The no-show rate in a high-risk obstetric clinic

We wished to determine the reasons for an average missed appointment rate o f 28% in a highrisk pregnancy clinic. Only 41% of the 261 women in the stud y group could be reached by telephone. The reasons included not having a ph one, the phone had been disconnected, incorrect phone number on the chart, the patient had moved, and the patient did not respond to the answering mac hine message. The reasons for missing the appointment included lack of tran sportation, scheduling problems, overslept or forgot, presence of a sick ch ild or relative, and lack of child care. The response of patients to assess ing prenatal care may reflect their priority of medical care relative to ot her priorities associated with day-to-day existence. There may be a baselin e missed appointment rate for prenatal care in lower socioeconomic populati ons of women. The commitment of personnel time and energy to attempt to mod ify the no-show rate should be reexamined.