Practice Management
Nagabis c. Gonzalez, DMD
Pediatric Dental Resident
NYU Lutheran Dental Medicine, Brooklyn, NY
NYU Langone Health
Maricopa, Florida, United States
Takish Ziad, BDS
Sun Life Health
Casa Grande, Arizona, United States
Daniel J. Kane, DMD, MA
Program Director
NYU Langone Hospitals
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify which patient group is more likely to fail/no-show to previously scheduled dental appointments based on their payment form in the setting of a community health center.
Methods: This is a retrospective study of patients aged 0-18 who have scheduled dental appointments at Sun Life Pediatric Dentistry for a 2-year period from 1/1/2020 to 12/31/2021. The no-show rates for patients with private insurances and self-paid was compared to the rates for no-show rates for patients with vs Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS).
Results: A total of 9554 appointments were scheduled, of which 2358 appointments resulted in no show. The group with AHCCCS showed the highest number of no-show appointments, while self-paid patients showed the lowest number of no-show appointments. The Sun Life Pediatric dentistry office sees mainly AHCCCS patient which makes the percentage assessment not statically appropriate. For that reason, a binary logistic regression assessment was performed. The results showed that patients with commercial insurance are 1.531 times more likely to have a no-show appointment compared to patients with AHCCCS (p < 0.001). On the other hand, p</span>atients who self-paid are 1.755 times more likely to have a no-show appt compared to patients with AHCCS (p=0.001)
Conclusion: In the community health center studied for this retrospective research, patients with AHCCCS as their form of payment show a lower rate of failed/no-show appointments compared to patients with private insurances or self-paid. This patient population may have fewer financial concerns with regards to dental fees due to the financial support from federal government. On the other hand, patients with private insurance or self-paid may be dealing with financial constrains to pay for the dental services.