TY - JOUR
T1 - Retaining homeless veterans in outpatient care
T2 - A pilot study of mobile phone text message appointment reminders
AU - McInnes, D. Keith
AU - Petrakis, Beth Ann
AU - Gifford, Allen L.
AU - Rao, Sowmya R.
AU - Houston, Thomas K.
AU - Asch, Steven M.
AU - O'Toole, Thomas P.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Objectives. We examined the feasibility of using mobile phone text messaging with homeless veterans to increase their engagement in care and reduce appointment no-shows. Methods.We sent 2 text message reminders to participants (n = 20) before each of their outpatient appointments at an urban Veterans Affairs medical center. Evaluation included pre- and postsurvey questionnaires, open-ended questions, and review of medical records. We estimated costs and savings of large-scale implementation. Results. Participants were satisfied with the text-messaging intervention, had very few technical difficulties, and were interested in continuing. Patientcancelled visits and no-shows trended downward from 53 to 37 and from 31 to 25, respectively. Participants also experienced a statistically significant reduction in emergency department visits, from 15 to 5 (difference of 10; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.2, 17.8; P = .01), and a borderline significant reduction in hospitalizations, from 3 to 0 (difference of 3; 95% CI =-0.4, 6.4; P = .08). Conclusions. Text message reminders are a feasible means of reaching homeless veterans, and users consider it acceptable and useful. Implementation may reduce missed visits and emergency department use, and thus produce substantial cost savings.
AB - Objectives. We examined the feasibility of using mobile phone text messaging with homeless veterans to increase their engagement in care and reduce appointment no-shows. Methods.We sent 2 text message reminders to participants (n = 20) before each of their outpatient appointments at an urban Veterans Affairs medical center. Evaluation included pre- and postsurvey questionnaires, open-ended questions, and review of medical records. We estimated costs and savings of large-scale implementation. Results. Participants were satisfied with the text-messaging intervention, had very few technical difficulties, and were interested in continuing. Patientcancelled visits and no-shows trended downward from 53 to 37 and from 31 to 25, respectively. Participants also experienced a statistically significant reduction in emergency department visits, from 15 to 5 (difference of 10; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.2, 17.8; P = .01), and a borderline significant reduction in hospitalizations, from 3 to 0 (difference of 3; 95% CI =-0.4, 6.4; P = .08). Conclusions. Text message reminders are a feasible means of reaching homeless veterans, and users consider it acceptable and useful. Implementation may reduce missed visits and emergency department use, and thus produce substantial cost savings.
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U2 - 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302061
DO - 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302061
M3 - Article
C2 - 25100425
AN - SCOPUS:84906080041
SN - 0090-0036
VL - 104
JO - American Journal of Public Health
JF - American Journal of Public Health
IS - SUPPL. 4
ER -