Impact of Technical Support and Information Provision on Patient No-show Behavior

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Jiang, Shenyang; Hu, Miao; Jin, Yong Jimmy; Qiu, Liangfei; Duan, Yang
• 署名单位: Tongji University; Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Soochow University - China; Hong Kong Polytechnic University; State University System of Florida; University of Florida; Hong Kong Baptist University
• 刊物名称: PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1059-1478
• DOI: 10.1177/10591478241276135
• 发表日期: 2025
• 页码: 79-98
• 关键词: Healthcare Operations; System design; Patient no-shows; Technical support; Information provision

摘要

Patient no-shows pose a significant challenge in healthcare operations, disrupting appointment schedules and affecting overall efficiency. Effectively addressing the challenge of reducing patient no-shows is crucial for outpatient service management. This study evaluates how the design of appointment systems affects patient no-show behavior. Using a difference-in-differences methodology, we analyze the effects of two appointment system update events-technical support and information provision-at a Chinese hospital. Our analysis reveals that technical support and information provision are associated with average reductions of 22.40% and 10.91%, respectively. To investigate the mechanisms behind these effects, we conduct a randomized controlled experiment with 233 participants. Our findings reveal that perceived effort and credibility mediate the relationship between information provision and patient no-shows. However, for technical support, only perceived credibility acts as a mediator. This study provides valuable insights for healthcare operations, offering design recommendations to address no-show behavior in hospital appointment systems.