Text messaging has become one of the most usedmedia in communication.
Mater Dei Hospital has implemented CPASms , an electronic messaging system [sms], where reminders are sent to people with outpatients’ appointments through SMS. People are set to be reminded of their appointments 10 days and 2 days respectively prior to their hospital visitation.
One of the biggest advantages of this system is the reduction of missed appointments. One-third of no-shows is a result of people forgetting about their appointments. In the first month of the system’s inception , the total number of missed appointments has subsequently been reduced by 11%.
As a result of CPASMS , waiting lists are being cut down drastically in certain outpatient clinics. No-shows may result in the loss of valuable time for the medical staff, waste of financial resources and sacrificing attention to important cases.
CPASms’s dynamic system allows the user to customise their messages depending on type of outpatient clinic and patient status. The system allows users to set as many appointment reminders as deemed necessary. A versatile and user-friendly tool that will ultimately keep improving the health care system at Mater Dei Hospital.
CPASms is in the midst of being implement within all hospitals and clinics that fall under the remit of the Ministry of Health.
