Abstract
Case manager responses to failed appointments were monitored for 83 seriously mentally ill persons in a rural community mental health center. Case manager actions taken were grouped into four categories of follow-up from most intensive to least intensive: home visit, phone call, letter, and no follow-up. On the whole, case managers most frequently did not follow-up missed appointments (56.7%), followed up by letters (21.3%), and telephone calls (18.7%), and home visits (3.3%). Analyses revealed that home visits were most intensive and all clients who were visited following failed appointments did not fail the subsequent appointment. Clients who received telephone calls or letters were about equally likely to fail the subsequent appointment, but were much more likely to attend the subsequent appointment than were clients who received no follow-up to the failed appointment. Interestingly, clients who failed appointments and received no follow-up were much more likely to need emergency services rather than a regular appointment as their next contact with the clinic.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barry, S.P., & Daniels, A.A. (1984). Effecting change in outpatient failed appointments,Journal of Family Practice, 18(5), 739–742.
Berrigan, L.P., & Garfield, S.L. (1981). Relationship of missed psychotherapy appointments to premature termination and social class.British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 20(4), 239–242.
Blank, M.B., Tetrick, F., Brinkley, D., Smith, H.O., & Doheny, V. (1994). Racial matching and service utilization among seriously mentally persons in the rural south.Community Mental Health Journal, 30(3), 271–281.
Bond, G.R., Miller, L.D., Krumwied, R.D., & Ward, R.S. (1988). Assertive case management in three CMHC's: A controlled study.Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 39(4), 411–417.
Burstein, A. (1984). Psychiatric consultations in a general hospital: Compliance to follow-up.General Hospital Psychiatry, 6, 139–141.
Campbell, B., Staley, D., & Matas, M. (1991). Who misses appointments? An empirical analysis.Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 36(3), 223–225.
Carr, V.C. (1985). Telephone prompting to reduce missed CMHC appontments.Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 36(11), 1217–1218.
Hagerman, G.A. (1978). Testing the mailed appointment reminder in family practice.Journal of Family Practice, 7, 199.
Pekarik, G. (1983). Follow-up adjustment of outpatient drop-outs.American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 53, 501–511.
Shepard, D.S., & Moseley, T.A.E. (1976). Mailed versus telephone appointment reminders to reduce broken appointments in a hospital outpatient department.Medical Care, 14, 268.
Stein, L.I., & Test, M.A. (1976). Retraining hospital staff for work in a community program in Wisconsin.Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 27(4), 266–268.
Sue, S. (1977). Community mental health services to minority groups: Some optimism, some pessimism.American Psychologist, 32, 616–624.
Sue, S., Fujino, D.C., Hu, L., Takeuchi, D.T., & Zane, N.W. (1991). Community mental health services for ethnic minority groups: A test of the cultural responsiveness hypothesis.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59(4), 533–540.
Wu, I.H., & Windle, C. (1980). Ethnic specificity in the relative minority use and staffing of community mental health centers.Community Mental Health Journal, 16, 156–168.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Dr. Blank is Director of Clinical and Community Research at the Southeastern Rural Mental Health Research Center, University of Virginia. Mr. Chang is a graduate of the University of Virginia and a research assistant at the SRMHRC. Dr. Fox is the Director of the SRMHRC. Ms. Lawson is the Director of the Quality Assurance Program at Southside Virginia Community Services Board in South Boston, Virginia. Dr. Modlinski is the Executive Director at SCSB.
This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (P50-MH49173).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Blank, M.B., Chang, M.Y., Fox, J.C. et al. Case manager follow-up to failed appointments and subsequent service utilization. Community Ment Health J 32, 23–31 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02249364
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02249364