Increasing Adherence to Scheduled Outpatient Dobutamine Stress Echocardiograms

In a large, urban teaching hospital over a 10-month period, 45% of dobutamine stress tests were cancelled. The article discusses the results of a pilot study that was implemented to reduce appointment cancellations. Factors that impacted adherence to the testing schedule were proper documentation of cancellations, the importance of eliminating inappropriate referrals, and the use of an appointment reminder system. With the use of a checklist and scripted reminder tool, the cancellation rate of these tests was decreased to 32.4%, a 12.6% reduction.