Reducing Time to Nurse Increases Patient Access
A recent study of CompassCare patient data shows an inverse correlation between time to nurse and appointment show rates.
CompassCare recently performed an analysis of first appointment show rates based on “Time to Nurse.” We calculate time to nurse by the time between the first contact a patient initiates with the pregnancy center until the time of their first medical appointment (in person or via telehealth). A study of 863 initial appointments over a 12-month period yielded dramatic results.
| Time to Nurse | Show Rate |
|---|---|
| < 1 Hour | 92% |
| 1-4 Hours | 79% |
| 4-12 Hours | 72% |
| > 12 Hours | 58% |
A precipitous drop-off in show rates occurred if the patient had to wait more than 12 hours between contacting the center and connecting with a nurse. More than 9 of 10 women who were able to engage a nurse within an hour of initial contact completed their appointments, whereas less than 6 in 10 who had to wait more than 12 hours showed up.
When the data set is limited to the most recent 3 months (September-November 2022), the drop-off in show rates happens even faster. A dataset of 211 initial appointments yielded the following results.
| Time to Nurse | Show Rate |
|---|---|
| < 1 Hour | 100% |
| 1-4 Hours | 80% |
| 4-6 Hours | 67% |
| > 6 Hours | 58% |
After only 6 hours between initial contact and the time of a patient’s medical appointment, show rates were 58%, compared to 100% (12 out of 12) for patients seen within the hour. This suggests that expectations of fast service are intensifying in the market of abortion shoppers.
The most effective and efficient way to reduce time to nurse—therefore seeing more patients and saving more lives—is the implementation of a telehealth platform.