Study calls for interventions to reduce imaging appointment no-shows

CHICAGO – Financial hardship and health-related social needs are major drivers among radiology outpatients who do not show up for their appointments, according to research presented November 29 at RSNA.Despite this, there are very low screening and assistance rates at non-radiology encounters and almost no screening done at radiology encounters, said Andrew Cuyegkeng, of the University of California, Irvine, in a session on health equity research.“We believe that rigorous screening for these health-related social needs and financial hardship should be implemented and interventions should be designed and utilized to address and target these needs,” he said.Patients who cancel or are no-shows to their outpatient radiology appointments have been shown to have worse health outcomes, possibly due to delay in diagnosis and treatment, yet no studies have evaluated rates of health-related social risks (HRSRs) and financial hardship in these patients, Cuyegkeng noted.To that end, the researchers identified 165 patients (mean age: 55; 73% female; 54% white, 18% Asian, and 16% Hispanic) who canceled or did not show up to their outpatient CT, MRI, mammography, or PET/CT imaging test at their hospital and invited them to complete a 10-minute survey.According to the findings, of the appointments that were missed, 36% were for MRI, 36% for mammography, and 20% for CT. A total of 30.1% of respondents indicated that their scheduled imaging appointment was a financial hardship for them a...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: RSNA 2023 Practice Management Source Type: news