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  • Title: Appointment-keeping behavior of Medicaid-enrolled pediatric dental patients in eastern Iowa.
    Author: Iben P, Kanellis MJ, Warren J.
    Journal: Pediatr Dent; 2000; 22(4):325-9. PubMed ID: 10969442.
    Abstract:
    PURPOSE: The purpose of this prospective study was to assess the appointment-keeping behavior of Medicaid-enrolled pediatric dental patients in three Eastern Iowa practices. METHODS: During the month of October 1998, a tally was kept of all patient appointments at a private pediatric dental office, a public health dental clinic, and a university-based pediatric dentistry clinic. Patients were categorized as either Medicaid or non-Medicaid. Appointment behavior categories were defined as: On time; Failure; Late-notice Cancellation (less than 24 hours notice); and Tardy (greater than 10 minutes). The data was entered in SPSS and analyzed using the chi square statistic. Statistical significance was P < 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 1,406 appointments were recorded for all three sites. Overall, patients on Iowa Medicaid had higher appointment failure, late-notice cancellation, and tardiness rates than non-Medicaid patients at all three clinics. However, these differences were only statistically significant for the private office and the university-based clinic. Failed appointment rates for Medicaid patients were much higher at the private office (38%) than at the other two sites. CONCLUSION: Consistent with anecdotal reports from dentists, Medicaid patients had higher rates of broken appointments than did non-Medicaid patients, particularly in a private practice setting.
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