Table 1 Definition of the variables included in the analyses
From: Using overbooking to manage no-shows in an Italian healthcare center
Variable | Description |
|---|---|
No-show | Missing a scheduled appointment without canceling it. When a patient cancelled his reservation, in fact, this was removed just from the dependent variable because a cancelled appointment could not be classified as a no-show because the slot was made available for another patient. |
Insurance status | In Italy, the majority of the examinations is covered by the NHS, but there is a portion that is privately paid by patients • NHS: Examination covered by the NHS • Private: Examination paid directly by the patient or by a private insurance |
Rate of previous cancellations | Number of cancellations divided by number of reservations in previous examinations of the booked patient since 2012 in any ward |
Rate of previous no-shows | Number of no-show divided by number of reservations in previous examinations of the booked patient since 2012 in any ward |
Booking confirmation | An automated phone service calls patients aged over 65 2 days before the appointment to get a confirmation • Not Confirmed: if the patient did not confirm the appointment • Confirmed: if the patient confirmed the appointment |
Type of booking | Method of reservation used by patients • Phone: reservation by phone with the assistance of an operator • Web: reservation through the institutional website (active since April 2014) |
Time of the day | MR and CT wards had an opening time ranging from 6 AM to 2 AM (+1d); all remaining wards had opening time 8 AM - 8 PM. Accordingly, we considered the following time of the day: • 6 AM–8 AM: for MR and CT wards only • 8 AM-1 PM: for all wards • 1 PM–8 PM: for all wards • 8 PM-2 AM (+1d): for MR and CT wards only |
Long weekend | It indicated whether the day of the appointment fell in a week with a public holiday • Yes: week with a public holiday • No: week without a public holiday |
Weather forecast | An automated system downloads every day from the web (http://api.wunderground.com) the weather forecasts of the same and of the following 3 days • Clear: day without rain or storm • Rain: day with rain • Storm: day with a storm |
Text message reminder service | Two days before the examination, an automated service sends a text message to all patients aged between 18 and 65 (active since April 2014) • Not yet activated: examinations booked before April 2014 • Activated but not sent: examinations booked since April 2014 without sending a text message reminder because the system did not know the patient mobile phone number or because he/she was over 65 • Sent: examination booked after April 2014 with text message reminder sent |
No NHS coverage period | In Italy, the NHS covers most of the examinations until a cap on the NHS budget was reached, causing a stop in the coverage. This happened, usually, in the last weeks of the year • No: examination booked in the coverage period • Yes: examination booked when there was no NHS insurance because the budget was spent in full |
Price of the examination | Price paid by the patient. It was set to zero for the examinations covered by NHS and to the whole price otherwise |
Waiting list | Number of days between the booking and the examination |
Time allowed | Expected duration of the examination |
Hourly revenue | The revenues of all examinations divided by the product between the number of working hours and the number of active MR scanners |
Waiting time | Difference between the time when the patient starts his/her examination and the latest between the scheduled time of the appointment and the arrival time at the healthcare center |
Idle time | Idle time of the scanners across the appointments |
Overtime | Staff overtime at the end of the day |