Abstract
Missed appointments have been linked to adverse outcomes known to affect racial/ethnic minorities. However, the association of missed appointments with race/ethnicity has not been determined. We sought to determine the relationships between race/ethnicity and missed appointments by performing a cross-sectional study of 161 350 patients in a safety net health system. Several race/ethnicity categories were significantly associated with missed appointment rates, including Hispanic/Latino patients, American Indian/Alaskan Native patients, and Black/African American patients, as compared with White non-Hispanic patients. Other significant predictors included Mexico as country of origin, medical complexity, and major mental illness. We recommend additional research to determine which interventions best reduce missed appointments for minority populations in order to improve the care of vulnerable patients.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 38-40 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | Journal of Primary Care & Community Health |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We would like to thank our colleagues at Hennepin County Medical Center, Center for Patient and Provider Experience, and Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation for their support of this research study.
Keywords
- ethnic disparities
- health disparities
- missed appointments
- no shows
- primary care
- racial disparities
