To Confirm Your Appointment, Press One

In today’s podcast, we delve into the critical issue of appointment attendance, a key factor affecting ambulatory access. This topic is vital because it represents both a significant opportunity to provide essential care and a major financial benefit for our organization. As we’ve discussed in earlier episodes, the imbalance between provider supply and patient demand has created a shortage of available appointment slots. Time is our most precious resource in ambulatory care, and when a patient misses an appointment, it not only results in missed opportunity to deliver high-quality and safe care to that patient -- but it means a substantial loss of precious time for our community. This challenge is even more pronounced in pediatrics, where the responsibility for attendance often lies with families or caregivers, not the patient.

To explore this issue further, we’re joined by two esteemed guests. Dr. Allison Gornik, a licensed clinical psychologist at Kennedy Krieger Institute and assistant professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, recently served as the lead author on an article on appointment attendance. Lorna Kernizan, the Chief Ambulatory Officer at Children’s Mississippi and a seasoned executive with nearly 30 years of experience, offers her insights from the perspective of leading initiatives related to appointment attendance at one of the leading US children’s hospitals. Together, they will help us understand the nuances of appointment non-attendance and discuss potential solutions.