performed alongside a 2-year randomized controlled trial evaluating the effect of an INTERdisciplinary COMmunity-based management program (INTERCOM) for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The program was offered by physiotherapists, dieticians and respiratory nurses. During the 2-year period, patients reported all resource use in a cost booklet. In addition, data on hospital admissions and outpatient visits, visits to the physiotherapist, dietician or respiratory nurse, diet nutrition, and outpatient medication were obtained from administrative records. The cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) was calculated in two ways, using data from the cost booklet or registrations.Results: In total, 175 patients were included in the study. Agreement between self-report and registrations was almost perfect for hospitalizations (rho = 0.93) and physiotherapist visits (rho = 0.86), but above 0.55, moderate, for all other types of care. The total cost difference between the registrations and the cost booklet was 464 euros with the highest difference for hospitalizations 386 euro. Based on the cost booklet the cost difference between the treatment group and usual care was 2,444 euros (95 percent confidence interval [CI], −819 to 5,950), which resulted in a cost-utility of 29,100 euro/QALY. For the registrations, the results were 2,498 euros (95 percent CI, −88 to 6,084) and 29,390 euro/QALY, respectively.Conclusions: This study showed that the use of self-reported data or data from registrations effected within-group costs, but not between-group costs or the cost utility.

Abstract 14173: Emailing is an Economical Way to Recruit Participants

Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten Raby ◽  
Karen Blinson ◽  
David M Herrington ◽  
David X Zhao ◽  
Gary Rosenthal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Efficient Manner ◽  
Email Address ◽  
Access Code ◽  
Letter Group ◽  
Cost Efficient ◽  
New Diagnosis ◽  
The Cost

Introduction: To produce results from clinical trials that are statistically significant, researchers must enroll enough participants; however, it is difficult to recruit sufficient participants. The ADAPTABLE trial is a pragmatic randomized controlled trial designed to compare two aspirin doses in patients with cardiovascular disease. Methods: We used eligibility criteria set forth by the ADAPTABLE study protocol. We then put patients into two groups. Patients with email addresses were group one, and sent an email weekly. Patients without an email address were in group two, and a letter was mailed to their home address. Eligible patients who had a clinic appointment scheduled were also recruited approached in clinic. Most of these patients had already been stratified into the email or letter group, but there was the possibility that they had a new diagnosis and had not been contacted. All were given a link to the ADAPTABLE trial portal with an access code to enroll. An explanatory video about the study and electronic informed consent were on the trial website. Results: As shown in Table 1, four hundred and nine patients enrolled in our trial over a 10-month period. Three hundred and ninety-seven (97.06%) patients enrolled in the study via email. Letters were sent to 7,226 patients and four (0.98%) enrolled in the study. Eight (1.96%) of the patients who were approached in person enrolled in the study. The cost of email campaign was $1.44/patient and the cost per enrollment was the least expensive, at $95.71. In person enrollment cost $23.34/patient and the total cost per enrollment was $417.12. The letter recruitment cost $0.30/patient, however, the cost per enrollment was the highest, at $542.26. Conclusion: Email is an effective and economical way to recruit patients for clinical trials. Email allows researchers to contact more patients about proposed studies promptly and facilitates pragmatic research trials that achieve results in a timely and cost-efficient manner.

scholarly journals Cost-utility of brief psychological treatment for depression and anxiety

2006 ◽  
Vol 188 (4) ◽  
pp. 323-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leona Hakkaart-Van Roijen ◽  
Annemieke Van Straten ◽  
Maiwenn Al ◽  
Frans Rutten ◽  
Marianne Donker
Keyword(s):  
Brief Therapy ◽  
Psychological Treatment ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Indirect Costs ◽  
Direct Costs ◽  
Cost Utility ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Life Years ◽  
The Cost

BackgroundThe cost-utility of brief therapy compared with cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) and care as usual in the treatment of depression and anxiety has not yet been determined.AimsTo assess the cost-utility of brief therapy compared with CBT and care as usual.MethodA pragmatic randomised controlled trial involving 702 patients was conducted at 7 Dutch mental healthcare centres (MHCs). Patients were interviewed at baseline and then every 3 months over a period of 1.5 years, during which time data were collected on direct costs, indirect costs and quality of life.ResultsThe mean direct costs of treatment at the MHCs were significantly lower for brief therapy than for CBT and care as usual. However, after factoring in other healthcare costs and indirect costs, no significant differences between the treatment groups could be detected. We found no significant differences in quality-adjusted life-years between the groups.ConclusionsCost-utility did not differ significantly between the three treatment groups.

scholarly journals The effectiveness of SMS Reminders and the impact of patient characteristics on missed appointments in a public dental outpatient clinic

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilia Bellucci ◽  
Lasitha Dharmasena ◽  
Lemai Nguyen ◽  
Hanny Calache
Keyword(s):  
Outpatient Service ◽  
Patient Characteristics ◽  
Dental Service ◽  
Missed Appointments ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Appointment Attendance ◽  
Sms Reminders ◽  
Sms Intervention ◽  
The Impact

This paper reports on the Failure To Attend (FTA) rate of appointments as well as patients following the implementation of SMS reminders in a public dental outpatient service.  Given the ineffectiveness of the intervention and a highly representative patient’s profile, this paper identifies the demographic characteristics of patients who miss all of their appointments.  Data on appointment attendance, patient demographics and dental service type was collected over a time period of 46 consecutive months.  Using descriptive and inferential statistics (chi-square, two sample tests and Marascuilo procedure) we found the SMS intervention was ineffective in reducing the FTA rates. Further, patients associated with high rates of non-attendance exhibited one or more of the following characteristics: male; age 26 – 44; non-concession card holders; a person of Indigenous, local, Asian or African descent, and of refugee status, persons living in low socio-economic areas; and appointments in General Care and Student Clinics. Whilst the literature overwhelmingly attributes SMS reminders to improving the attendance rate of patients in outpatient clinics, our contradictory findings suggest a more targeted approach in settings whose patients exhibit strong characteristics associated with non-attendance. 

scholarly journals A cost-efficient face learning mechanism: The impact of stability in appearance on the resolution of facial representations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christel Devue ◽  
Sofie de Sena ◽  
Jade Wright
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Diagnostic Value ◽  
Learning Mechanism ◽  
Coarse Information ◽  
Reliable Representation ◽  
Cost Efficient ◽  
Recognition Errors ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

The way faces become familiar and what information is represented as familiarity develops has puzzled researchers in the field of human face recognition for decades. In this paper, we propose a cost-efficient mechanism of face learning to describe how facial representations form over time and that explains why recognition errors occur. Encoding of diagnostic facial information would follow a coarse-to-fine trajectory, modulated by the intrinsic stability in individual faces’ appearance. In four experiments, we draw on a robust and ecological method using a proxy of exposure to famous faces in the real world to test hypotheses generated by the model and we manipulate test images to probe the nature of facial representations. We consistently show that stable facial appearances help create more reliable representation in early stages of familiarisation but that their resolution remains relatively low and therefore less discriminative over time. In contrast, variations in appearance hinder recognition at first but encourage refinement of representations with further exposure. Consistent with the cost-efficient face learning mechanism we propose, facial representations built on a foundation of large-scale coarse information. When coarse information loses its diagnostic value through the experience of variations across encounters, facial details and their spatial relationships receive additional representational weights.

Cost of depression: effect of adherence and treatment response

2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 349-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. von Knorring ◽  
A.-C. Åkerblad ◽  
F. Bengtsson ◽  
Å. Carlsson ◽  
L. Ekselius
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Major Depression ◽  
Treatment Response ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Indirect Costs ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Cost Of Drugs ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

AbstractObjectives:The purpose of the present study has been to assess the societal cost of major depression and the distribution into different cost components. The impact of adherence and treatment response was also explored.Method:Data were collected from a randomized controlled trial of patients with major depressive disorder who were treated in a naturalistic primary care setting. Resource use and quality of life were followed during the two-year trial.Results:The mean total cost per patient during two years was KSEK 363 (EUR 38 953). Indirect costs were the most important component (87%), whereas the cost of drugs was minor (4.5%). No significant differences in costs or quality of life between treatment arms or between adherent and non-adherent patients were demonstrated. However, treatment responders had 39% lower total costs per patient and experienced a larger increase in quality of life compared to non-responders.Conclusions:Major depression has high costs for society, primarily due to indirect costs. Treatment responders have considerably lower costs per patient and higher quality of life than non-responders. This indicates that measures to increase response rates are also important from an economic perspective.

Photograph Method Used in Computerized Log Centering

2013 ◽  
Vol 753-755 ◽  
pp. 2971-2975
Author(s):  
Yi Ren Wang ◽  
Hong Mei Zhang ◽  
Yu Liu
Keyword(s):  
Near Infrared ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Video Camera ◽  
Document Images ◽  
Infrared Images ◽  
Software Modules ◽  
Cost Efficient ◽  
Medium Enterprises ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Photograph method is a new scanning technique that provides cost-efficient and accurate computer system for log centering. A monochrome video camera is used to document images of a log in a perimeters rotation time. 3D digital contour of the log is constructed with the images. The biggest internal cylinder is calculated in software modules. Experiments in present study proved that photograph method was quite feasible in optimizing log centering with higher accuracy. The cost-efficient near-infrared images used in the devices were able to avoid the impact of changing illumination. This centering system can be utilized in small and medium enterprises.

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