Eskenazi Health: Decreasing No-Shows With Automated Appointment Reminders

Indiana-based Eskenazi Health is driven to improve the healthcare experiences and access to care for underserved populations. For 160 years, Eskenazi Health has offered high-quality, cost-effective and patient-focused healthcare through more than 1 million outpatient visits each year.

CHALLENGE

Increasing the number of completed appointments is a priority for Eskenazi Health, as it not only helps the financial health of the organization, but also ensures that patients can receive the care they need. The challenge Eskenazi Health faced was to reduce no-shows for preventive care appointments, along with several specialty areas such as dental, rehab, behavioral health and elective procedures. To meet this need, the health system sought to proactively engage patients so that they would either confirm or cancel their appointment — thereby increasing appointment slot utilization.

SOLUTION

Eskenazi Health uses CipherHealth’s Appointment Reminders to conduct outreach for nearly 800,000 patient visits in English and Spanish. They capture patient communication preferences for calls or texts through their appointment data feed.

Depending on the specialty area, appointment reminders are deployed at different cadences at least 24 hours in advance of the scheduled appointment. Generally, two days before their appointment, patients get two voice call attempts (9am,12pm). If they haven’t been reached by phone, they receive an SMS text message at 6pm.

If an appointment is cancelled, Eskenazi Health seeks to backfill it with another patient for that appointment slot, using waitlist data captured in their EMR system. After they confirm their appointment, patients also receive information regarding guidelines for COVID-19, such as the requirement for masks or face coverings and a link to more information, along with pre-arrival instructions.

RESULTS

More than 514,000 patients (64%) engaged with the Appointment Reminder outreach. The no-show rate among those who engaged (15%) was nearly half that of those who did not engage (29%).

More than 75% of those who engaged with CipherOutreach confirmed their appointment and 6% cancelled in advance of their arrival time.* Cancellations provide Eskenazi Health the opportunity to backfill original appointments, ensuring optimized fill rates and reimbursement.

Among total patients who engaged with the outreach and confirmed their appointments, the percentage of no-shows was further reduced from 15% to 12%. Confirmed appointments were associated with lower no-show rates (12%) compared to patients who did not engage with the outreach (29%).

Eskenazi Health found that call outreach resulted in lower no-show rates than text reminders. Eskenazi Health plans on using data findings like these to help them shape future programs to further reduce no-shows and backfill cancelled or rescheduled appointments.

REVENUE IMPLICATIONS FROM BACKFILLS

Based on this sample of nearly 800,000 patients, ~515,000 of whom responded to Appointment Reminders, Eskenazi Health achieved an estimated $1.9M increase in annual revenue by backfilling cancelled appointments.§ § Based on the following assumptions:

• 50% of cancelled appointments (14,198) are backfilled
• Average visit cost of $150 (Appointments ranged from an average of $150 billed for general wellness visits, to more costly procedures.)
• Cost of technology required to enable the appointment reminders is deducted

For an in-depth analysis of cost implications, please contact us.

Cancellations provided the health system the opportunity to backfill original appointments, ensuring optimized fill rates and reimbursement.

HEALTH SYSTEM: Eskenazi Health, PRODUCT: CipherRounds, PROGRAM: Appointment Reminders, DATA PERIOD: Jan 2019 – Mar 2020

CipherHealth is an award-winning digital engagement platform committed to enhancing communication and coordination throughout the care continuum. CipherHealth’s portfolio of patient engagement software empowers healthcare organizations to foster meaningful connections to ensure the best possible outcomes for staff members, patients, and their loved ones.