ACR Meeting Abstracts

ACR Meeting Abstracts

  • Meetings
    • ACR Convergence 2024
    • ACR Convergence 2023
    • 2023 ACR/ARP PRSYM
    • ACR Convergence 2022
    • ACR Convergence 2021
    • ACR Convergence 2020
    • 2020 ACR/ARP PRSYM
    • 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting
    • 2018-2009 Meetings
    • Download Abstracts
  • Keyword Index
  • Advanced Search
  • Your Favorites
    • Favorites
    • Login
    • View and print all favorites
    • Clear all your favorites
  • ACR Meetings

Abstract Number: 045

No-Shows: a Search for Modifiable Risk Factors

Samantha Ong 1, Xujia Li 1 and Austin Dalrymple2, 1Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, 2Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri

Meeting: 2020 Pediatric Rheumatology Symposium

Keywords: Access to care, Compliance, Insurance, Pediatric rheumatology, risk assessment

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
Session Information

The 2020 Pediatric Rheumatology Symposium, originally scheduled for April 29 – May 2, was postponed due to COVID-19; therefore, abstracts were not presented as scheduled.

Date: Thursday, April 30, 2020

Title: Poster Session 1

Session Type: ACR Abstract Session

Session Time: 6:00PM-7:00PM

Background/Purpose: Missed ambulatory visits, or “no-shows,” limit patient access, increase costs, occupy provider time, and lead to worse patient outcomes. Only a few studies have been done in pediatric subspecialties. To our knowledge, no studies on this subject have been performed in pediatric rheumatology. The demand for pediatric rheumatologists is high and access to care is limited. It would be beneficial to understand factors related to missed appointments in order to address these barriers. Prior studies in pediatric subspecialties and primary care have identified factors that include payor source, distance from clinic, and lag time. Here we explore these factors and other reasons in our own clinic population based on show rate.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of each missed and arrived appointment in a single provider’s clinic was conducted at the SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in Saint Louis, Missouri between July 2016 and October 2018. Information obtained was race, gender, date (season and month), the day of the week, history of no-show, time of appointment, appointment type (new patient or follow-up), and payor source. Chi-square tests were utilized to examine differences between show and no-show groups on categorical variables. 

Results: Overall, 22.6% of patients missed their appointments. Patients with Missouri (MO) and Illinois (IL) Medicaid were more likely to miss appointments (MO, OR 2.16; IL, OR 1.94) than patients who held commercial insurance or other insurance types (p < 0.001). Patients with previous no-shows were significantly more likely to make appointments than those who did not have previous no-shows (OR 0.31) (p < 0.001). Differences in distance from the clinic (p = 0.49), patient status, (p = 0.48), day of the week (p = 0.75), gender (p = 0.51), season, and race (p = 0.26) were not found to be significant. (Tables 1&2)

Conclusion: Missed appointments serve as a major challenge in healthcare, especially in pediatric rheumatology where the number of specialized physicians remains relatively low in a field of high demand. We sought to identify the factors that contribute to missed appointments in our own clinic, hoping to further understand how to mitigate these factors. Through our analysis, payor source was the only significant factor that correlated with no-show rate. Patients with MO and IL Medicaid were significantly more likely to miss appointments compared to those with commercial insurance. Contrary to what we had expected, patients who had previous no-shows were more likely to make appointments. Other factors that we considered, including race, gender, day of the week, and patient status, were not found to be statistically significant. Our study was not without limitations. There are other socio-economic characteristics that are difficult to obtain that may be associated with barriers to care. We also did not factor in the diagnosis or severity of disease, which could possibly affect show rates. Additional investigation into these barriers is needed to fully understand missed visits. Overall, the data from the study suggests that interventions targeting patients with Medicaid, and identifying other modifiable factors could influence no-show rate. 


Disclosure: S. Ong, None; X. Li, None; A. Dalrymple, None.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Ong S, Li X, Dalrymple A. No-Shows: a Search for Modifiable Risk Factors [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2020; 72 (suppl 4). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/no-shows-a-search-for-modifiable-risk-factors/. Accessed .
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

« Back to 2020 Pediatric Rheumatology Symposium

ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/no-shows-a-search-for-modifiable-risk-factors/

Advanced Search

Your Favorites

You can save and print a list of your favorite abstracts during your browser session by clicking the “Favorite” button at the bottom of any abstract. View your favorites »

All abstracts accepted to ACR Convergence are under media embargo once the ACR has notified presenters of their abstract’s acceptance. They may be presented at other meetings or published as manuscripts after this time but should not be discussed in non-scholarly venues or outlets. The following embargo policies are strictly enforced by the ACR.

Accepted abstracts are made available to the public online in advance of the meeting and are published in a special online supplement of our scientific journal, Arthritis & Rheumatology. Information contained in those abstracts may not be released until the abstracts appear online. In an exception to the media embargo, academic institutions, private organizations, and companies with products whose value may be influenced by information contained in an abstract may issue a press release to coincide with the availability of an ACR abstract on the ACR website. However, the ACR continues to require that information that goes beyond that contained in the abstract (e.g., discussion of the abstract done as part of editorial news coverage) is under media embargo until 10:00 AM ET on November 14, 2024. Journalists with access to embargoed information cannot release articles or editorial news coverage before this time. Editorial news coverage is considered original articles/videos developed by employed journalists to report facts, commentary, and subject matter expert quotes in a narrative form using a variety of sources (e.g., research, announcements, press releases, events, etc.).

Violation of this policy may result in the abstract being withdrawn from the meeting and other measures deemed appropriate. Authors are responsible for notifying colleagues, institutions, communications firms, and all other stakeholders related to the development or promotion of the abstract about this policy. If you have questions about the ACR abstract embargo policy, please contact ACR abstracts staff at [email protected].

Wiley

  • Online Journal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Permissions Policies
  • Cookie Preferences

© Copyright 2025 American College of Rheumatology