Objective: To evaluate the operational and
financial efficacy of sending short message service
(SMS) text message reminders to the mobile
telephones of patients with scheduled outpatient
clinic appointments.
Design: Cohort study with historical control.
Setting: Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne,
Victoria.
Patients: Patients who gave a mobile telephone
contact number and were scheduled to attend an
outpatient clinic at the Royal Children's Hospital,
Melbourne in October, November and December
2004 (trial group) or in October, November and
December 2003 (historical control group).
Main outcome measures: Failure-to-attend
(FTA) rate compared between the trial group,
whose members were sent a reminder, and the
historical control group, whose members were
not sent a reminder. Financial benefits versus
cost of sending reminders.
Results: 22 658 patients with a mobile telephone
contact number scheduled to attend an
outpatient clinic appointment in October, November
and December 2004 were sent an SMS
reminder; 20 448 (90.2%) of these patients
attended their appointment. The control group
included 22 452 patients with a mobile telephone
contact number scheduled to attend an appointment,
with 18 073 (80.5%) patients attending.
The FTA rate was significantly lower in the trial
group than in the historical control group (9.8% v
19.5%; P < 0.001). The cost of sending the SMS
reminders was small compared with the
increase in patient revenue and associated benefits
generated as a result of improved attendance.
Conclusions: The observed reduction in FTA
rate was in line with that found using traditional
reminder methods and a prior pilot study using
SMS. The FTA reduction coupled with the
increase in patient revenue suggests that
reminding patients using SMS is a very cost
effective approach for improving patient attendance.
P71: POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS IDENTIFIED IN A RETROSPECTIVE CHART AUDIT FOR PATIENTS PRESENTING TO PERTH CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL DERMATOLOGY OUTPATIENT CLINIC ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS FOR ECZEMA
