Reducing missed hospital appointments (UK)
- 2013
Challenge
Every year around 8 million people miss their healthcare appointments, costing the NHS almost £1bn.
Insight
Two behavioural insights could be used to encourage people to attend their healthcare appointments:
- Salience. People’s attention is drawn to what is new and/or seems relevant. Making appointment information more salient could reduce the number of missed slots.
- Timely prompts. Giving people reminders at the right time can help them to take action.
Approach
We sent patients text reminders highlighting that their appointment had monetary value.
Result & Impact
The number of missed hospital appointments fell by 25 per cent.
