Abstract
Missed psychotherapy appointments and eleventh hour cancellations contribute to financial burdens, reduced scheduling efficiency,
and lowered effectiveness of the therapeutic services delivered. This paper attempts to explore more specific clinical process
factors related to patient no-shows. Psychotherapists and their patients in the outpatient psychiatry department of a public
safety-net hospital were surveyed to examine how frequently patients missed scheduled psychotherapy appointments and for what
reasons. Clinicians with the lowest rates of patient no-shows (n = 12) were asked to discuss their approaches to psychotherapy attendance and provided clinical examples. Clinicians’ responses
were thematically grouped into five aspects of negotiating missed appointments and no-shows. Clinicians identified the importance
of improving patient motivation, developing a positive therapeutic alliance, setting an established treatment frame, communicating
about no-shows throughout the course of treatment, and maintaining their own scheduling accountability as important factors
in their approaches to managing patient non-attendance.
and lowered effectiveness of the therapeutic services delivered. This paper attempts to explore more specific clinical process
factors related to patient no-shows. Psychotherapists and their patients in the outpatient psychiatry department of a public
safety-net hospital were surveyed to examine how frequently patients missed scheduled psychotherapy appointments and for what
reasons. Clinicians with the lowest rates of patient no-shows (n = 12) were asked to discuss their approaches to psychotherapy attendance and provided clinical examples. Clinicians’ responses
were thematically grouped into five aspects of negotiating missed appointments and no-shows. Clinicians identified the importance
of improving patient motivation, developing a positive therapeutic alliance, setting an established treatment frame, communicating
about no-shows throughout the course of treatment, and maintaining their own scheduling accountability as important factors
in their approaches to managing patient non-attendance.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Original Paper
- Pages 1-7
- DOI 10.1007/s10879-012-9216-6
- Authors
- Jared A. DeFife, Emory University, 36 Eagle Row, Westen Lab—Rm. 525, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Janna M. Smith, Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Carolyn Conklin, Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Journal Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy
- Online ISSN 1573-3564
- Print ISSN 0022-0116