Evaluation of Missed Physiotherapy Appointment and Its Influence on Cost, Efficiency and Patient Outcomes

Fatoye, Francis ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3502-3953, Gebrye, Tadesse ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7976-2013, Fatoye, Clara, Mbada, Chidozie Emmanuel, Afolabi, Olubukola and Fasuyi, Francis (2021) Evaluation of Missed Physiotherapy Appointment and Its Influence on Cost, Efficiency and Patient Outcomes. In: ISPOR Europe 2020 conference, Milan, Italy., 14 November 2020 - 16 November 2020, Milan, Italy.

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Abstract

Evaluation of Missed Physiotherapy Appointment and Its Influence on Cost, Efficiency and Patient Outcomes Fatoye F1, Gebrye T2, Fatoye C3, Mbada C4, Afolabi O5, Fasuyi F5 1Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, LIN, UK, 2Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK, 3Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, LAN, UK, 4Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife,, Nigeria, 5University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Nigeria OBJECTIVES: Missed appointments (MAs) contribute to the rising costs of physiotherapy and are a significant challenge to healthcare administration, organisational workflow and health outcomes for patients. This study assessed prevalence and pattern of missed physiotherapy appointments, wait time, and its impact on cost, efficiency and patient outcome in Nigeria. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted at the Outpatient Physiotherapy Clinic of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. A total of 3243 physiotherapy appointments booked between 2009 and 2018 were assessed. Data were collected on socio-demographic and patient outcomes related to Mas. MAs was defined as any appointment where a patient did not show up at all, or attend to follow up appointment or notify staff of a cancellation. The total revenue loss due to MAs was calculated as a product of the total of MAs and per treatment cost. Descriptive of mean, standard deviation and frequency and inferential statistics of t-test were used to analyse the data. RESULTS: MAs constituted 1701 (52.5%) of all appointments and the average wait time for first appointment was 9.6 ± 23.2 days. The proportion of MAs was higher among females (50.2%), middle-aged adults (34-55 years) (31.7%), patients who were not resident close to the clinic (45.3%), patients with orthopaedic conditions (56.2%) and patients referred from orthopaedic surgeons (32.8%). There were significant associations (p < 0.05) between MAs and age, sex, location of patient’s residence and the source of referral. Considering the per treatment schedule cost of 1000 naira, a 52.5% MAs rate resulted in a lower efficiency of 76.6% with an efficiency ratio of 0.23. CONCLUSIONS: MAs for physiotherapy treatment poses a significant challenge on costs, efficiency and patients’ outcome. Thus, an innovative reminder system may help reduce patients’ non-attendance of physiotherapy and its consequences.