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

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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

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