In 2024, more than 1.3 million appointments were lost in Poland - many of which could have been avoided if patients had easier access to tools to cancel them quickly. A new "Guide to Appointment Cancellation Tools," presented by the organizers of the #Cancel #NotBlocking campaign, is the answer to this problem. The document provides concrete solutions to help medical facilities reduce the number of empty appointments and make better use of health system resources.
How to reduce the number of missed appointments?
Published June 16, 2025 08:55
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The scale of missed appointments in Poland has remained alarming for years. Despite educational campaigns and growing patient awareness, the number of undeclared absences reaches millions annually, causing losses for the health care system, extended queues and frustration for other patients. The #Cancel #Unblock social campaign has just launched the next phase of activities - the publication of a practical guide for medical facilities.
"The Guide to Appointment Cancellation Tools" is the result of a collaboration between campaign organizers - including public institutions, hospitals, clinics and patient organizations - who have spent the past three years collecting good practices and testing technical solutions. The guide is intended to make it easier for facilities to select the right tools - from the simplest to the most advanced - that will allow patients to quickly and seamlessly report that they won't be coming to a scheduled appointment with a doctor.
- The creation of the guide shows the importance of sharing knowledge and proven solutions. It's not just patient education, but concrete support for facilities. We are publishing these good practices, including the guide, on the Patient Ombudsman's website," emphasizes Bartlomiej Chmielowiec, Patient Ombudsman.
The guide describes 12 tools that have already proven successful in a variety of facilities - from SMS reminders and online forms, to dedicated email addresses, to voicebots and integrations with the Internet Patient Account (IKP). Importantly, many of these solutions are low-cost or completely free, and do not require a large investment to implement - even in smaller facilities.
The effects? In some centers, such as the Zelazna Medical Center and Warsaw's Copernicus Medical Care Center, the number of missed appointments has dropped by up to 40 percent thanks to simple improvements.
- This guide is not a theory, but a set of real, tested solutions. At CMP Medical Center, we are effectively reducing the problem through technology, education and clear procedures. I believe this is possible in every facility," says Pawel Walicki, CEO of CMP, initiator of the #Callbacks #NotBlocking campaign.
The launch of the guide at the office of the Patient Ombudsman was accompanied by a meeting with representatives of patient organizations, which took the form of a workshop. Their purpose was to gather patients' opinions and demands ahead of the fourth edition of the #Cancel #NotBlock campaign, which will launch later this year.
- We want facilities to actively create patient-friendly cancellation mechanisms. The responsibility lies on both sides - patients must remember that their decisions affect others, and facilities must provide convenient channels of contact," noted Stanislaw Maćkowiak, chairman of the Presidium of the Council of Patient Organizations at the Patient Ombudsman.
Source: MPC
