Toward a better understanding of dental appointment‐keeping behavior

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Abstract
Objective: Broken appointments cause adverse outcomes in healthcare systems: They interrupt continuity of care, waste resources, affect workflow, and reduce population‐wide access to care. A better understanding of dental appointment‐keeping behavior would support efforts toward designing novel interventions aimed at reducing rates of broken appointments.Methods: The authors conducted a conceptual review of quantitative and qualitative research on dental appointment‐keeping in the United States.Results: Research in this area is limited. Providers tend to use a blunt instrument to improve appointment‐keeping: a system of reminder calls. There is evidence that patients with higher rates of broken dental appointments are the very ones who are most in need of care. Appointment‐keeping barriers are multifactorial and related to social issues. They can be described as falling into three overlapping categories: psychological barriers, structural barriers, and health literacy barriers.Conclusions: Appointment‐keeping interventions could simultaneously address social factors that exacerbate illness and improve workflow and finances. There arises an opportunity to design innovative patient‐centered interventions tailored to particular barriers.
Funding Information
  • W.K. Kellogg Foundation

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