Unlocking Success: Effortless Strategies to Cut Patient No-Shows!
Breaking News: A Game-Changer in Public Dental Services!
The Department of Health has rolled out some impressive new measures that are making waves in the world of public dental services! In a bold move to cut down on patient no-shows, they’ve introduced a smart waiting list and an oversubscription ballot system. And guess what? It’s working wonders!
Just last week, the launch of an innovative online registration platform kicked off this transformation, designed to minimize the burdensome wait times for appointments while ensuring our valuable public resources aren’t squandered. Can you believe it? Clinic utilization rates have soared to over 100%! Talk about efficiency!
Kitty Hse Mei-yin, the department’s dental services consultant, reported that in just three days after the online registration went live, a whopping 1,769 enthusiastic individuals signed up for public dental services. Out of these, 272 were granted appointments, but only 217 showed up. Notably, a significant 70% of attendees were elderly folks. Among the 55 who didn’t make it, 36 were over 65 years old. It’s clear we need to address these gaps!
Yesterday, two bustling dental clinics—one in Kowloon City and another in Kennedy Town—opened their doors, ready to serve with a quota of 84 appointments. From a pool of 368 applicants, 92 lucky registrants were chosen, with an impressive attendance rate of about 104%! This means that all 88 patients who showed up received the dental care they need, even though it exceeded the planned quotas. That’s commitment!
Hse shared that the department proactively reached out to the registrants, some of whom couldn’t attend due to work commitments or needing companions. To ensure an even smoother process, they’re calculating the oversubscription list at 10% of the total quotas, making sure every patient gets their fair share of clinic time.
So, here’s the deal: successful registrants need to show up by 8:30 AM for registration. However, it’s not without some challenges. Take one frustrated patient from Tuen Mun, who vented, “I had to leave home two hours early and wait here for hours. We need more dental services for the elderly!”
Another voice from the crowd, Yu, suggested a tech-savvy solution: “Let’s use WhatsApp for communication! Many people, especially the elderly, hesitate to pick up calls from unknown numbers because of all the scam calls.”
After confirming who’s coming, clinic staff will begin contacting those on the waiting list at 9:30 AM to fill any last-minute openings. The catch? They need to arrive by 11:30 AM. Some elderly patients at the Kennedy Town clinic have expressed worries about making it on time.
“Wouldn’t it be better to push back the registration time? It could really help our elderly patients,” suggested a woman named Lee. “The longer wait times for both registrants and waitlisted individuals are becoming an issue.”
