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

Forthcoming in Production and Operations Management

32 Pages Posted: 6 Aug 2024

See all articles by Shenyang Jiang

Shenyang Jiang

Tongji University

Miao Hu

Soochow University

Yong Jin

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Liangfei Qiu

University of Florida - Warrington College of Business Administration

Yang Duan

Hong Kong Baptist University

Date Written: July 31, 2024

Abstract

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-indifferences (DID) 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.

Keywords: healthcare operations, system design, patient no-shows, technical support, information provision

Suggested Citation

Jiang, Shenyang and Hu, Miao and Jin, Yong and Qiu, Liangfei and Duan, Yang, Impact of Technical Support and Information Provision on Patient No-Show Behavior (July 31, 2024). Forthcoming in Production and Operations Management, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4911935

Shenyang Jiang

Tongji University ( email )

Siping Road 1500
Shanghai, Shanghai 200092
China

Miao Hu

Soochow University ( email )

Yong Jin

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University ( email )

Hong Kong

Liangfei Qiu (Contact Author)

University of Florida - Warrington College of Business Administration ( email )

Gainesville, FL 32611
United States

HOME PAGE: http://sites.google.com/site/qiuliangfei/

Yang Duan

Hong Kong Baptist University ( email )

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