Johns Hopkins tool helps doctors identify patients most likely to miss appointments

Johns Hopkins University researchers developed an algorithm that can reduce the rate of patients who don't show up for scheduled medical appointments and increase appointment availability. Use of the tool allowed the Johns Hopkins Community Physicians clinic to add over 70 pediatric appointments to their schedule per week while reducing the no-show rate by 16% among patients deemed to be the most likely to miss scheduled appointments. Researchers found that patients who visit EDs more frequently are more likely to fail to attend scheduled appointments, while patients who use the online patient portal MyChart to schedule appointments are more likely to keep them.