CASE MANAGER FOLLOW-UP TO FAILED APPOINTMENTS AND SUBSEQUENT SERVICE UTILIZATION

Case manager responses to failed appointments were monitored for 83 se riously mentally ill persons in a rural community mental health center . Case manager actions taken were grouped into four categories of foll ow-up from most intensive to least intensive: home visit, phone call, letter, and no follow-up. On the whole, case managers most frequently did not follow-up missed appointments (56.7%), followed up by letters (21.3%), and telephone calls (18.7%), and home visits (3.3%). Analyses revealed that home visits were most intensive and all clients who wer e visited following failed appointments did not fail the subsequent ap pointment. Clients who received telephone calls or letters were about equally likely to fail the subsequent appointment, but were much more likely to attend the subsequent appointment than were clients who rece ived no follow-up to the failed appointment. Interestingly, clients wh o failed appointments and received no follow-up were much more likely to need emergency services rather than a regular appointment as their next contact with the clinic.