International Journal of STD & AIDS > Volume 19, Number 1 > Pp. 12-13

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Cohen, C E Articles by Sullivan, A K Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Social Bookmarking                      What's this?

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Time to use text reminders in genitourinary medicine clinics

C E Cohen MRCP, K M Coyne MRCP, S Mandalia MSc, A-M Waters and A K Sullivan FRCP

HIV/GUM Directorate, St Stephen's Centre, Chelsea & Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK

Correspondence to: Dr Katherine Coyne, Victoria Clinic for HIV and Sexual Health, 82 Vincent Square, London SW1P 2PF, UK Email: katherine.coyne{at}chelwest.nhs.uk; kathycoyne{at}doctors.net.uk

Faced with a national 48-hour waiting time target and high non-attendance rates for booked appointments, our sexual health service sought patient preferences for appointment reminders. Questionnaires were distributed to 350 consecutive genitourinary medicine clinic attendees. Eighty-eight percent of respondents approved of appointment reminders, with text messaging being the preferred option. Automated voicemail reminders to mobile phones were acceptable to 84%. Patients would generally choose a voicemail reminder to their mobile phone as opposed to home or work phone, and this preference was more pronounced in younger patients (P = 0.03). The majority of patients considered reminders two or three days in advance sufficient notice, with 98% owning a mobile phone. Text or voicemail reminders may significantly reduce non-attendance rates and their associated costs, improve accessibility and reduce waiting times.

Key Words: appointments and schedules • waiting lists • reminder systems • cellular phone • sexually transmitted diseases

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R Challenor and S Deegan What service users want: a new clinic results service. Can we satisfy both patients' needs and wants? Int J STD AIDS, October 1, 2009; 20(10): 701 - 703. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H Price, A M Waters, D Mighty, J Nixon, N Burton, J Picket, and A K Sullivan Texting appointment reminders reduces 'Did not Attend' rates, is popular with patients and is cost-effective Int J STD AIDS, February 1, 2009; 20(2): 142 - 143. [Full Text] [PDF]

				V. R. Nair, A. Butt, and S. Baguley Text reminders are reducing non-attendance rate significantly Int J STD AIDS, June 1, 2008; 19(6): 429 - 429. [Full Text] [PDF]