Improving Show Rates in Dental Care Settings Serving Underserved Populations
No-Show Prevention Practices in Dental Care Settings Serving Underserved Populations
4 other identifiers
interventional
48
1 country
1
Brief Summary
The goal of this study is to compare different no-show interventions in dental clinics serving underserved populations. The main question it seeks to answer is
- How do different no-show intervention methods compare in reducing no-shows? Participants will be asked to
- Implement different interventions
- Report a limited set of data to researchers
Trial Health
Trial Health Score
Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach
participants targeted
Target at P25-P50 for not_applicable
Started Apr 2025
Longer than P75 for not_applicable
1 active site
Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.
Trial Relationships
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Study Timeline
Key milestones and dates
First Submitted
Initial submission to the registry
August 22, 2024
CompletedFirst Posted
Study publicly available on registry
September 3, 2024
CompletedStudy Start
First participant enrolled
April 4, 2025
CompletedPrimary Completion
Last participant's last visit for primary outcome
January 31, 2029
ExpectedStudy Completion
Last participant's last visit for all outcomes
January 31, 2029
April 15, 2026
October 1, 2025
3.8 years
August 22, 2024
April 13, 2026
Conditions
Keywords
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcomes (1)
Change in proportion of scheduled appointments for which the patient attends, pre-to-post intervention
To test the efficacy of motivation-enhanced communication, reminder messaging, and walk-in visits as compared to treatment as usual For each of the three interventions, the pre-to-post intervention change in show rates. Show rate is defined as the proportion of scheduled appointments for which the patient attends their scheduled clinic appointment. Appointments cancelled or rescheduled more than 24 hours in advance are not included in the calculation. Outcome will be measured by data exported from the clinical electronic health records monthly.
6 months pre-intervention to 12 months post-intervention
Secondary Outcomes (3)
Organizational Change Manager (OCM) Score
Survey will be administered at 3 months
Statistical Comparison of Interventions for Effectiveness Analysis
6 months pre-intervention to 12 months post-intervention
Statistical Comparison of Combining Multiple Interventions for Interaction Analysis
6 months pre-intervention to 12 months post-intervention
Study Arms (8)
Control
NO INTERVENTIONReminder Messages
ACTIVE COMPARATORWalk-in Visits
ACTIVE COMPARATORMotivation-enhanced Communication
ACTIVE COMPARATORReminder Messages & Walk-in visits
ACTIVE COMPARATORReminder Messages & Motivation-enhanced Communication
ACTIVE COMPARATORWalk-in visits & Motivation-enhanced Communication
ACTIVE COMPARATORReminder Messages, Walk-in visits, & Motivation-enhanced Communication
ACTIVE COMPARATORInterventions
Dental clinic staff will use scripts to contact patients 24 and 48 hours before appointments. These scripts will guide staff in confirming the patient will appear for their appointment.
When contacting patients to schedule an appointment (by phone, email, text, or other methods), dental clinic staff will notify patients of times during which patients can walk-in for a dental visit, if convenient for them; otherwise, a regular appointment will be arranged. Scheduled appointments will continue to be available in addition to the walk-in hours.
Participating clinic site staff will be trained in motivation-enhanced communication techniques using the guide for dental clinic sites and coaching. Topics to be included in the motivation-enhanced communication training are a) to determine what patients hope to gain from their dental care, steps needed to succeed, how the agency and client will work together to attain the goals, and b) to identify patient barriers to attending their visit (e.g., transportation, payment, do not understand need for visit, etc.), and what the agency and patient will do to overcome those barriers. Staff will be instructed to use these techniques with patients at every contact about an upcoming appointment.
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if:
- Sites must be:
- Serve at least a 51 percent self-pay and Medicaid patients
- Be willing to provide limited data sets of clinic data to the research team
- Be willing to undertake and support and organizational improvement project to improve show rates
- Staff must be:
- A paid staff member at a participating clinic
- Be able and willing to provide written or verbal consent
Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.
Sponsors & Collaborators
Study Sites (1)
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, Wisconsin, 53705, United States
Study Officials
- PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Todd Molfenter, PhD
University of Wisconsin, Madison
- PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Chris Okunseri, BDS, MSc, MLS, DDPHRCSE
Marquette University
Study Design
- Study Type
- interventional
- Phase
- not applicable
- Allocation
- RANDOMIZED
- Masking
- NONE
- Purpose
- OTHER
- Intervention Model
- FACTORIAL
- Sponsor Type
- OTHER
- Responsible Party
- SPONSOR
Study Record Dates
First Submitted
August 22, 2024
First Posted
September 3, 2024
Study Start
April 4, 2025
Primary Completion (Estimated)
January 31, 2029
Study Completion (Estimated)
January 31, 2029
Last Updated
April 15, 2026
Record last verified: 2025-10
Data Sharing
- IPD Sharing
- Will not share