Clinic appointment “no shows” affect you!

  • Published
  • By Maj. Sarah Evans
  • Family Health flight commander
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah --  Patients that fail to show up for their medical appointments cost real time and money and prevent other patients from securing the appointments they need.

Each visit to the 75th Medical Group costs approximately $345 per visit, including the doctors, nurses, technicians and administrative personnel's time, medical materiel, information technology, and personnel and resource management.

You may believe the loss doesn't affect you, until you can't get an appointment because all appointments are booked. The truth is, no-show appointments are lost opportunities for medical care that you or another person might have really needed.

The current no-show rate for the Hill Clinic is 7 percent. Active-duty personnel account for about 55 percent of the lost appointments.

A patient is considered a no show when they do not keep a scheduled appointment or the appointment is cancelled less than two hours before the scheduled time in our primary clinics, or cancelled less than 24 hours for our specialty clinics. Patients who show up 10 minutes past their appointment time are considered late.

To help us provide the best possible care, the 75th MDG has taken steps to reduce no show, cancellation, and late arrival rates:

· When calling the appointment line, patients are asked to arrive 15 minutes prior to their appointment to allow sufficient time for check in.

· Patients who miss appointments are called to determine the reason.

· Active duty no shows are reported to the unit commander and/or first sergeant.

· Patients who arrive late to their appointments may or may not have the opportunity to be seen that day.

All these steps are being taken to give our patients the best possible access to care.

Going forward, we must all work as a team to ensure we are taking care of the Air Force's most valuable resources, our Airmen and their families. Help us help you and others by showing up on time for your scheduled appointments or canceling ahead of time so we can offer it to others.