The differential and additive effects of client participation and multiple prompt procedures on appointment keeping

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differential and additive effects of two letter prompt procedures and two levels of client participation in appointment making on initial appointment keeping behavior. The subjects were 180 clients of a large southeastern community mental health center.

At initial screening, subjects were assigned to one of nine treatment conditions, forming a 3X3 completely crossed design with an n of 20 in each cell. The prompt procedures were a Personal Letter vs. a Form Letter vs. No Letter. Levels of participation were Full Participation, with client choice of time of day and day of week, vs. Partial Participation, with client choice of time only, vs. No participation, in which appointments were assigned without client choice.

Data analysis indicated that both letter prompt procedures produced greater appointment keeping rates than no reminder. There were no significant differences among appointment keeping rates among participation levels examined in isolation. Client participation, however, did show an additive effect when combined with prompt procedures, which, while not statistically significant, has demonstrable economic significance for service delivery systems such as the one studied.