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Missed Appointments in Federally Qualified Health Centers: Does Racial Identification Affect Missed Appointment Rates?
Monday, November 17, 2014
Hannah Murdoch
,
School Of Health Professions and Studies, University of Michigan Flint, Flint, MI
Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) play a prominent role in providing care to a diverse population. Many of the individuals’ served by FQHCs are socioeconomically challenged. Very often such individuals receive governmental assistance as a means of attending clinic appointments. Missed appointment rates are also high among FQHCs patients when compared to appointment rates seen in other health care facilities. Missed appointments have been shown to enhance poor health outcomes, often leading to poor compliance as seen in many patients who frequent FQHCs. This study examined missed patient appointments. In addition, potential barriers to appointment scheduling such as transportation needs, patient-physician mistrust, along with perceived cultural biases in the patient–physician interaction were examined. I also examined multiple scheduling techniques in an attempt to uncover any underlying mediators of missed clinical appointments. I propose that the results of this study will facilitate a dialogue on racial and ethnic factors that contribute to high rates of non-compliance in appointment scheduling seen in FQHCs.
Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Administration, management, leadership
Advocacy for health and health education
Diversity and culture
Learning Objectives:
Identify factors that lead to patient non-compliance
Discuss interventions for patient-physicians dialogue
List patient concerns with appointment scheduling
Keyword(s): Community Health Centers, Communication
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been working within a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) gaining knowledge of the struggles FQHC's face. After much research conducted at a FQHC and comparing the FQHC to local primary care facilities, missed appointment rates were almost double. I have a strong interest in community health and underserved populations, that has driven me towards becoming a leader in my community for community health.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines,
and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed
in my presentation.
