The California Health Care Foundation’s Sustainable Models of Telehealth in the Safety Net program hosted a webinar on March 14, 2018, entitled “Simply the Best: Best Practices for Provider Engagement and Curbing No Shows.”

In this webinar, Kathy Chorba of the California Telehealth Resource Center provided an explanation of the importance of provider engagement and the challenge of no-shows. Several program grantees also shared their strategies and successes:

  • Leslie Warner, Shasta Community Health Center
  • Alberto Quihuis, Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo
  • Darlene Coop & Michelle Cook, Open Door Community Health Centers

Our big takeaways:

  1. While provider engagement is a key element in telehealth program success, patient no-shows are a key element in telehealth program failure.
  2. Effectively show providers the value of your telehealth program by explaining the benefits (specialist access, cost savings for patient and health plan, continuity of care, high quality of care, and convenience for patients).
  3. Strategies for preventing and mitigating patient no-shows include:
Ensure patient knows what to expect during telehealth scheduling
Schedule with a specialist who speaks the patient’s language
Remind and confirm appointments multiple times
Require patients to call back and confirm to keep the appointment
Double (or triple) book strategically earlier in the day, keeping specialists up-to-date

 

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